TRULY GOD IS GOOD

Pastor James J. Barker

Text: PSALMS 73:1-20



INTRODUCTION:


  1. The first four words in Psalm 73 are very important: "Truly God is good..."
  2. I say these words are very important because the 73rd Psalm deals with a problem that has often perplexed and bothered God’s people: Why do the wicked prosper and why do the godly suffer?
  3. This psalm was written by Asaph, a Levite, and one of the three chief musicians appointed by David to preside over the choral services of the sanctuary (cf. I Chron. 16:4-7).
  4. Asaph was a singer, a musician, and a writer. In II Chronicles 29:30, he is referred to as "Asaph the seer." He wrote twelve psalms, this being the second (Ps. 50; 73-83).
  5. Interestingly, this 73rd Psalm corresponds in subject with the 37th Psalm.
  6. Spurgeon wrote: "The theme is that ancient stumbling-block of good men, which Job’s friends could not get over; viz. -- the present prosperity of wicked men and the sorrows of the godly. Heathen philosophers have puzzled themselves about this, while to believers it has too often been a temptation."

I. THE PROSPERITY OF THE WICKED IS ONLY TEMPORARY (73:1-7).
    1. Life is full of mystery. Sometimes we look up to the heavens and wonder what is going on. But the Psalmist starts off right -- "Truly God is good..." (73:1).
    2. But then we go to verse 2 -- "But..." Here begins the great struggle, a spiritual battle that every believer faces at one time or another. God is good..."but as for me, my feet were almost gone..." (73:2).
    3. Asaph was a man of God but here he admits he was starting to slip when he observed the prosperity of the wicked (73:2, 3). He "was envious" (73:3). May God help us never to be envious of the wicked! (cf. Pro. 24:1, 2, 19, 20).
    4. Whenever we are tempted to envy the wicked, we need to remember the story of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31).
    5. Psalm 73:3 is an incredible Scripture. Asaph acknowledges that the wicked are foolish. And yet he admits, "For I was envious at the foolish."
    6. Unfortunately, there are many Christians who are envious of the foolish. Sometimes, Christian teenagers are envious of the unsaved teenagers (they get to do things we cannot do, their parents are not so strict, etc.). Young people: do not be envious of worldly, foolish teenagers. Thank God for godly Christian parents.
    7. And some Christian adults are envious of their worldly neighbors (bigger cars, nicer homes, more money). What a poor testimony when God’s people are envious of fools!
    8. The Psalmist looked around and when he saw how the wicked were doing so well, and he was puzzled (73:4-7). I was reading J. Vernon McGee and he told a story about how he and his wife lost their first baby. Right across the hall was a wealthy couple with a healthy baby. The wealthy couple drove a big new Cadillac, and Dr. McGee drove an old beat-up Chevy. The rich couple and their friends were drinking champagne and celebrating while the McGee’s were mourning the death of their first baby.<
    9. Dr. McGee says he walked out on a balcony that night and just cried his heart out. I think most of us have felt that way at one time or another.
    10. Asaph was surprised at how calmly the wicked faced death (73:4). I have been quite surprised myself -- to see a wicked sinner smiling and laughing when he is only minutes away from eternal damnation.
    11. Well may we be surprised, and saddened, and shocked at the false peace of the wicked as they slip off into eternity -- but let us never be envious of a deluded sinner sinking into the raging fires of hell. Asaph was not seeing things from God’s perspective. Later on, he does (cf. 73:18, 19).
    12. Oftentimes it appears to us that the wicked have an easy life (73:5-7). But the Bible says our life is like a "vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away" (James 4:14). The wicked seem to be doing well, but their prosperity does not last long.
    13. Like the rich man that died, and someone asked, "How much did he leave?" The answer: "He left everything."

II. THE BLASPHEMY OF THE WICKED WILL NOT GO UNPUNISHED (73:8-12).
    1. Next, Asaph says, "They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily" (73:8). Spurgeon said: "Their high heads, like tall chimneys, vomit black smoke." And it is against God that the wicked direct their blasphemies! (73:9-12). "And they say, How doth God know?..." (73:11).
    2. The wicked continue to blaspheme God, and think they can get away with it. They do not believe in the judgment of God.
    3. They may wear big crosses around their necks but they are worse than atheists! I remember working one "Ash Wednesday" with a RC man who had the filthiest mouth I had ever heard. He came back after lunch break with ashes on his head! (Ps. 73:8, 9).
    4. "They set their mouth against the heavens..." (73:9). Parents, we need to be careful what we allow our children to listen to. Wicked and filthy blasphemies are spewing out of the television set every day and every night.
    5. Children spend hours every day listening to that horribly vile noise called "rap music." These rappers take God’s name in vain, and they brag about their wicked lifestyle. Impressionable young people look up to these wicked degenerates and try to imitate them.
    6. Impressionable youngsters and worldly-minded adults admire these wicked celebrities but God says, "Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world..." (73:12).

III. GOD’S JUDGMENT UPON THE WICKED (73:13-20).
    1. There is a real shift here in verse 17 -- "Until I went into the sanctuary of God..." God opened his eyes. Things happen when you go to church and get in touch with God.
    2. Asaph now says, "Then understood I their end" (73:17). He saw the doom of the wicked. In his mind’s eye, he could see proud sinners being hurled into the abyss. He heard the blood-curdling screams of the damned as they were cast down into everlasting destruction (73:17, 18).
    3. They say the bigger they are, the harder they fall! Their eternal torment will be all the more terrible in contrast with their former prosperity. The worldly pleasures they enjoyed will make their punishment in hell all the more painful to endure (73:18-20).
    4. One preacher described their fate to that of a shellfish taken high into the sky by an eagle -- only to be cast down upon a rock and devoured (73:19).
    5. Proud, arrogant movie stars will strut across the stage to receive their golden awards. The rich and famous will all be there, dressed in their fancy apparel. But mark their end: "in a moment" they will be "utterly consumed with terrors" (73:19).
    6. Surely no one in hell will be impressed with their worldly awards and accomplishments! And here on earth they will soon be forgotten (73:20).

CONCLUSION:
  1. There are many, many examples in the Bible of wicked sinners prospering, and then being brought down "as in a moment" (73:19).
  2. Last night, as I sat in my study, I considered many of them.
  3. I thought of the untimely deaths of both King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.
  4. I thought of Haman, hung on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai.
  5. And then I thought of Herod Agrippa I (cf. Acts 12:21-24).
  6. Unsaved friend: God is good to those who are of a clean heart (Ps. 73:1). But God will most definitely judge those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ (73:18, 19).

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