TEXT: PSALMS 73
TITLE: DOES IT STILL PAY TO BE A COMMITTED CHRISTIAN?
INTRODUCTION:
Psalms 73 was penned by a man named Asaph. Asaph was a Levite, who at the time of King David’s bringing the Ark of the Covenant from the house of Obed-edom to Jerusalem had been appointed by his brethern to be a minister of music as his nation experienced a return of the symbol of the Lord’s presence among His people. What a great honor to be chosen by his brethern to lead the worship of the Living God. What a spiritual mountain top he and his brethern were on in those glory days, but as we see in Psalms 73 Asaph was no longer on the mountain top, but now he is in the valley of despair.
It is now the heathens around him that seemed to be on the mountain top. He saw their Prosperity, their Problem Free Lives, and to pour salt in his wound he saw the Pride of these wicked heathens and the harder he tried to live for the Lord the harder seemed to be the blows life was throwing him. He says that he was on the verge of discarding what seemed to be his unprofitable Faith and casting his lot with the wicked, but he makes a final visit to the sanctuary of God and there he has what must have seemed to him a Burning Bush experience. In the light of God’s presence he has his eyes opened to see that as a Child of God he possessed unsearchable riches that the wicked who were prospering in this world could never obtain from the world. Two great blessing he and every saint of God possess that makes the Christian life worth living, whatever the cost may be.
In this day when the wicked are seemingly the head and God’s people are the tail, we are seeing millions that like Judas, who are selling out to the world and betraying Jesus for even less than 30 pieces of silver. This is a day of a great falling away. Lets follow Asaph into the sanctuary a rediscover our riches in Christ that make the Christian Faith more than worth it. Asaph saw he and all the saints possessed two unfathomable riches.
1. THE HELP OF GOD’S HAND (73:23)
A. We are Saved By His Hand (Exodus 13:14)
In Exodus 13:14 we are told that it was the “strong hand of the Lord” that had brought God’s people our from under the bondage of Egypt and Pharaoh. Their salvation was only possible because of the strong hand of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord.
It is told that D.L. Moody once passed a drunk laying in a gutter, upon recognizing Mr Moody the drunk greeted him and told him that he was one of his converts. Mr Moody responded by telling him that he must be his convert, because he sure was not the Lord’s.
We see so many who claim to be saved that it is clearly evident that the Lord never had a hand in saving them, but every true Christian recognize the Hand of God in their salvation.
i. His Hand Saved Us From the Pollution of Sin (Psalms 51:2,3)
ii His Hand Saved Us From the Power of Sin (John 8:34,36)
iii. His Hand Saved Us From the Penalty of Sin (Romans 6:23)
B. We are Strengthened By His Hand (Nehemiah 2:8; 2 Timothy 4:17; 2 Corinthians 12:9,10)
C. We are Shepherded By His Hand (Psalms 23; 73:24)
D. We are Secured By His Hand (Psalms 73:23; John 10:28)
E. We are Satisfied By His Hand (Psalms 16:11; Ecclesiastes 1:2ff)
F. We are Shaped By His Hand (Jeremiah 18:1-6)
11. THE HOPE of GOD’S HEAVEN (Psalms 73:24)
A. A NEW PLACE (John 14:6; Revelation 21:1-8)
B. A NEW PERSON (I John 3:2 “…we shall be like Him…”)
i. Pure in Character (I John 3:4 “…in Him is no sin.”)
ii. Perfect in Body (Philippians 3:12)
iii. Perfect in Mind (1 Corinthians 13:12)
iv. Perfect Satisfaction (Psalms 17:15)
C. A NEW PRESENCE (Revelation 21:3)
CONCLUSION:
In this upside down world it is easy for even a real Christian to quickly go from singing the Lord’s praises to singing the blues if we get our eyes off of Jesus and on to the world and the wicked who prosper in this world, but remember, for the lost, all they have or ever will have is only what the world has to offer and even that is short lived. Truly, there is no profit in gaining the world and losing your soul.
In these days we need to stay in the love of God to be constantly reminded how rich and blessed we truly are. No sane person would trade the Help of God’s Hand and the Hope of God’s Heaven for a few short years of worldly living.
~Jack Woodard
Jack Woodard's Blog 