"Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon the earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever."
Psalm 73:24-26
Part 2
Yesterday: Asaph’s Comparison
“For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:3).
Today: Asaph’s Hasty Assumption: Living Right is Just not Worth It!
“Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency” (Psalm 73:13).
As Asaph dwells alone with his thoughts, he has persuaded himself that the ungodly life is really the “good life.” The wicked are the ones who can take it easy, and they just keep getting richer. They seem to be rewarded by God for their lifestyle because He never judges them. They seem to think He does not know what is going on on His earth.
Now is a dangerous time for Asaph, for he is questioning why he is trying to live right and to obey God. Why bother keeping my heart clean and my hands from sin?
“Poor Asaph! He questions the value of holiness when its wages are paid in the coin of affliction”[1] (Spurgeon).
In his way of thinking, the godly are supposed to have a comfortable life. They should never have any problems. We should be living like Adam in the Garden. God should reward believers for their faithfulness, not let them suffer at the hands of the ungodly! Or so Asaph had convinced himself.
He must not have remembered Job, a godly man who lost nearly everything he had when the devil was allowed to take it all away. The devil had argued to God that Job feared Him because of God’s blessing on his life. When God invited the devil to remove Job’s family and belongings, Job only thought the best about His God. In his poverty, he said,
“Though He [God] slay me, yet will I trust in Him: but I will maintain mine own ways before Him” (Job 13:15).
Asaph had not made this truth personal to himself yet. He said he had to deal with problems, “plagues” all day long, and that’s after being chastened each morning. He implies that God is chastening him, but He does not chasten the wicked (v. 14).
“As we would expect in a poetic outpouring, Asaph was exaggerating. The life of the wicked was not as good as he observed, nor was his life as bad as he felt it to be. Yet one cannot deny or contradict the feeling that prompted Asaph in this psalm, and we can instead strongly identify with that feeling”[2] (Guzik).
Believers, we are still human beings with the propensity to sin. If we let our minds wander to these kinds of thoughts that tempt us to think that God is not wise, fair, or good, we then have sunk to the same place mentally with Eve. Those were her thoughts before she ate the fruit! Can God’s child really drop that low? Yes, the devil will help! Asaph is here at this low point. What should he do next? Come back tomorrow, and let’s see.
Quote: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (James 1:12).
[1] C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, the electronic version in eSword. Psalm 73:13.
[2] Guzik, David. David Guzik’s Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword. Psalm 73:13.