The Struggle of Asaph and the Goodness of God

Psalm 73
December 12, 2021
Abraham Hong

Sermon Script

As we wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, there can be times in our lives when we look at people in this world who do not repent of their sins and do not believe in Jesus and we slip and stumble because we are envious of them and because we forget that our God is good.

This is a very real thing. We might look at how non-Christians live and wonder about how nice it would be if we lived like them. We might hear how non-Christians talk and wonder about how cool it would be if we talked like them. We might know how non-Christians think and wonder about how good it would be if we thought like them. And so we are tempted to go down this path. Because we are envious of them. And because we forget that our God is good.

Have you ever wondered if it is really worth being a Christian? Have you ever wondered if God is really worth it? If so, then you are not alone.

Psalm 73 is a story about a man named Asaph as he went through this struggle. Asaph was a singer and a musician who served in the temple worship of God during the time of King David. He authored many psalms in the book of Psalms. And Psalm 73 is an honest and heartwarming story about his faith and his struggle as he waited for the promise of Christ Jesus.

What exactly did Asaph see in unrepentant people? He saw how they lived. And in his eyes, they looked like they were blessed. They had prosperity. They didn’t experience pain (having no pangs until death). They had more than enough to eat and drink (having bodies that were fat and sleek and eyes that were swollen out through fatness). They were not in trouble or stricken as others were. They were always at ease. They increased in riches. Asaph saw all of this. And in his eyes, unrepentant people enjoyed the good life.

All of this led to profound struggle in Asaph. And I’m sure that all of us can relate. Asaph thought that keeping his heart clean and washing his hands in innocence was all in vain. We too may start to believe that righteousness and holiness and obedience to God does not pay off when we see corrupt people win and evil people reap rewards because of how they do things in life. Asaph admitted that God’s people are tempted to turn to those who do not repent of their sins and believe in Jesus and tempted to find no fault in them. We too may start to believe that the viewpoints and choices and lifestyles of such people are actually good - and we may start to go along with them, thinking that there is nothing wrong with them. Asaph was persecuted by the world. He was stricken all the day long and rebuked every morning. We too may change our minds when we go through persecution and suffering because of our faith in Christ. Asaph struggled through all of this.

And Asaph admitted some very sad and sinful things about himself. He admitted that he was envious of the unrepentant. There was deep discontentment in his heart. He saw what he didn’t have, he saw what the unrepentant had, and his heart was filled with desire and covetousness and jealousy. This is so sad. Asaph also admitted that his feet had almost stumbled, that his steps had nearly slipped. He was headed toward a life of walking in the counsel of the wicked and standing in the way of sinners and sitting in the seat of scoffers. He almost threw away his commitment and his character. But what is most heartbreaking is this. Asaph admitted that he was foolish toward God. When his soul was embittered and when he was pricked in his heart, Asaph was brutish and ignorant and like a beast toward God.

And so Asaph, our brother in Christ, struggled. Dear Highland, have you ever struggled like this? Are you struggling like this now?

Perhaps you are envious of non-Christians and their good lives. Perhaps you like their thoughts, their words, their plans, and their stuff. Perhaps you want to eat like them and drink like them and look like them and roll in money like them. Perhaps you’re tired of being a Christian who is a loser in this world and not a winner in this world. Perhaps your heart is full of discontentment. Perhaps you’ve thought about throwing away your Christian life and running away from church and moving on from God. Perhaps you’ve pondered whether it is worth it love and serve and obey and follow Jesus.

If so, then look at how Asaph got through his struggle. And look at what happened to him. By God’s grace, Asaph remembered and believed that judgment and justice comes for those who do not repent of their sins and believe in Christ.

God loved Asaph. So when Asaph went into the sanctuary of God, that is, when God brought him to church (the Old Testament church), when God put him under his holy and perfect and life-living word, when God made him see the sacrifices that were being made in the temple and all the blood and all the death that pointed forward to Christ Jesus and his gospel, when God gave him a reality check and through the temple showed him the heavenly realities that and when God drew him near to the throne of grace, God cleaned up Asaph’s mess and God gave Asaph discernment, wisdom, understanding. And from that, Asaph knew their end. By God’s grace, he remembered what was going to happen to the very people that he envied. Praise be to our God. God loved Asaph. Even though Asaph was brutish and ignorant and like a beast toward God, God was patient toward Asaph. God caught Asaph and stopped the stumbling of his feet and the slipping of his steps. Asaph left God. But God did not leave Asaph.

And so Asaph remembered and believed that judgment and justice comes for those who do not repent of their sins and believe in Christ. Asaph remembered who they really were. And Asaph remembered what God was going to do to them.

Asaph remembered who they really were. They were arrogant and wicked. Pride was their necklace and violence covered them as a garment. Their hearts overflowed with follies. They scoffed and spoke with malice. They loftily threatened oppression. They set their mouths against the heavens. Their tongue strutted through the earth. And they said, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” Asaph remembered who they really were. And therefore, suddenly, their lives were not appealing to Asaph anymore. There is nothing good about living life with no fear of God. There is nothing good about flaunting sin. There is nothing good about speaking against God and against his people. There is nothing good about being blind to the truth and rejecting the reality of what is eternal and glorious and trading it all for a bowl of stew (#esau).

And Asaph remembered what God was going to do to them. Asaph declared that God will set them in slippery places and make them fall to ruin. Asaph believed with all of his heart, soul, strength, and mind that God will destroy them in a moment, that God will sweep them away by terrors, that God will despise them, that God will reduce them to nothing, like a dream without weight or substance or glory, that God will put an end to them. In other words, right now in this life on earth they may be blessed. But they are not ultimately blessed with forgiveness and eternal life with Jesus. In other words, their thoughts, their words, their plans, and their stuff is all worthless. They are not the true winners. They are the true losers. Their fat and sleek bodies will burn in hell forever. There is nothing to be envious of with them.

But there is one final thing that happened to Asaph. He was reminded of the simple but glorious fact that God is good.

Truly God is good to Israel. Truly God is good to his people, to his church. God made amazing promises to us in his covenant of grace. God brought us out of Egypt and into Canaan. God removed our enemies. Asaph remembered all of this. The goodness of God.

Dear Highland, truly God is good to you. You have it way better than the rest of the world that does not repent of their sin and believe in Jesus. God has forgiven you of your sins. God has given you eternal life. God has given you a home and a place at the banqueting table of the kingdom of the new heavens and new earth. Truly God is good to you.

Jesus lived a perfect life of righteousness and obedience to the law, and he credited all of that to you so that you are now declared righteousness in him. Jesus suffered and died for your sins as a substitutionary sacrifice in place of you so that you are free from the penalty of eternal death in hell. Jesus rose again from the dead and he guarantees that you will rise from the dead just like him at the end of your life.

The Holy Spirit dwells in you right now. He is working in your life to sanctify you through the word. He intercedes for you and helps you to pray. Truly the Holy Spirit is good to you.

And Jesus is the one who fulfills Psalm 73. Asaph is the voice of the earthly king of Israel in Psalm 73. But Jesus is the true eschatological king of Israel in Psalm 73. As our representative, Jesus’ feet never stumbled. His steps never slipped. When he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness in Matthew 4, Jesus did not desire earthly bread that would make his body fat and sleek. Instead of commanding stones to become loaves of bread, he said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” As our representative, Jesus did not go against the will of his Father, setting his mouth against the heavens or betraying the generation of his children. When the devil told him to throw himself from the pinnacle of the temple and be rescued by angels, he said, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” As our representative, Jesus did not make pride his necklace. And so he said to the devil, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Jesus’ heart was pure. He was clean and innocent of sin. Righteousness and obedience to the law covered him as a garment. And yet, he was despised and rejected and oppressed and afflicted by men (Isaiah 53). And yet, he suffered and died on the cross for our sins. For all of this work, for all of this love, Jesus was exalted by the Father. The Father held up the Son’s right hand, the hand of power and majesty. Heaven received Jesus into glory. Jesus did all of this. He did all of this for your salvation.

Asaph said it so well. Dear Highland, remember that God holds your right hand. You are continually with God. God guides you with his counsel. God will receive you to glory. God loves you. Dear Highland, truly God is good to you.

And Asaph’s response to God’s goodness is so good. It’s a response that we all should want to have. Asaph wrote: “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.” Asaph desired God himself. He valued his relationship with God as more important than any other. He understood that God was his Creator, that his life was defined by God and given by God, and that he owed everything to God. Asaph wrote: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Asaph’s believed that God sustained him. God was his main reason to keep on going. God was his portion forever. This means that God himself was his inheritance and his treasure. Asaph loved Jesus. He didn’t need or want what the rest of the world had. He had Jesus. And so for him, it was good to be near the Lord. And it was good for him to tell others about all of God’s works, about the salvation of Jesus Christ. Instead of envying unrepentant people who seemed to have everything, Asaph pitied them because they really had nothing. And so he was going to evangelize to them.

Dear Highland, when you struggle, I hope that you would remember the goodness of God. Truly God is good to you. And I hope that you would be able to speak like Asaph did here in Psalm 73. It will be really cool when you meet Asaph face to face in the kingdom of the new heavens and new earth. I hope you would share with him how Psalm 73 was such an encouragement to you. Dear Highland, you are not alone. You are not alone in your struggles. May Psalm 73 really become your own psalm for your own life. You have hope. You are set for life - for eternal life. You now have nothing to lose. The war is over. Your sin has been conquered. Your earthly death has no sting. You are a new creation. You have a happy ending to your story - an ending that will never end. You have absolute reason to be joyful. Why? Because truly God is good to you.

Soli Deo Gloria