Again, I invite you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Psalms, Psalm 73. We began taking a look this morning at Psalm 73. We were able to look at the first 16 verses and the first half of verse 17. We saw that this man, Asaph, was a man of God. He was acquainted with God, with the worship of God. And yet, he got his eyes off God when he saw the prosperity of the wicked. He thought that as a righteous man, he should have been treated or blessed with more material blessings than the wicked. In other words, he saw their prosperity and he envied And Asaph was questioning the manifestation of the goodness of God in his life. And if you remember, we saw that Asaph continued in this state, this condition of questioning until he came into the very sanctuary of God. It was when he entered into the corporate gathering of God's people in the place where the instruction of God's Word went forth that Asaph had a radical transformation in his thought process. This radical shift changed his heart and it redirected his thoughts. Again, we do not know the specifics as to what Asaph heard when he went into the sanctuary of God, but we do know that his mind was brought under the submission to God's Word as he considered the eternal state of the unrighteous and the eternal state of the righteous. All of a sudden, Asaph, in the sanctuary of God, understood the greatness and the goodness that God had manifested to him when he considered his salvation in the light of the wicked's eternal state. In other words, yes, the wicked may thrive and they may prosper, but their prospering is but for a moment. While the righteous enjoy eternal salvation. And so in this, let's continue in our look in this psalm in verse 17 as we continue to look at God's answer to Asaph's doubting. Let's read verse 17 again. He says, Until I came into the sanctuary of God, then I discerned their end. There, speaking of the wicked, he's in God's house and there he realized that the wicked has an end. He saw that the comfort they enjoyed now will be torment later. Asaph remembered that the present prospering of the wicked is temporary. And the present suffering of the righteous is temporary. That which they enjoy now is going to come to an end. The wicked may coast along for a period of time in this life, but in the end they're going to suffer eternally. See, for Asaph, the physical, material blessings and the stuff that the unrighteous had all of a sudden faded from his viewpoint when he realized, wait a minute, I may not have all of this stuff, I may not have all of this health, but I have something greater than that. I have salvation. Now prior to coming to the house of God, Asaph had a problem. He got into the trap of only looking at that which was before him. In other words, what Asaph did was he interpreted everything through the lens of his physical senses. If he could touch it, if he could feel it, if he could see it, if he could hear it, if he could taste it, then it was God's blessings. He trusted more in what He had the ability to interpret and then to trust God at His Word. His focus was on the here and now. His focus was today. It was on the tangible. He was walking by sight. He was not walking by faith. Pastor Steve Lawson wrote that the person with this problem can only see what is immediately under his spiritual nose. that which is temporal, physical, and earthly. He can only see the here and now. This psalm was written during a time when Asaph took his eyes off the Lord and focused on the prosperity of the wicked around him. This caused him to struggle and lose sight of the eternal because he was giving full attention to the temporal. In other words, what Asaph did was this. He was looking at the physical. And when he was looking at the physical, he was unable to see the big picture in what God was doing. Now, when you lose the force of the trees, it's a bad situation. But when you lose the force of the trees in spiritual matters, it may result in eternal death. See, Asaph could not at this point see the reality and the motivation of eternity because he was fixed on stuff. He was fixed on material goods. He was focused on what he could see and not living in faith and hope and in light of eternity. See, it was when he went into the house of God that his when he was there, when he had his reality check. It was in God's house that Asaph was reminded of the end of the wicked and his doubts were alleviated. No circumstance changed. Again, we don't know what Asaph's physical issues were. We don't know what his own issues were in this psalm. But nothing changed in Asaph. Nothing changed in his circumstances. The only thing that changed was his heart. Here he walked into the house of God with whatever he was going through. And in the house of God, God changed his heart while he was still in the same circumstances. See, our dealings with God's sovereignty and our response to them in hope and faith and trust is seen in believing Him when nothing externally changes. And that's exactly what happens with Asaph. So let's consider the end of the wicked here. Let's read verses 18-22. Of the wicked, Asaph says, truly you set them in slippery places. You make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors, like a dream when one awakens. Oh Lord, when you arouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. Let's just stop there. Again, we see in the psalm a predisposition to envy the wicked. But do you know this is not the only time you see this in the book of Psalms? Psalm 37, verses 1 and 2. It says, fret not yourself because of evildoers. Be not envious of wrongdoers, for they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. In other words, what Scripture is teaching us is that this is a greater problem that we have than we like to admit. We do see the prosperity, we do see what's going on in the wicked, and oftentimes we would like to have what they have. And Scripture says don't do that. But when it says that, it always directs our attention to their end. They thrive, yes. but for a moment. Their flourishing is but for a season. So in bringing this to our attention, God lifts our gaze from looking outwardly to looking upward towards Him. See, God calls us to regain an eternal perspective. God says to us, that which is physical, that which can be seen, is temporary. But that which is spiritual, that which is invisible, is eternal. So what are we focusing on? That which we can see or that which we cannot see? See, God brings us back to reality when He says that we are not to envy the wicked. They're the ones that are on the slippery slope. They're the ones that are going to be suddenly taken off guard by God. And what we need to do in our lives is this. We need to reinterpret what blessings and curses really are. So let me pose this question. Are material possessions and health necessarily a blessing? Let me repeat that. Are material possessions and health necessarily a blessing? Let me put it this way. What if you had impeccable health? What if you had a beautiful home, and you had an ever-increasing bank account, but you did not possess salvation? Is all of that stuff a blessing? See, we have to remind ourselves that the wicked today are the most comfortable they will ever be. While the uncomfortable state of the righteous on earth is the most uncomfortable the righteous will ever be. See, the wicked seem to be today in a stable situation in their security of earthly blessing. But in reality, again, look exactly what verse 18 says. They are the ones that are on a slippery place. All of a sudden, they will fall. Listen to the following words from Pastor George Horn. He's an 18th century pastor. He says, worldly prosperity is as the narrow and slippery summit of a mountain, on which to answer the designs of His providence, God permits the wicked, during His pleasure, to take their station, till at length the fatal hour arrives, when by a stroke unseen, they fall from thence and are lost in the fathomless ocean of sorrow, torment, and despair. One moment they are enjoying the lap of luxury and the very next moment they are standing in the judgment seat and God says, get away from me. Is all that stuff really a blessing? Could it be that the very poverty that we are in and the very discouragements and the dark providences that we are in, God is doing something in us that is unfathomably such a blessing that it takes the Word of God to lift our gaze from looking at that to seeing God doing something in that? In other words, if we look only at what we can see, we will always misinterpret it. We have to have the eyes of faith. These wicked, they're the ones who are going to suddenly slip, and they're going to be forever away from God in judgment. Suddenly, suddenly, and without notice, they're going to realize how miserable they really are. We have to remind ourselves of something. that there are peculiar dangers that exist with wealth and prosperity, aren't there? Now, if God chooses to bless you, praise Him. If He chooses to give you all of these things that we're talking about, wealth and homes and toys, praise Him for that, but understand that you now have a stewardship with those resources. But, with that said, Remember, stuff is where rust cleans to. You can't take it with you. It doesn't matter in eternity. And remember, Christ says that it is harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven. Let's just stop for a moment. What was Asaph doing? Asaph. was envying those people who were on their way to health. That's how crazy we get when we get our eyes off God. Peter Jeffrey wrote, what would you rather have? Good health or a safe soul? What would you prefer? Plenty of money in the bank or a spiritual inheritance? Do you really envy a man who is without Christ and therefore on his way to hell? So we've got to remind ourselves that often God gives prosperity to the wicked as a form of judgment to make them happy in their miserable state of being unsaved, unaware of their imminent future. Just because they got all the stuff doesn't mean they're being blessed. Often times, it's actually, in the long run, a curse. They're being padded in their miserable state, being deceived because of all this stuff, that they're actually happy. And one day, suddenly, without notice, BAM! It's gone and they're away from the presence of God. Now, at the same time, God will give affliction to the righteous to make us happy in God, in our present condition, by making us long for our eternal home. It's just like the wicked. They're prospering, but in a very moment, they're going to slip. They're going to fall to their ruin. In a moment, they're going to be swept away by terrors. And in this time when Asaph goes into the sanctuary of God, not only does he have a radical transformation of his thought towards the wicked, but he also has a radical transformation viewing himself when he was questioning God. Now, I do want a little participation here for a moment, and I'm doing this for a reason. Have you ever doubted God? Have you questioned God? Universal participation, this is good. I want you to listen to how Asaph describes himself when he doubted God. Verses 21 and 22. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant. I was like a beast towards you. Asaph said, when I was questioning God, when I was doubting God, when I was thinking that He wasn't blessing me. He said, I was ignorant. I was ignorant when I was questioning God. In other words, what seems so obvious to the casual observer is nothing but ignorance. As we've already established this weekend, doubts are native to the creature, isn't it? We all doubt. But do you know what every single one of us did or expressed when we doubted God? Ignorance. We express ignorance of God. Let me ask you a question. What creature would actually rise up against its creator and question him? Who raised their hand? Yeah, we're the ones that did it, aren't we? And so look what this says. Asaph said in verse 22, I was brutish. I was like a beast towards you. What's he saying? He said, when I was in the process of questioning you, God, I was thinking like an animal. He says, I was an unreasoned creature. It is only an unreasoned creature who would be having the audacity to question God. And that's what happens when we get ours off God. We become utterly foolish, utterly ignorant to even think that God would not be faithful to His Word and faithful to His character. But here Asaph is back in the house of God. His mind has been transformed. And now he is able to think rightly and clearly. He's able to interpret reality. And this is why Steve Lawson wrote, where the wicked seem to prosper more than the righteous, the believer's eye must be fixed on God and His goodness. God can give the believer a proper outlook on life and on earth. This perspective will dominate the believer's life, listen to what he says, only when he constantly focuses on God, trusting in Him alone. And this is why the Puritans would preach to themselves. always preaching themselves the truth of God. Their who? The character of God and their responsibility in relation to who God is. We must always, constantly, habitually come before the Holy God and have Him saturating our minds. And when you start doubting the next time, which may be tonight, let me just encourage you to say, shut up animal. Get behind me, animal. I'm acting like a brute towards you, God. Take this and let the Word of God wake you back into reality. We must maintain a biblical view of God to rightly interpret life's circumstances. And so here Asaph in this psalm begins by a great declaration of the goodness of God, in which from there we've been looking at his questioning of God's goodness that he just declared in verse 1. And he'd be kept in this process the whole time until he came into the sanctuary of God. In the sanctuary of God, he sees the end of the wicked. He realizes how brutish he's been. But you know what? The psalm's just warming up. Because our life and our ultimate motivation is not the end of the wicked. Our ultimate motivation for those who love God is our eternal state with God. Listen to verses 23 and 24. Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel and afterward you will receive me to glory. Asaph acknowledged the sustaining grace of God in his life. Do you remember this morning we talked about how Asaph almost slipped, he almost fell, and we said we're going to find out tonight why he did not fall. It says here in verse 23, Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You hold my right hand. Why did he not fall? Because God was holding him. In the process of doubt, God was constantly with him to ensure that Asaph would not fall. Now, the reason that Asaph almost slipped and did not completely slip is because God was manifesting His goodness to Asaph in the midst of Asaph questioning the goodness of God. Isn't God good? Hey, look at his perseverance. And he says in verse 24, you guide me with your counsel and afterward you will receive me to glory. Not only is God doing something now, but in the process of doing something now, he is preparing me for glory. Did you see the grace in here? This text is permeating with grace. Here you see Asaph doubts God. He questioned God. He acts like an unreasonable animal toward God. And what does God do? He guides him. He sustains him. He counsels him. He upholds him. God will never leave or forsake His children. No, what will God do? He's going to receive Asaph. As a believer, He's going to receive you to glory. See, what He's reminding Himself and us tonight is this, that the wicked have their fill on the earth, while the righteous have their fill in heaven forever. Why would we envy a person on their way to hell when you have glory awaiting you? And there is something the wicked do not have in all their abundance. See, their abundance is empty and meaningless. It is full of vanity. But our emptiness, the empty of the righteous is full of meaning. It is full of purpose. I want to make a statement to you and I want you to think about this. To have an abundance without God is to possess nothing. To have nothing with God is to possess everything. Do you believe that? This is exactly where Asaph is going to take us. See, not only does he see the prosperity of the wicked as fleeting as temporary in their eternal state, but he's saying, oh, when I die, when this world is over, I'm going to be with God in glory forever. And then listen to verses 25 and 26. He says, Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire beside you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Early in the psalm, he says, I want all their stuff. And I said, there's nothing on earth that I desire but you, God. See, he was lusting after the creation, and now as he went into the sanctuary of God, and God transformed his heart, he says, wait a minute. I don't want any of that. I want God and God alone. Because after all, for the one who has God, what else is there to have? He says, listen, there is nothing on earth I want more than God. He says, my flesh, my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Listen to what David wrote in Psalm 16, verses 5 and 6. He said, the Lord is my portion and my cup. You hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. David, like the tribe of Levi, he's saying, God is my inheritance. God is my lot. God is what I get. I don't need physical stuff. I don't need lands. I don't need mansions. I don't need bank accounts. I have God. And he says, I have a beautiful inheritance. Let me fast forward to the New Testament. Let me read this to you. This is what Jesus says in John 17, verse 3. She said, and this is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. Did you see how Jesus Christ defined eternity? How He defined eternal life? Eternal life is defined by Christ as knowing God. What is all of the eternal realities awaiting us all about? It is that for eternity we are going to be growing in our knowledge and our comprehension of the infinite God. We'll be worshipping Him forever. This is our good. This is the goodness of God toward us. Who needs all of that when we have God? That's what Asaph is saying. Just think about this. We who once were enemies of God have now been reconciled to God through the redemptive work of Christ. We were enemies of Him. We were separate from Him. We were in the domain of darkness and He transferred us to the dominion of light. God has taken us from being children of the devil to the children of the king. We are now His. We are His beloved. We are now sons. God is and ought to be everything to us. You know what Asaph is saying? He's saying that the only thing that matters in life is God. The only thing that matters is God. The wealth of the wicked is poverty, and the poverty of the righteous is wealth. Didn't Paul say the same thing in the New Testament in relation to God being everything? He says in Philippians 3 verse 8, Indeed, I count everything as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ." Christianity is about a relationship with Jesus Christ through the objective truth of God's Word. And each day we are faced with this question. Each time we are faced with the providences of God. And here's the question. Is God enough for us? God enough? That's the question we face every single time the providence of God hits our life. And please let me specify this for you. It's not just in dark times. What happens when God's providence comes along and gives you the raise? Does all of a sudden your happiness of God increase because you did get that? Do you get sidetracked because of that blessing? God needs to be the God of our hearts regardless of what takes place in our lives. Is God enough for us? In other words, if we lost everything and we lost everyone around us, could we still sing? Would there still be joy in our hearts? Would there still be a song? in our hearts. At some point, this is a hard statement, I understand. At some point we must come to understand that what happens on earth to us really doesn't matter. Because of what Christ has done for us. We've got to come to grips that this life is but temporary. And it doesn't matter what type of things happen to us physically, because what has Christ done for us spiritually? He has given us eternal life. He indeed is the only thing I desire. Now, I want you to hold your spot here, and I want you to go to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. And I want to tie this in to what we looked at last night. We're going to look at this a little bit in reverse order here. In Romans 8 verse 30, we read that those whom He predestined, He also called. And those whom He called, He also justified. And those whom He justified, He also glorified. There we see the great scope of eternity in relation to the believer God predestined all the way to being glorified. Now go with me to Romans 8 verse 18. Paul says, I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Paul's suffering in this stage between God's predestination of his salvation and his glorification. He's suffering, he's suffering, he's suffering, and what does he say? It's nothing. compared to doubt, which is going to be revealed to me. Go down to verse 24. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Here's this great promise. This is what God's going to do for us. He's doing all things together for our good. He's predestinous for salvation. He's predestinous for glorification. Here in this earth we are to live with hope stamped on our eyes, stamped on our hearts. What is it that we have hope for? What is Paul hoping for? Is Paul hoping for better circumstances? Absolutely not. Paul has a hope for glory. Paul has a hope for the glory of the future when he will be with the Father without sin, without distraction. He has his heart on eternity. And God has given us eternity as a motivation to give us hopeful perseverance in the circumstances He gives us. Our Christian life is not to be viewed in a better life now, but the better life in eternity. Our hope is not wrapped up in a better health report. Our hope is on the resurrected body with Christ forever. See, what Asaph did in Psalm 73 is he lost sight of the greatness of his salvation in the midst of gazing at the temporal. Have you ever done that? Have you got so wrapped up into the everydays of life that you forgot what an amazing thing it is that you're saved? When was the last time you really got a real big dose of how sinful your sin really is? Are you still just utterly shocked that God loves you? Are you just utterly shocked that He has bestowed saving grace on you? See, I think it's those like Paul who are utterly amazed that God would bestow His saving graces on them that says, wait a minute, this can happen to me now because I know what's happening to me in the future. See, when we have an earthly focus, that diminishes our heavenly view. And Paul reminds us here in Romans that our future glory motivates our present hope and trust in God. In other words, what our future glory does is it lifts our gaze from earthly disappointments and lifts our gaze to our future eternal bliss with God. So I want you to turn back to Psalm 73. Because Asaph makes it very clear. There's something about the wicked that he came to realize. There's something about him that he came to realize. They have eternal death. He has eternal life. Today on earth, there is nothing he desires more than God. But in order to have that glory, that God has prepared for him. He must endure this life of affliction and difficulty and disappointment, and he must do so in hope. In other words, what Asaph is telling us is this. We do not need more than God. We don't need more than God. If God, out of His perfect and lovingly and wise sovereign plan, chooses to bestow His goodness to us through hard providences, then God is enough. If God, in His goodness to us, decides to take away everything that we have, then God is enough. See, Asaph was deceived into thinking that what he wanted was their stuff. But when he went into the sanctuary of God, he realized he had all along what he wanted. And that was a relationship with God. He came to learn that God is His all in all. Verse 27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish. You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you." Summarizing what he's already said about the wicked, verse 28, but for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Lord God my refuge that I may tell of all your works. Asaph says that it's good for him to be near to God. What's the most important thing in your life? He realizes it's not all the stuff, it's not the health, it's not the prosperity, whatever you want to put in there. He says it's good to be near to God. He says communion with God, fellowship with God, prayer with God, that is everything to a child of God. Asaph loves God. He's a child of God who's not perfect as we've been reading in the psalm. But when he is transformed by God in the sanctuary of God, he says, wait a minute, there is nothing better for me than to be near to God. So God, if it takes heartache and affliction and despair and disappointment. If it takes me to go through the valley of the shadow of death for me to finally get near to you, so that the distractions of this world will be melted away from you, that this is my good. Do you view your relationship with God that way? That He can do anything and everything necessary to get you to where Asaph is now? to where you believe with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and all your strength, that there is nothing more important in life than God Himself. We also see in this another aspect of the nearness of God is this, that if you want to have a right perspective, on life circumstances, you need to be near to God. See, any distancing we have from God will always lead us to think wrongly about life. Because when you distance yourself from God, you are actually starting to think wrong thoughts about God. In order to think right about God, guess where you need to be? Be with God. You need to be near God. You need to be where He's at. So our best, Asaph is saying, is not a padded bank account. It's not shiny new toys. It's not a clean bill of health. It is being near to God. You know what God's good is? What God's grace is in all of our lives? It is Him making Himself known to us. That's God's grace. That's God's goodness. His goodness is that He has made Himself known to you. He has turned the light switch on in your heart. He has taken the veil that abided on your heart until it was lifted in Christ. He is the one who resurrected your heart. He is the one that has given you new life. If you want to know what goodness is, look at your salvation. There is nothing greater that we could ever be given but God making Himself known to us for our good and for His glory. Look at what it says in verse 28. It's almost kind of a crazy, shocking end if you think about it at first. And then it says, well, it makes sense. He says, I have made the Lord God my refuge that I may tell of all your works. See, now that he's been reoriented into the supremacy of God, now what does he want everybody to know? He wants everybody to know what he now knows. He wants everybody to hear and to know of the greatness of God. You know what we learn from this? One of the signs that we can tell if a person has been transformed by God is do they want other people to know God? Do we want the greatness of God, the goodness of God, the supremacy of God? Do we want His fame of His name to be spread to all peoples? Asaph didn't change and say, I don't want to tell anybody about it. This is about me and God. No, he wants others to know. But you know what? This is not the only time we see this. Hold your spot here and go to Psalm 51. Psalm 51 is an account after Nathan had confronted David for his sin. We're very familiar with this, but look with me at verse 12. Psalm 51 verse 12. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. Why does he want this restoration? Why does he want to reestablish communion with God? Why does he want a clean slate with God? Look what he says in verse 13, then. Why do I want verse 12? Because verse 13, then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will return to you. David says, listen, I want to be restored. I want to be renewed so that when I'm restored and renewed, then I will be able to tell others about you. A transformed heart wants the grace of God to be proclaimed among the people. And so Asaph has a fresh understanding of who God is and his desire is to excite others to see the goodness of God. Asaph desires people to stop lusting after the creature and start loving the Creator. I've tasted it. I've seen it. I've come from thinking this to now knowing this. And I want all peoples to hear how great and glorious our God is. And what was already said at the opening of the conference, what's going to happen when you tell people this? They're going to laugh. They're going to mock. They're going to ridicule you. They're going to think you're foolish. And you know what you're going to say? That's okay. Because I don't consider the present sufferings of this world anything to be compared to the glory that's going to be revealed to you. You can say, you know what, that's okay, because I don't have anything, and that includes your approval, that I want more on earth than God. God is everything to me. See, do we live our lives for things to change and people to like us, or do we do and live our lives because we want to live for the audience of one? Is God indeed our everything? See, it's only a God-centered view of all things that will keep us safely with God. And it will keep us from harmful temptations of envying those around us who are only enjoying fleeting pleasures. I want to finish this off tonight by quoting to you Steve Lawson's prayer at the end of his commentary on this psalm. Listen to what he writes. God, You shower unmerited blessings on those who are pure in heart. Keep us from envying the possessions of those around us. Grant us contentment with what You give us. It is good to be near You in Your sanctuary because You are the strength of our heart and our portion forever. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we do I so much want this to be true of our lives. It is easier preached. It's easier taught. It's easier sung than lived. But we know that by Your grace, by You upholding our hands, that we are able to endure. We are able to persevere. And Lord, when we do, You get the glory. You get all the honor. You get the praise, Father, because we know that we are unworthy and unable to do it on our own. Apart from Christ, we can do nothing. But with Christ, we can do all things. Father, I just pray that for all of us, that You would give us a fresh amazement of our salvation. Lord, that You would remind us how gracious grace is. That we would be just in awe that we have been taken as your enemy now as to being your children? Oh, Father, give us a hunger and thirsting for the future glorious state that You'll have us in. And may we, as Jonathan Edwards says, would You stamp eternity on our hearts. Lord, we want to live in light of the truths that You've given us. Now, grant us that ability. We ask in Jesus' name, Amen.