Have you ever envied someone else’s life? A few years ago, a friend bought a house and was excited to show me. I asked for some pictures, and he sent me the Zillow listing — sale price included. When I saw how much he spent on that house, I wish I could say: God, thank you that you are taking care of my friend so well and you’ve blessed him with this house. No, instead, my initial reaction was: yeah, if we didn't tithe or give, we could have bought a house like that too. In my flesh, I was envious even though I know it’s wrong.

Am I alone in that? Sometimes, it can seem like that people who aren’t following the Lord are doing better than the ones who are. And today, Psalm 73 reveals this tension for us. In this Psalm, Asaph asks hard questions in this Psalm like: Why does it seem like people who don’t follow God have it so much easier than me? Is God really good? Or am I just following him in vain?

Have you ever wondered those questions? Have you ever looked at someone who wasn’t living for God at all and thought: honestly, their life looks easier than mine? If that’s you, you’re in good company because Psalm 73 helps us answer those questions and see what path leads to sinking sand and what path leads to a rock-solid hope.

If you’re able, would you please stand with me as we read Psalm 73?

Why does it seem like good things happen to bad people?(Verses 1-14)

Do you sense the irony at the beginning of this Psalm? How does Asaph start it? He gives the Sunday School answer to the questions we asked already today: God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart (ie. whose love and allegiance is to the Lord). And then he immediately confesses that he has had a hard time believing in the goodness of God. Why?

His personal experience. In the next 11 verse, he goes on to share how he sees the wicked (ungodly) prospering and living great lives even though they reject God. Asaph sees things that make him wonder: is following God worth it? He sees that the wicked have: incredible wealth and resources which causes them to feel superior to everyone and accountable to no one – not even God. They also have comfortable lives where they don’t have hardships or pain like the rest of us.

While observing all this, Asaph is struggling – he sees that people who aren’t following God are doing just fine without him. They have wealth, social status, freedom, and more. Even though Asaph affirms God’s goodness in verse 1, he shares how he has felt jealous of the world and as we’ll see, this leads to a crisis of faith for him where he truly wonders: is following God worth it?

I’m a total nerd and like to read about the economic collapse of 2008 – I particularly am fascinated by one investment bank in particular: Lehman Brothers and their CEO, Dick Fuld. Between 1999 and 2007, Dick Fuld made approximately ~$484 million while his bank saw huge profits from investments in sub-prime mortgages. He was living the good life with homes in Florida, Connecticut, and Idaho.

And if we’re honest with ourselves, we can become envious of people like Dick Fuld. Why? Following Jesus is hard. C.S. Lewis wisely stated: (PIC) “I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”

We can all be tempted by the ways of the world. We may think things like:

·      It must be nice to just cut someone out of my life who’s annoying rather than reconciling with them.

·      It must be nice to not worry about things like sexual immorality, lust, or drunkenness.

·      It must be nice to not have to offer forgiveness to someone who hurt us.

Here’s what I appreciate about Asaph – he’s talking to God about these problems and being honest. He’s asking God: “From my perspective, it seems like they’re all doing pretty good.” And that’s what we can do too: we can speak to God about our disillusionment when it comes because disillusionment will come. Even Jesus modeled this kind of honesty — the night before his betrayal, he asked the Father, 'is there any other way?' Overwhelmed with grief, he still brought it to God rather than burying it. And so, there are always going to people who are not Christians who have a better life than you – that’s a fact. But, you don’t need to harbor this secret envy against them – talk to God about that envy. Express what you see to God and soon enough, you’ll join Asaph on climbing your way out of the insanity that envy can be.

So after listing out the ways the ungodly are living and how good things seem to be for them, Asaph reaches a crossroads. His envy has led him to a place where he reflects on his own decisions and where he needs to make another important decision: how he chooses to respond. Let’s see.

How will you respond when you envy those who don’t know God? (Verse 13-17)

Verses 13 and 14 are heavy – Asaph states that following God, making sacrifices for him, and more were all for nothing. He’s asking God: “after everything I’ve done, this is what I get?” I get a hard life with struggle after struggle where you rebuke me. Does it get any more real and honest than this?

Asaph is almost believing that he has wasted his life by following God. But, it’s also here where Asaph catches himself. He realizes this is serious business and his decisions and how he talks about his doubts will impact others in his faith community. He also realizes he’s getting too far up in his head and is all alone in this, he needs to see if there can be a different perspective on this issue. So, what does he do?

There’s an important word in verse 17 – “until” I went into the sanctuary of God then I discerned their end. Asaph re-joined his people in worshipping God and it was that act that helped him to discern the end or the result of the ungodly life choices. For us as followers of Jesus, Asaph’s sanctuary is only a shadow of the true Sanctuary that is to come through the person of Christ.

This is a critical moment for Asaph and it’s a critical moment for us. You may be in a crisis of faith right now or you will be in the future. The questions that Asaph was asking of God were good and they were honest. But, Asaph was also looking for answers too. We can end up in a dangerous place when we continue to ask God questions but don’t bother asking others for answers, reading his word for answers, or seeking him in prayer for answers. This is one reason why a local church is essential for believers – we’re supposed to ask the hard questions, listen to each other, and also help each other gain a different perspective. When we gather, we’re to look up to God through worshipping him in song, scripture, sermon, prayer, and the fellowship that we have. Do not forsake meeting together, encourage each other. Asaph knew that and that’s why he entered the sanctuary and it totally changed his perspective. Our perspective and grasp on things is not always accurate.

It reminds me of Kevin McCallister in Home Alone. Because he’s mad at his family, he wishes that he has no family. The next morning, his family forgot to wake him up to leave on family vacation and he’s home alone. Kevin thinks his wish has been granted and he’s so excited. But after awhile, his perspective begins to change. He realizes he misses his family and he’s grateful for them. It took Kevin losing his family to gain the proper perspective.

In contrast, Asaph didn’t have to hit rock bottom or allow his doubts to overwhelm him to force a perspective change. Instead, he took action by entering the sanctuary and everything changed for him.

When Asaph entered the sanctuary with God’s people, what was he reminded of? That’s where the Psalm takes us to next.

Where do the paths lead? (Verse 18-28)

Asaph was reminded of two things: the sinking sand of the wicked and rock solid hope of God’s generous love.  

The Sinking Sand of the Wicked

First, Asaph realizes the apparent strength of the ungodly is weaker than he realized. He says that God has set them in slippery places; he makes them fall to ruin. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus offers a similar warning: he says that people build their lives on all sorts of things like money, power, success, etc and they think they’re building their lives on a rock. But, Jesus reveals it’s all sinking sand.

Remember how I’m a total nerd and we talked about Dick Fuld, the CEO of Lehman Brothers? Well, in 2008, something big happened on Wall Street – the housing market crashed. And with it, Lehman Brothers lost billions of dollars and ended up closing its doors. Dick Fuld, the once mighty man of Wall Street, lost his reputation, a significant part of his wealth, and his company. His fortunes and company’s performance was all sinking sand.

Asaph realized that looks can be deceiving. God’s justice and judgment is true – for the powerful and prideful who reject God, God will reject them. Sure, the ungodly may be looking like life is going great for them but by choosing to reject God, they are going to face a sudden and terrifying wake up call.

After reflecting on the wicked, Asaph humbly repents in verses 21-22. He uses strong language in Hebrew – he calls himself stupid because he was so bitter towards God and in pain over his doubts. Now that he has a new perspective, he realizes the sinking sand of the wicked and pain that will come to them. So, he moves from repentance into gratitude of the wealth he has in God.

The Wealth of God

Asaph then goes on to list multiple ways that God has been rich and kind towards him in all his days: God has continually guided us and will continually be with us through the highs and the lows of our lives. God is continually guiding us to glory – that should remind us of Romans 8:28 (God works all things together for good…). God’s ways and commands may be difficult at times but he’s never asking us to do them alone – he’s leading us on like a parent teaching their small child how to walk.

That’s the wealth of God – his continued presence, guidance, and love throughout our life. In processing that, Asaph asks the question: who have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire beside you. Put differently, Asaph realizes that the ungodly value and treasure things that can disappear in an instant. He realizes the benefits of those things are just an illusion for now. He goes on to share that his heart and his strength may fail but God is the strength of his heart and his portion forever. He is still going to have troubles, questions, and doubts in his life but God will faithfully sustain him because he has promised to.

Towards the end of this Psalm, Asaph remembers that following God is where he should take refuge. God should be his safe place – he is building his house on the rock so that when the storms of life come, God will bring him through. Throughout this Psalm, Asaph was tempted to make those lesser things his refuge but he now sees the errors of his ways.  

For us today, how can we make God our refuge? How do we put into practice all that we just heard?

Jesus as the True Sanctuary (Verse 17)

And can you remember the sanctuary that Asaph walked into in verse 17? The place where his perspective finally changed? For Asaph, he walked into the Sanctuary – the Temple, remember?. But that was only a shadow of what was to come.  In John 2:19, Jesus tells the religious leaders that if they destroy the temple, Jesus himself will rebuild it in three days. He was telling them that he himself is the new temple and that even though he will die, he will rise back to life in three days.

So just like Asaph entered the Sanctuary and received new perspective, we are invited to enter into Jesus Christ through faith in him. Because In Christ, godliness proves to be great gain; but apart from him, godlessness is great pain.  That’s how we can summarize Psalm 73 today. What do I mean?

Godlessness is great pain. Psalm 73 helps us to see that the illusions of worldly wealth, power, and success will disappear in an instant. God is not impressed by position titles, 401Ks, or a fancy house. God is impressed by faith. Throughout the Old Testament, Israel loses the Sanctuary that was so essential for Asaph’s faith crisis. Why did they lose it? They turned away from God as their refuge – they placed trust in military alliances with other nations, they placed trust in gods that couldn’t save them, and they placed trust in the riches of the Temple. And God brought judgment on Israel by allowing them to be conquered and carried off into exile in Babylon. Their godlessness led to great pain.

In the same way, friends, our temptations to godlessness will lead to great pain – now and in the life to come. Instead, we must see that In Christ, godliness proves to be great gain. When you think of Jesus’ life, picture him walking through this faith crisis in Psalm 73. As Satan is tempting Jesus with promises of power and provision, Jesus had to overcome huge temptation. Those temptations promised Jesus an easy life with power but Jesus made God, his father, his refuge and he chose godliness.

That choice led him to the cross where out of love for people like you and me, he took the brunt of God’s judgment of our sin into himself. He was victorious over the powers of sin, Satan, and death by giving up his life out of love. And Jesus died but he rose again to new life so that we could live with resurrection hope – hope that our losses in life can be transformed for our good.

But, also resurrection hope that godliness, obeying God, and serving him actually leads to new life too. It leads to great gain – it leads to Jesus. It leads to life that’s built on a solid rock – that Jesus Christ lived, died, and rose from the grave. It means we can trust in God as our refuge because if he overcame death, he will help us through whatever it is we’re facing.

When we fall into envy, like I did when I saw the price of my friend's house., Jesus is wanting me to stop looking at them and start looking at him. Don't make a nice home or big salary your refuge — make Christ your refuge. So here's a simple practice: this week, when you catch that envious thought, say it out loud to God — 'God, I'm sorry for feeling envious about ___, forgive me. Jesus, be my refuge and sanctuary.' Because in Christ, godliness proves to be great gain; but apart from him, godlessness is great pain.