The headlines lately don’t provide much hope. It seems there’s bad news to be reported everywhere we turn. And it’s not just in the current state of the economy, it’s also seen in the actions of people. We see so much evil in the world and sometimes it can overwhelm us to the point of either despair or complacency. We may block it all out because it’s too much to bear, or we may look around and wonder why the Lord hasn’t brought justice regarding all the evil.

We can get busy watching this world and all the hustle and bustle and activities others do, while we “slave away” at our jobs or even our ministries. If we’re not careful, we can even become frustrated and envious of those who have what we call an “easy life.” A life in which one is not involved in anything “hard”, like ministry. We watch others work, play, and go to bed (sleeping peacefully), just to get up and do it again tomorrow. And we covet their life and want it for ourselves. That’s a bad place to be – stuck in a pity party with no joy.

If you’ve ever been stuck in that rut, I understand. I’ve often daydreamed about living with my family in the mountains, not bothered by people or their problems or risk them affecting my life in a disadvantageous way. We want to avoid the messiness of life and the hard parts, but it’s not possible. And if it makes you feel any better, just know that you and I were not the first to ponder these thoughts. Asaph talks about the free and easy life of the wicked in Psalm 73. He describes how hard it is to watch lost people living really good lives and getting away with their sin and evildoing.  

Psalm 73:3, “For I was envious of the arrogant, as I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”

If we’re not paying attention to our thought pattern, we can easily become envious of others. We begin to look so long at the life of the “boastful” and “wicked” and conclude that their life is good – perhaps too good. We start to entertain foolish thoughts and justify our feelings. Asaph knew the feeling of looking so long at the seemingly easy life of those who don’t walk with the Lord, that he nearly stumbled; his steps nearly slipped.

Psalm 73:2, “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled.”

It may be easy for some of us to do the same. We start considering chasing the mighty dollar and making foolish decisions to imitate the lives we see of others. That’s not a good road of thought to go down because it won’t take much before the next thoughts are a little darker, and we start to wonder: “What good is there in being good?” or “What is the reward of godliness?” In our frustration, we think the ungodly life is the “good life.” And in our moment of depression, we may even dare to call our godly life vain. And as Spurgeon once said, “It is a pitiful thing that an heir of heaven should have to confess ‘I was envious,’ but worse still that he should add to it, ‘I was envious of the foolish.’”

In Psalm 73, Asaph caught himself from stumbling. He recognized the foolishness of his thinking and remembered who he was as a child of God. In verse 15 he says, “If I had said, ‘I will speak thus,’ behold I should have betrayed the generation of Thy children.” He caught himself. He said, “If I had said.” He pondered away, but he didn’t let those thoughts become spoken words that led to ungodly actions. He stopped the foolish thinking before it got too far out of hand. He goes on in vv. 16-17 to explain: “When I pondered to understand this, it was troublesome in my sight until I came into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end.”

He went to the “sanctuary of God” – a holy place, the House of the Lord – and there, he received understanding and a new point of view. And that’s what we need to do each time we begin to set our eyes on the “arrogant” and “wicked” as they living what appears to be the “good life.” We need to get back to God’s Word and His truth and we need to get back to His house and the fellowship of brothers and sisters in Christ. What is so special about church and being in fellowship with one another as the body of Christ?

It was in the “sanctuary of God” that Asaph was able to pray and worship God and fix his eyes on eternity. It was there that Asaph was able to hear God’s Word and learn what God says is truth. And it was there, in the “sanctuary of God” that Asaph was reminded that God is holy and He judges sin. That’s why Asaph ends v. 17 with the words, “then I perceived their end.” He knew what would eventually become of the arrogant and wicked in the world. They were receiving their “reward” now, but they would fall to destruction in the end. What a reminder for us to not grow weary in doing good because we do have a reward coming.

Galatians 6:9, “Let’s not become discouraged in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not become weary.”

This is why church and fellowship of believers is so important! We need the community of our brothers and sisters in Christ to support one another, love one another, encourage one another, edify and build one another up in the faith, provide for each other’s needs as they arise, and represent Christ to the lost world around us. Fellowship is crucial to our walk with the Lord, and it is God’s design.

1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you also are doing.”

Hebrews 12:1-3, “Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

What I love about Asaph is that after going “into the sanctuary of God,” he was able to make sense of this thoughts and receive truth. He was able to process his thoughts through the lens of God’s Word. Before, he was bitter and grieved because he didn’t understand the prosperity of the wicked (vv. 21-22). But in vv. 23-24, he looks to God for counsel and guidance instead of being driven by feelings and emotions. It is easy to get distracted by the world and people living “good” lives. But we need to remember it’s not about us. It’s about Christ and His church, doing what He tells us in His Word. It’s about obedience, surrender, humility, denying our flesh and following Him daily. That doesn’t mean living like monks and nuns. It means living fully surrendered to the Lord and allowing Him to control our thoughts and actions – imitating Him and the example He set for us in His life on this earth and what He says in His Word.

Our time, our possessions, and our purpose are not our own! They are God’s! He is owner of them all and He is a jealous God! When we are being selfish with those things, He will remind us. He will allow things to happen to show us that He is owner, and we are just stewards. He wants to be #1 in our life – He doesn’t want our time, things, and purpose to be an idol and take precedence over Him in our life.

Psalm 73:13, “It is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Your works.”

In the end, Asaph saw the great benefit of drawing near to God and that’s what we are to do. Put our trust in Him and abide in His Word.

“It may seem good in the worldling’s eyes to go his way to his wine cups, and to make merry in the dance; it may seem good to yonder truster in an arm of flesh, to seek our his friends and his kinsmen, and entrust his case to their discretion; it may seem good to the desponding to retire in melancholy to brood over his sorrows, and to the dissipated, to endeavor to drown all care in vanity, but to me, says the psalmist, it is good, preeminently good, that I should draw near unto God.” – (Spurgeon)