“The Final Answer for All of Us”

Psalm 73:16-22   If I had said, I will speak thus, Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of your children.  When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me.  Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end.  Surely you set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction.  Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!  They are utterly consumed with terrors.  As a dream when one awakes, so Lord, when You awake, You shall despise their image.  Thus my heart was grieved, and I was vexed in my mind.  I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.

A.   Looking around only made the psalmist envious at the success of the wicked, and looking within only brought up a personal turmoil and unrest—so the psalmist does the right thing in taking the matter to the throne of God (vv. 16-17).  We often want to take matters into our own hands, and the end result is that the situation is worse than it had been before.  Like King Hezekiah, we should spread before the Lord that upsetting letter, person, or situation, and let God bring the deliverance.  If all is done for God’s glory, there will be an answer that will glorify and praise His mighty Name. 

B.   Insights gained when we turn to God

1.    Understanding regarding the destiny of the wicked (v. 17-20)

a.     The future judgment of the wicked involved their destruction and desolation (vv. 18-19; Matthew 16:26; Matthew 25:41)

b.    The future judgment will involve a reckoning by God of their sins; which at present it seems as if God is asleep as He allows the wicked to continue

2.    Insight into the mind of the Psalmist (vv. 21-22)

a.     Asaph’s (the psalmists) problem was that he had employed the same standards of measuring success and values as the world used.

b.    Asaph realized that his wrong thinking was about to lead him to wrong living (living like a pagan without a Christian outlook).  He had not acted like a believer created in the image of God.  May God help you this week not to fall into Asaph’s thinking.  Stand firm for the Lord.