Seeing Your World the Right Way
If you have ever read Psalm 73, you might understand the title of today's blog. In fact, one of the reasons I love the Psalms is their ability to speak directly to my particular need. Some years ago I developed the habit of reading five Psalms each morning beginning with the one matching the calendar date. Then adding 30 and reading that Psalm, and then repeating that step four times. Psalm 73 is about Asaph, a song and worship director under King David in the eleventh century BC.
In this Psalm or song, Asaph describes his skewed spiritual perspective of the state of the un-believers who appeared to him to be unscathed by disease, death, money problems, and the normal issues of life. The songleader reaches the crescendo of his warped worldview when he cries out,
All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. for all day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. vs 13-14.
Did you get that? Asaph had come to the conclusion in his envious confusion that somehow the wicked were ultimately better off than he was, and that his efforts in pleasing God with a holy life were just a big waste of time!
Have you felt that way? No doubt you have, and, in fact, you might be feeling that way a bit right now. However, is any of this true? Are those who break God's laws and do whatever they want really going to get away with their sin? Is God ever going to judge the world and every person in it just like the Bible says He will? Are all my efforts and struggles against sin in my own life actually going to pay off? Listen again to what the discouraged Psalmist says next,
But when I thought to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. vs 16-17
That last line is one that you and I should file in the continuous loop category. I mean one that plays again and again, continuously, every day! Why? Because outside of the Word of God and the community of His people where we worship and learn together, there is no other way to stay focused on the actual truth. The author of the letter to the Hebrew Christians reminded them in Heb 10:25
That's why our relationship to a local body of believers is so critically important. We cannot and will not become what God wants for us without the influence of other believers who actively serve and worship together. The Christian life was never meant to be a solo effort. There are no mavericks or lone rangers in God's kingdom. We need God, His Word, and one another to safely navigate the Christian life.
In this Psalm or song, Asaph describes his skewed spiritual perspective of the state of the un-believers who appeared to him to be unscathed by disease, death, money problems, and the normal issues of life. The songleader reaches the crescendo of his warped worldview when he cries out,
All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. for all day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. vs 13-14.
Did you get that? Asaph had come to the conclusion in his envious confusion that somehow the wicked were ultimately better off than he was, and that his efforts in pleasing God with a holy life were just a big waste of time!
Have you felt that way? No doubt you have, and, in fact, you might be feeling that way a bit right now. However, is any of this true? Are those who break God's laws and do whatever they want really going to get away with their sin? Is God ever going to judge the world and every person in it just like the Bible says He will? Are all my efforts and struggles against sin in my own life actually going to pay off? Listen again to what the discouraged Psalmist says next,
But when I thought to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. vs 16-17
That last line is one that you and I should file in the continuous loop category. I mean one that plays again and again, continuously, every day! Why? Because outside of the Word of God and the community of His people where we worship and learn together, there is no other way to stay focused on the actual truth. The author of the letter to the Hebrew Christians reminded them in Heb 10:25
Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as is the habit of some.
Without a commitment to God's revelation for life and God's growth plan for His people, we would be easy prey for any worldview or lifestyle that promises more than it will ever truly deliver.
That's why our relationship to a local body of believers is so critically important. We cannot and will not become what God wants for us without the influence of other believers who actively serve and worship together. The Christian life was never meant to be a solo effort. There are no mavericks or lone rangers in God's kingdom. We need God, His Word, and one another to safely navigate the Christian life.
How are you seeing the world around you today? Do you catch yourself becoming envious of those who seem to be prospering while breaking all the rules? If so, remember Psalm 73. The end of this life will arrive, and usually sooner and more suddenly than anyone of us anticipate. Don't see the world the wrong way. One day everything that is presently upside down is going to be made right, but you won't ever clearly see that now apart from God, His Word, and God's family!
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