Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
Therefore, pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them.
And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
~Psalm 73:1-16
In this passage, Asaph is wrestling with the question, “If I am faithful, why am I struggling so much? Is my faith in vain?” He says that being pure in heart and innocent has been in vain since he suffers and those who aren’t faithful to God live freely and full of life and wealth. How many times have we felt like Asaph, that our faith or labor has been in vain? I know for me it’s easy to feel that way when I am devoting my life to the church, yet I suffer from a despairing mental illness. He even says in verse 16, in the old NIV translation, “When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me,” He tried to make sense of everything, but claimed it was oppressive to him because he couldn’t grasp it. If we look to the New Testament, we see that this question is continuing to be grasped by even the most faithful of believers.
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
Paul writes here in 1 Corinthians 15:56-58, that our faith is not in vain because we have the victory in Christ. And that outweighs the powers of sin and even death. When we, who are perishable and mortal “put on” Christ, then death has no victory over us. This is why our labor is not in vain. Because our rewards are not earthly things, such as the prosperity that Asaph talks about in the wicked, but in fact, our reward is in heaven.
But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their wend.
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 awakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.
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.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
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.
Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause
~Psalm 73:16-28
The last half of this Psalm we see Asaph begin to make sense of everything. He doesn’t necessarily answer why bad things happen to good people, much like Job who set out to answer that question. But both of them are assured that God is with us regardless. Even when Asaph was grieved, embittered, and so distraught that he was senseless like a wild beast, God still held him in His hand. He says,
“My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
So, we may not know why we suffer in this life, but no matter how we feel, we still have the victory of Christ and the promise of a salvation where there is no suffering. We are guaranteed that God is at our side whether or not we feel Him there. To me, that offers comfort in the midst of crisis. I know things may not get better, but that’s easier to bear when we know have an ultimate salvation. This is how we see God working. That God desires faith that is longstanding, that we lean on Him in trouble, so that in the Day of the Lord, He will give us life. It’s easy to have faith when things are going well, but true faith can be carried through the fire of life and come out unscathed.
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