Well, good morning. I’m Pastor Matt and I am the kids pastor here at Northwest and I’m just excited for this opportunity. Before we jump into our passage today, I just wanted to kind of tell you a little bit of a personal story about this particular passage. I can remember coming across Psalm 73 when I was a college student. And ever since then, it’s been my favorite chapter in all of scripture. It’s been the passage that I’ve run to more times than any other. I can honestly say that because, you know, sometimes I get off the rails, right? I lose my focus. I lose my way and I need something to bring me back. And God has always used this Psalm to kind of bring me back in focus. So that’s why I’m grateful for the opportunity to share this and walk through this with you today.

Because I think it’s safe to assume that we’ve all been at a point in our lives where we look and we think, man, none of this makes sense. Everything seems backwards. Everything’s upside down. What’s right is called wrong. What’s wrong, it’s celebrated. And those who honor God are mocked by those who mock God are honored. We don’t just see it out there in our culture. We see it in our day-to-day lives as well. Why are they so healthy? I’m so sick. Why does their business always seem to be successful? And mine’s always a struggle. Why does the person who couldn’t care less about God seem to have such an easy life? Well, I’m doing my very best to follow him. And it always feels like a struggle.

When you turn to Psalm 73, that’s exactly how the writer is feeling. See, Psalm 73 is one of the 12 Psalms of Asaph. Now, Asaph’s not a household name like David or Moses, but in Israel, he was incredibly important. He was appointed by David to lead worship before the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle. When Solomon completed the Temple, Asaph and his descendants led worship for Israel for generations. If you were around in Asaph’s day, you would have thought, now that’s a guy who’s got it all together. I mean, look at him. He plays instruments. He’s a fantastic singer. He’s a songwriter. His whole family is involved with him in leading worship. I tell you what, if Israel’s got talent was a thing, David would have smashed that golden buzzer, right? On Asaph. He’s the greatest worship leader of his generation.

That’s why his confession that we find at the beginning of this Psalm is so shocking. He says, “But as for me, my feet almost slipped.” You see, even one of the greatest leaders in Israel wrestled with the same questions that we wrestle with.

So let’s jump into this scripture today together. Psalm 73 says this, it says, “God is indeed good to Israel, to the pure in heart. But as for me, my feet almost slipped. My steps nearly went astray, for I envied the arrogant. I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”

So Asaph, he begins with what he knows, right? What he knows to be true. Before he tells us how he feels, he’s reminded himself about what he knows about God. God is good. That’s his starting point, right? But it almost seems like he’s saying, “I know this is true, even though I’m struggling to see it right now.” That’s a great lesson for us. When your feelings and God’s words seem to collide, always start with what you know to be true, not with what you happen to feel in the moment.

But right after he says, “God is good,” comes the turning point. Because he says, “But as for me, my feet almost slipped.” He knows that God is good, but it sure doesn’t feel like it right now. Why? Why is Asaph feeling this way? He tells us in verse 3, “For I envied the arrogant. I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”

Asaph doesn’t say, “I doubted God.” He doesn’t say, “I quit trusting God.” He says, “I envied.” The problem was not Asaph’s theology as much it was Asaph’s focus. His focus went from being on God to being on others. And of course, this always leads to comparison. And comparison has a way of making God’s blessing in your life seem tiny, and everyone else’s seem enormous.

If you’ve been there, if you’ve felt this way, I encourage you to stick with me today. Because as we continue through this psalm, we’ll see that this psalm isn’t about God blessing Asaph. It’s not making his life better. It’s all about how God redirected his focus.

Verse 4 says, “They have an easy time until they die, and their bodies are well fed. They’re not in trouble like others. They’re not afflicted like most people. Therefore pride is their necklace, and violence covers them like a garment.”

If I didn’t know any better, I would think that Asaph is scrolling through social media at this point. He says, “Look around! Everyone else’s life looks amazing! Their life is picture perfect!” Every vacation is just incredible! Every promotion gets celebrated! Every family photo has smiling faces. That anniversary, wow, it looks like a fairy tale! Every meal belongs in a magazine.

And after looking long enough, Asaph began to wonder, “Am I the only one struggling?” And eventually that question led him to believe that he was the only one struggling. And we could do the exact same thing. We can allow questions that we ask ourselves to become facts without really thinking it through, without really giving it due process, without really seeing the whole picture.

Sometimes it’s with our finances. We think, “Why did they never seem to worry as prices keep going up? Maybe it’s our health. Why did they seem to enjoy life? And I’m always at another doctor’s appointment. Maybe it’s our family. Why did their kids seem to make good decisions while we’re constantly praying for ours? Sometimes it’s work. Why does everything they touch seem to succeed? And I can hardly keep my head above water.

Do you know what envy does? Envy edits reality. Just like social media, it edits reality. Have you caught yourself doing that? You look at those vacation photos, but you don’t see the credit card debt. You see the promotion, but you don’t see the 80-hour work weeks or the important things that were missed to get there. You see the smiling family picture, but not the argument that took place three seconds before it was snapped.

Right? I have two teenage boys. Every family photo. It’s a total deception. Let’s be honest, right? It is, because two seconds before it’s like, “Get over here. Don’t do that. Stand up straight. Cheese.” Yes, you can leave now.

Okay, so we don’t see the whole picture, do we? We see that snapshot. We see what’s right in front of us. And we begin to compare. In comparison and envy, they always do two things. They magnify everyone else’s blessings while minimizing their struggles. At the same time, it magnifies my struggles and minimizes God’s blessing in my life.

As Asaph continues, he asks, “What happens to these people? What happens to the ones who ignore God and still succeed? They think that they don’t need God.” He says that pride is their necklace. Violence covers them like a garment. They’re not just proud. They wear their pride. They’re not just violent. They wear violence like it’s fashionable. What God calls sin, they wear like a badge of honor. And that’s the danger.

If our focus shifts from God to everyone else, before long we’ll find ourselves saying, “Sin gets celebrated.” Doing the right thing doesn’t seem to pay off. What’s the point? And before we know it, we might even quietly be asking, “Is following God even worth it?”

Verse 7, “Their eyes bulge out from fatness. The imaginations of their hearts run wild. They mock. They speak maliciously. They arrogantly threaten oppression. They set their mouths against heaven and their tongues strut across the earth.”

He says, “They have prosperity, but instead of being grateful, they’re greedy. Instead of being humble, they become proud. The success that they have, it doesn’t soften their hearts. It hardens their hearts.”

When verse 7 says, “Their eyes bulge out from fatness. The imagination of their hearts run wild.” In other words, they already have more than they need, but they’re not satisfied. Their hearts just keep dreaming of more, because after a while what happens to the wicked, it’s not the things or the stuff that they want, it’s just the excess that they want. Excess money and influence and power and control.

And what happens next? It’s not that they just begin to ignore other people. They begin to take advantage of other people. They mock. They speak with arrogance. They threaten oppression. They start to believe that they’re above everyone else. But the saddest part is verse 9. “They set their mouths against heaven. Their pride has grown so large that they’re beginning to believe that they’re above God Himself.”

That’s what pride does. It starts by making us think that we’re better than others, and eventually convinces us that we don’t need God.

And you might be sitting here today and you’re like, “Amen! Preach it, brother Matt! Tell those wicked people!”

But before we get there, we need to remember why Asaph wrote this psalm. He didn’t write Psalm 73 to expose the wicked. He wrote it to confess his own failure. Let me say that again. Psalm 73 is not about the wicked. It’s confessing his own failure. It’s not primarily about how bad they are, but it’s about how vulnerable we are. This is the testimony of a godly man who almost lost his footing because he took his eyes off of God.

Verse 10, “Therefore his people turn to them and drink in their overflowing words.” The wicked say, “How can God know? Does the Most High know everything?” Look at them, the wicked. They are always at ease, and they increase their wealth.

So this progression of envy is continuing here. He says, “Yes, they’re rich. They got it all together. Everything comes easy to them, but that’s not all. They have influence too. People are drawn to them. People listen to them. They hang on every word that they say. Their success has given them a platform regardless of how they got it. And because everything seems to be going so well for them, in verse 11 they ask, “How can God know? Does the Most High know everything?” They’re basically saying, “If there is a god, he sure isn’t paying attention to us.”

And this is where we see Asaph almost slip. He’s tempted to believe that God isn’t acting. He’s throwing his hands up in the air, and he’s saying their life keeps getting easier. Their bank accounts keep getting fuller. They mock you, and nothing seems to happen.

See, Asaph isn’t questioning whether God exists. He’s questioning whether God’s justice is visible. And he’s not quitting yet. He’s venting, but he’s reached this point where he can’t reconcile what he sees and what he knows about God.

And we’ve been there. We know the right answers. We know that God is good. We know he’s faithful. We know he’s in control. But you look around and you begin to think, “God, why aren’t you doing anything?” That’s exactly where Asaph is. But it’s also exactly where God is about to change his perspective.

“Did I purify my heart and wash my hands in innocence for nothing? For I’m afflicted all day long and punished every morning. If I had decided to say these things aloud, I would have betrayed your people. When I tried to understand all this, it seemed hopeless.”

Asaph finds himself now asking that if obedience to God doesn’t guarantee blessings from God, then what have I been doing? And here we see the problem. It’s a big problem. It’s been around a long time, and it’s still common today. Asaph is treating his relationship with God as if it’s a business deal. He says, “I’ve kept a pure heart. I’ve washed my hands in innocence, and I didn’t seem to get anything for it.”

And we do the same thing. We say, “God, I’ve been faithful. I serve regularly. I tithe every week. I obey. Now I’m ready for my blessings.” But that’s not what we’ve been promised. Jesus didn’t say, “Follow me for blessings.” He said, “Take up your cross and follow me.” And if we’re not careful or find ourselves asking, “God, I’ve kept up my end of the bargain. Why haven’t you kept up yours?” We need to remember that God promises his presence, his forgiveness, his eternal life, but never a worry-free life.

But things begin to turn here in verse 15. He says, “If I had decided to say these things aloud, I would have betrayed your people.” I’ve got to be honest, this one hit me pretty hard. He’s saying, “You know what? I have these thoughts. I have these feelings, but I didn’t broadcast them.” See, I need to remember that there’s a big difference between bringing my doubts and my fears and my questions to God, then spreading them to everyone else. Asaph is being very honest. He’s being real. He’s being open, but he’s also being careful. He’s also showing wisdom. He realizes that his words have influence, too. And he understood that there are some thoughts, some feelings that you need to take to God before you take them to anyone else.

I mentioned a few weeks ago when we were walking through Psalm 31 that God can handle your questions. God can handle our doubts. But just because God can handle them doesn’t mean that others can handle them, too.

Aren’t you glad that Asaph didn’t have Facebook? Instagram. Could you just imagine that the worship leader for the whole nation just tweets something out like, “What’s the point in living for God if the wicked get everything and I get nothing?” But he didn’t hit post, right? He didn’t make a quick, impulsive decision. He didn’t spread his doubts or his questions around. He paused.

He kept wrestling. He turns his thoughts towards God. And in verse 17, everything changes. Until I entered God’s sanctuary. Then I understood their destiny. Indeed, you put them in slippery places. You make them fall into ruin. How suddenly they become a desolation. They come to an end, swept away by terrors. Like one waking from a dream, Lord. When arising, you will despise their image.

Everything changes with that one word. Until. Up until this point, Asaph has been looking around. He’s been looking at the wicked, and then he’s been comparing them to himself. And everything seemed unfair. Until. Until I entered the sanctuary.

Where does Asaph go when his feet had almost slipped? He goes to worship. He doesn’t isolate himself. He doesn’t walk away from God. Instead, he runs towards God’s presence. He stopped worrying about everyone else, and he started worshiping God. His focus shifted. It was no longer on others. It was back where it belonged. It was on the Lord. His perspective changed. His circumstances haven’t changed, but his focus has.

So let’s talk about the sanctuary. When Asaph talks about the sanctuary, don’t get hung up on the temple or the tabernacle. Don’t get hung up on the physical location. The power was in the presence of God.

Here, Asaph experienced God’s presence. This is where Asaph focused on God’s word. He gathered together with God’s people. He worshipped. He prayed. He offered sacrifices. Everything in the sanctuary redirected Asaph’s attention back to God. And in God’s presence, Asaph stopped evaluating life from his own perspective and started seeing the world from God’s perspective.

Envy had edited his reality, but God’s presence restored it. And that’s when the blinders came off. He realized that he hadn’t been seeing the whole picture. He’d been looking at the present when God had been looking at eternity.

Verse 21, “When I became embittered and my innermost being was wounded, I was stupid, I didn’t understand, I was an unthinking animal toward you.”

Up until now, Asaph has been talking about them. They are wealthy. They are proud. They are arrogant. They are wicked. But now he’s pointing the finger at himself. And once Asaph saw the wicked from God’s perspective, he was finally able to see himself from God’s perspective. So he confesses.

“I became embittered.” Bitterness. Bitterness has a way of convincing us that God has forgotten about us while he’s still blessing others. He confesses, “I was stupid. I wasn’t thinking clearly. Like an animal, I could only see what was right in front of me. I wasn’t looking through your perspective, God. I wasn’t viewing things in light of eternity. I was just reacting in the moment rather than trusting in God.”

But here’s the amazing thing about God’s grace. Even after Asaph confesses how wrong he was and how embittered he was and how foolish he was, it doesn’t end with God’s rejection. It ends with God’s faithfulness. See, Asaph lost his perspective, but he never lost God’s presence. Listen to what he says next in verse 23. He says, “Yet I am always with you. You hold my right hand.” Yeah, he was bitter. Yeah, he envied the wicked. Yeah, he was foolish, but God was still with him. Isn’t that amazing that even though Asaph lost his focus on God, God never lost his grip on Asaph. When he was about to slip, God was already holding his right hand. That’s what grace looks like. That’s what security looks like. Our security isn’t found in how tightly we hold on to God, but how tightly he holds on to us.

Verse 24, “You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me up in glory. Who do I have in heaven but you? And I desire nothing on earth but you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Asaph is now looking back and realizes what God has been doing all along. When he felt lost, God was guiding him. When he couldn’t see the future, God already had it in his hands. When he feared that this life was all there was, God promised him eternity in glory.

And now we see another change in Asaph. At the very beginning of this psalm, we see that he wanted what the wicked had, the wealth, the comfort, the easy life. In verse 17, we saw that change in his perspective when he went into the sanctuary. And now here in verse 25, we see the change in his heart. Listen to what he says. “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.” Do you see that? His desires have changed. Now instead of things, he desires God. He doesn’t say anymore, “Lord, give me what they have.” He says, “Lord, you are enough.”

I think it’s also important to notice here that he doesn’t only say that you’re my hope for heaven. He also says, “You’re enough for me right here, right now. Earth has nothing I desire besides you.”

I think sometimes we think that Christianity is mainly about getting to heaven one day. And don’t misunderstand me. Of course, heaven is going to be incredible. We long for that day. There’s going to be no more sin and no more pain and no more death. And he will wipe away every tear. But that’s not what Asaph is celebrating here. He’s saying even before we get to heaven, while I’m still here on earth, you God are my greatest treasure.

What makes heaven wonderful isn’t the things that we’re going to see. It’s not the people we’re going to see. It’s that God is there. What makes heaven heaven is God’s presence. And Asaph realizes that I don’t have to wait to heaven to draw near to God. I can know him. I can worship him. I can trust him. I can walk with him. And I can do all of that now, here, today.

Verse 27. “Those far from you will certainly perish. You destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, God’s presence is my good. I have made the Lord God my refuge so I can tell about all you do.”

See, we see now how much the time that Asaph has spent in God’s sanctuary has changed him. He went from foolishness to understanding. He went from focusing on what is temporary to seeing eternity. He goes from envying the wicked to enjoying God’s presence. He finally realized what mattered most, not in receiving blessings, but just drawing near to God.

It’s almost as if Asaph is saying, “I was looking at the wrong things. I was chasing the wrong things. I was valuing the wrong things. But when I entered God’s presence, I discovered what I’d been missing all along, that God’s presence is my good.”

Do you see what worship has done to Asaph? When his heart changed, he’s not talking about others anymore. He’s talking about the Lord. He isn’t consumed by what everyone else has. He’s captivated by who God is. Because when your heart changes, your words change too. And that’s why he says, “So I can tell about all you do before we saw Asaph saying, “I couldn’t tell these things, but now I can tell these things.” That’s what worship does. It changes not only what you see, it changes what you say. We start being weighed down by burdens, but we leave with a renewed perspective. We come in focused on ourselves, but we leave focused on God. We begin with all these questions, but we leave telling others what God has done.

I think it’s important for us to remember that while these are Asaph’s words and in his testimony, they’re also God’s word. Sure, Asaph is opening up about one of the darkest spiritual battles in his life, but these aren’t just the words of a discouraged worship leader. The Holy Spirit inspired Asaph to write these words. They’ve been preserved in Scripture. They’ve been brought to us today because God knew we needed them too. That’s why Psalm 73 just isn’t Asaph’s story. It’s our story.

And I know maybe life might feel just as confusing right now as it did when you walked in here this morning. Maybe some of those questions are still there. But just as God changed Asaph’s perspective through his presence, he wants to do the same in us.

So what does that look like? What does that look like for you and for me this week? We need to watch our focus. Watch your focus. What’s going to have your attention this week? Is your attention going to be on the current events, news, politics, social media, your bank account? Is it going to be on others? Is it going to be on your neighbors? Or is it going to be on Jesus?

Remember, Asaph’s problem wasn’t his theology. It was his focus. So if I could just encourage you, spend time in God’s word this week. Get on your knees this week. Make worshipping him a part of all of your day. Worship him throughout your day. We sang this morning that when we turn our eyes upon Jesus, the things of this world grow strangely dim. Make that the cry of your heart this week. And remember that wherever your focus goes, your heart isn’t far behind.

If I could just encourage you, I just want to tell you, don’t wait until next Sunday to come into God’s presence. The same God who met Asaph in the sanctuary wants to meet with you every day.

So we need to watch our focus, but we also need to trust God’s timing. You see, one of the reasons why Asaph’s feet almost slipped was because he was evaluating things and he was evaluating others by what he could see in the moment. God was looking much further down the road. Asaph saw their temporary success, but God saw their heart. Asaph saw their comfort, but God could see their eternity.

One of the hardest lessons we have to learn is this. God’s timing is rarely our timing. Because we want God to settle every account today. We want him to display his justice today. We want the answers today. But God sees the end from the beginning, and that’s why we can trust him. Even when we don’t understand what he’s doing, when we don’t understand why his justice may seem delayed. We need to remember that God is never late. He just is not working according to our schedule. So trust God’s timing. God’s not absent. He’s just working according to a much bigger timeline than we can see.

Make God your greatest treasure. Yes, we want to enjoy and we want to thank God for his blessings. I thank him for my family and my health, my home, my job. I want to thank him for every good gift he gives. Asaph started this song wanting what the wicked had, but he ended by discovering something better. He discovered that the greatest gift that God could give him was God himself. So thank God for his blessings, but never loved the gifts more than the giver.

And my final thing to encourage you with today is this. Walk in God’s presence while you’re here on earth. Like I said before, we do long for heaven and we should. But remember this. Eternal life doesn’t begin when you die. Eternal life begins the moment you come to know Jesus. Asaph said, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.” So don’t wait until heaven. Delight in God now. Seek him this week. Find your joy in him this week. Enjoy his presence this week.

When Asaph did that, his focus was finally back where it belonged. You know, this psalm began with the words, “But as for me, my feet had almost slipped.” But God brought him to himself. And Asaph ends the psalm resting in this truth. “But as for me, God’s presence is my good.”

Let’s pray. God, sometimes that’s easy to say but hard to live. To just keep our focus off of all the things in this world that are distractions to us and that in our pride or our selfishness we desire those things. Help us to just desire you, God. Help us this week to turn our eyes upon you in those moments where we’re discouraged. When things seem upside down, when it doesn’t seem to make sense or when it seems like you’re far from us, God. Remind us that you hold us by your right hand. God, thank you so much. Thank you so much for your love, for your word. Thank you so much for your son, Jesus. It’s in his name we pray. Amen.

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