The text for the sermon this morning is Psalm 73. We'll read that in a moment, but before I do, I'd like to first read the first chapter of Leviticus. Leviticus 1, verse 1. Listen to the word of your God. The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, speak to the Israelites and say to them, When any of you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock. If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to offer a male without defect. He must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord. He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. He is to slaughter the young bull before the Lord, and then Aaron's sons, the priests, shall bring the blood and sprinkle it against the altar on all sides at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He is to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. The sons of Aaron, the priest, are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. Then Aaron's sons, the priests, shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the burning wood that is on the altar. He is to wash the inner parts and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. If the offering is a burnt offering from the flock, from either the sheep or the goats, he is to offer a male without defect. He is to slaughter it at the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall sprinkle its blood against the altar on all sides. He is to cut it into pieces, and the priest shall arrange them, including the head and the fat on the burning wood that is on the altar. He is to wash the inner parts and the legs with water. And the priest is to bring all of it and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. If the offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, he is to offer a dove or a young pigeon. The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off the head and burn it on the altar. Its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. He is to remove the crop with its contents and throw it to the east side of the altar where the ashes are. He shall tear it open by the wings, not severing it completely. And then the priest shall burn it on the wood that is on the fire on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. Now let's also turn to the text, Psalm 73. The psalm has a title, a psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost slipped. I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles. Their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man. They are not plagued by human ills. Therefore, pride is their necklace. They clothe themselves with violence. From their callous hearts comes iniquity. The evil conceits of their minds know no limits. They scoff and speak with malice. In their arrogance, they threaten oppression. Their mouths lay claim to heaven and their tongues take possession of the earth. Therefore, their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance. They say, how can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge? This is what the wicked are like. Always carefree, they increase in wealth. Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure. In vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued. I have been punished every morning. If I had said, I will speak thus, I would have betrayed your children. When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me. Till I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground. You cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors. As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies. When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you. You hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel. And afterward, you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish. You destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge. I will tell of all your deeds. May God bless the reading of His Word. Beloved congregation of Christ, brothers and sisters, Psalm 73 deals with suffering. Many of us, young and old, know something about this subject. I don't know you that well as a congregation, but from what I've heard over these last couple of days, I understand that some of us have experienced suffering with respect to our health, both physically and mentally. Some of us have suffered watching close family members struggle with various health issues. Some of us have experienced suffering and having a loved one pass away in difficult circumstances. For many of us, I'm sure, suffering has been an all-too-real part of our lives. And it often leaves us with questions that don't seem to have any answers. And it gets complicated when we start comparing our lives with the lives of others. Even more complicated when we look at the lives of those who disregard the Lord. We see unbelievers, and they seem to have it all together. Those who disregard the Lord the most often seem to have the greatest material prosperity. People in the entertainment industry, for instance, they have a high profile, and we notice too. We notice that they don't live in recognition of who God is. They don't live in submission to the King of kings and Lord of lords, but yet they seem to have the best of everything. And when we see this situation, the righteous suffering while the wicked apparently prosper, when we see this, we might be tempted to wonder about God. About who God really is. Is God really good? Does God really care? We might be tempted to doubt what He's up to in this world. Is God really in control? Or are there maybe some things that just slip out of His hands? Things that are beyond His control? These are the kinds of questions that are at the heart of Psalm 73. That's why I've chosen to summarize the sermon with this theme, A Believer Struggles with Doubts about who God is and what He's doing. This psalm is kind of like a journey. And as we move through the psalm, we go through several different landscapes. There are hills and there are valleys. There are also different characters along the journey. For instance, there's a psalmist. The psalmist, we're told in the title, is Asaph. Asaph was a real person who lived during the time of David and Solomon. Other characters in this psalm include God, children of believers, and then, of course, also the wicked. Asaph poetically paints a picture of how he traveled through this landscape with these characters. Now, the main character, God, led him on his journey to understand what he saw going on around him. Now, perhaps we might think it's strange, but the psalm begins with a conclusion. Of course, it also ends with a conclusion. There's a close connection between the first verse and the last verse of the psalm. It's like a sandwich. You know, verse 1 and verse 28 are the bread. In both those verses, there's one word that figures prominently, and it's the word good. Asaph wants it to be abundantly clear that he struggled, but at the end, he was assured of God's goodness. He wrestled with the issues, but in the end, there was no doubt about the conclusion in his mind. God is good to his people. Those who love God, those who seek to follow him, they do experience his goodwill towards them. And for us today as New Testament believers, we know that this goodness is experienced because of who Christ is for us. His purity of heart is ours. His act of obedience is ours. And that guarantees God's loving kindness towards us, no matter what circumstances we may be facing in our lives. So right at the beginning, we're assured that this is no dark psalm. This isn't a psalm like Psalm 88. A psalm that just doesn't have a happy ending. Well, in verses 2 and 3, we begin the journey with Asaph. He'd spoken of Israel in verse 1, and now he wants to get personal and autobiographical. He says that his feet had nearly slipped. He had nearly lost his foothold. It's just a poetic way of saying that he had almost lost his faith. Almost lost his trust in God. Almost gave up, actually, on being a believer altogether. He saw something that really threw him for a loop spiritually. He'd always been taught that blessings come to those who trust God. Curses come to those who rebel against Him. Somebody like Asaph would have been familiar with a passage like Deuteronomy 28. That passage speaks about the blessings and the curses of the covenant. And that's just one passage among many that teaches these basic truths. And in verse 3, he tells us that he envied the arrogant. He had observed these people and he wanted what they have. He saw the wicked in their prosperity. And literally, the Hebrew word there for prosperity is shalom. You know, shalom is the well-known Hebrew greeting. And it indicates peace and wholeness. Having it all together. And so, the wicked have this shalom. They've got it all together. Everything's going for them. And sometimes we see the same thing, don't we? We can look at those who arrogantly think that they can live their lives without God. They live their life however they want. And perhaps something in us stirs. And we begin to think that maybe we're missing out. Maybe we're missing the boat. Why can't I go out on a Friday night and just do whatever I want? Why can't I turn on the TV or the computer and just look at or watch whatever I want. Perhaps we don't want to admit it, but we see the world at war with God and sometimes we get jealous too. We so easily forget about our identity in Christ. We forget, maybe we do it deliberately, maybe we do it in ignorance, but we forget about wanting what Christ wants. In verses 4-12 of Psalm 73, we have a little bit of an expansion on what Asaph saw was happening with the wicked. When he had a look, he saw that they don't struggle. Believers have to work. Believers have to fight an inner battle against sinful desires and thoughts. Believers struggle with existence in a sinful and broken world. But unbelievers, they just seem to go their merry way. And so the grass looks greener on the other side of the chasm. Unbelievers don't seem to struggle with health issues. Well, we know that all of this is not exactly the case. But Brother Asaph seems to have had a kind of tunnel vision. He could only see one set of facts. He saw what he wanted to see. He knew that believers were suffering and he knew that there were plenty of unbelievers who didn't suffer. So he focused on that. Now forget about the believers over there who are blessed and who don't suffer. Forget about the unbelievers over there who struggle and who have sickness in their bodies and minds. Instead, they had tunnel vision. And in verse 5, we see the same problem. According to Asaph, all the unbelievers are free from burdens. Things don't weigh them down. Unbelievers are not plagued by sicknesses. Unbelievers don't get cancer. They don't get depressed. They don't have addictions. They don't suffer from disordered eating. Unbelievers never have heart attacks or strokes. Never have difficulties in their families. Well, this is totally not the way it is. But Asaph's tunnel vision didn't allow him to look beyond a small group of people who looked like they had it all together. In the next verse, Asaph gives a couple of word pictures that powerfully portray what he's seeing at this moment. He's seeing people who are wearing the beautiful jewelry of pride around their neck. They're proud to be proud. And they have a coat called violence wrapped around their shoulders. All this is to say that these people, they see no shame in these things. They're saying, boast in your pride, boast in your violence. they have callous hearts which bring forth more and more sin they have no limits when it comes to evil when they talk it's with mockery and wickedness they show their pride to greater and greater degrees and they threaten whomever they can oppress and that not only extends to their immediate surroundings and their arrogance they even pretend to have control of heaven and earth the whole universe they think is their oyster. And we come to verse 10. There's some difficult Hebrew there. And its meaning is uncertain. But I think it probably means that even though these people are so wicked, people are still going to them. Looking up to them. Lapping up their words like a thirsty dog on a hot summer day. And then in verse 11 we find that these unbelievers, they know that there is a God, but they don't look at Him as being all-knowing. If there is a God who is holy, if there is a God who will judge them at some point, they think that they can sneak around behind His back. He'll be so busy with other things that He won't notice what they've been up to. And when the time comes for judgment, sure, they'll have to give an account of themselves, but then they can just say whatever they want. He won't know that they're lying. Then the last verse of this section, it confirms it. It's like Asaph is pointing his finger at these people and he's saying, look at it. There they are. Have a look and see if it isn't so. They live carefree lives and rather than suffer their health and wealth, they only get stronger and stronger. And then he becomes a bit introspective. He says, and then there's me. I've tried to live according to God's ways. I believed the promises. I lived out of faith. But it's been useless. It's all been in vain. It didn't give any results, any tangible results for the here and now. In fact, rather than resulting in blessings, Asaph's faith, his obedience, resulted in plagues and what appeared to be God's discipline. Asaph thought he was being punished for his righteousness. Now when he says this, we need to draw out the implication that's being given here. Basically, Asaph is wondering about what kind of a God he believes in. Is this God really good when he punishes people for living out of faith? Does God really care? Does God really see when the wicked are so arrogant and they slap him in the face? Is God on a holiday? And all these questions troubled Asaph. They can sometimes trouble us as well. But then notice what happens in verse 15. If I had said, I will speak thus, I would have betrayed your children. Asaph had been thinking about these questions. They really bothered him. But he didn't speak them out loud. And it was a good thing too. Because if he had, he could have put a stumbling block out for the next generation. Asaph wasn't just thinking about himself and his personal struggles. He also gave attention to the next generation, to the children. When we struggle with faith issues, that's something that needs our consideration as well. When we struggle with who God is and what He's doing in our lives, You've got to think carefully about who we verbalize those struggles to. There are certain people you can definitely talk to, including your pastors and your elders. There are people who can help. But there are other people, especially children and those who are less established in the faith. Voicing your questions and your doubts to those kind of people could destroy them. Now, you may end up eventually getting an answer to your struggles. But it may not be an answer that satisfies others in whom you've planted your doubts and questions. Think of the words of the Lord Jesus about causing little ones to stumble. Remember what he said about the millstone around the neck being tossed into the lake? So Asaph tried to wrap his head around what he was seeing. And he just couldn't make sense of it. He says that it was a serious struggle for him. It was oppressive. Verse 16, when I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me. But then in the next verse, something happens. Everything changes. Dawn breaks into Asaph's darkness. And what is it that brings understanding in verse 17? What brought about the end to Asaph's frustration and oppression? It says that he went into the sanctuary of God. And then he understood the final destiny of unbelievers. The wicked. Now how should we understand this? Now through the ages there have been many different understandings of this text. John Calvin, just to give one example, understands sanctuary to refer to what he calls the celestial doctrine. In other words, the psalmist reflected upon the Word of God and by doing that, he came to understand what happens to the wicked. A more recent commentator suggests that Asaph went to the temple courts and he saw a wicked man have a heart attack and die. It's getting there, but it's still speculative. We don't read anything about a heart attack and people dying. Now, this verse is the critical turning point of the psalm. And so we need to think about this issue very carefully. And the best way to approach it is by asking about that word sanctuary. In the Old Testament, that word in Hebrew is used most often to refer to the temple or to the tabernacle. Well, we can take our starting point in that. We know that Asaph lived both before and during the existence of the temple in Jerusalem. So it could refer to the tabernacle, but just to make it a little bit easier, let's just assume that he was referring to the temple. Either way, it doesn't make a whole lot of difference as we're going to see. In verse 17, Asaph tells us that he went to the temple, let's say. The problem is still bothering him as he makes his way there. But when he comes to the temple, all of a sudden it becomes clear to him. What brought about this sudden burst of light? Well, to answer that question, let's go back to the temple during the time of Asaph. Let's imagine for a moment that we're walking to the temple courts and the temple complex, that we are entering into the sanctuary of God. There we are, traveling through the ancient streets of Jerusalem. As we do that, we hear an intense cacophony of sounds. For instance, there's singing. Beautiful singing. Shivers down your back, puts goosebumps on your arms. There are other sounds too. The sound of death. As we get closer to the temple, we realize that all these sounds are coming from within the sanctuary of God. From within the temple courts. As we draw closer, we see that there are people and animals all around. There's the earthy smells of sweat, dirt, and manure. Those smells, they hang in the air and they creep into your nostrils. And so finally, we get to the entrance to the temple courts. There's some stairs there. We climb up those stairs and we go through the outer courts and then we go into the inner courts. And by this time, the noises have become even louder. We have a look around. And the very first thing that gets our attention is the altar. And behind it is the huge bronze laver for the ritual cleansing of the priests. These things are gold and they're all very beautifully decorated. And on the altar there's a fire. A fire which the Bible tells us burns night and day. And it's a big fire. And you can feel the heat that that fire is giving off. The priests are there and they're busy. They're placing sacrifices on that altar. And they're spreading blood on the four horns that are sticking out of the corners of the altar. That's when you realize the smell. There's a smell of burning meat that's said to be a sweet aroma for the Lord. But there's also the smell of death, a sickly stench. You turn your attention away from the altar to look at what's happening along the edges of the inner court. And there you see the source of the sounds of death. Animals being slaughtered. There was no novocaine back in those days. And there's no painless way to kill all these beasts. Each of them suffers pain and death. And you can hear it and you can see it. And there in the corner, there's an Israelite preparing a sacrifice for a burnt offering. Like the Lord commanded in Leviticus 1, he puts his hand on the head of the animal and he takes his knife and he slits its throat. And the animal lets out its cry of death. And the blood of the ox pours out bright red. And a priest comes by and he's got a container and he stands there and he collects that blood flowing out of the neck of the ox into that container. And the Israelite, once his animal is dead, He cuts it up. He cleans it. Takes all the guts out of it. And he makes it ready so that he can pass it on to the priest for the offering. And meanwhile, the flies begin to gather around. Because flies know death when they smell it. Of course, there's more to see. Up ahead, not very far beyond that huge bronze laver, there is the temple itself where the most holy place was. Of course, because it is the most holy place, we're not allowed to go in there. But as you can see it, it's a luxurious building. It's all the gold that's there and all the beautiful artwork. But your attention would again be distracted by all the action taking place around. The priest collects the offerings and places them on the altar. And when they get placed on the altar, right away the fire consumes them. And you witness this all before your senses and you reflect on it. It's quite an experience. Well, now we can come back to the 21st century and our look at verse 17 of Psalm 73. Now we have a little bit of an idea of what Asaph saw, what he heard, what he even smelt when he went into the sanctuary of God. As we walked through the temple courts together, we saw and we heard some beautiful things. But did you also notice the death that was all around? Did you hear the sounds of animals dying? Did you see that monstrous, never-ending fire on the altar? Did you smell that disgusting odor of death? And did you see all the blood? Blood in the bronze basins, blood on the altars, blood in the containers, blood on the knives, blood on the hands of the priests, blood on the ones who brought the animal there. There was blood, blood, blood. It was everywhere. And death and fire. Blood, fire, and death. When you're in the temple, it overwhelms your senses. And if you go there, you can't escape it. Not even if you close your eyes. And once you've left, you would find it hard to forget. If you've ever been in a slaughterhouse or in a meat processing plant, but you wouldn't soon forget the smell. If you've ever worked in such a place, even after you've showered, it lingers on your skin, that smell of death, of blood. And so the Israelites hearing or reading this psalm, they would understand very well what Asaph was talking about. They'd say, oh yeah, the sanctuary of God. Yeah, I guess you would understand the end of the wicked if you went there. Because that whole sacrificial system reminded the psalmist that the wages of sin is death. In fact, in one sense, you could say that the whole thing reminded him of hell. Reminded him that sin requires punishment. Justice. Asaph reflects further on this in verses 18-20. God casts the unbelievers down to destruction. He brings them to desolation, In a moment, just like the quick slice of the knife on the neck of the ox, so also God puts an end to the wicked. Just like the fire consumes the burnt offering in a moment, so also God has appointed the fires of hell for the rebellious. The ungodly are utterly consumed with terrors. Their screams make you think of the parable that the Lord Jesus told about the rich man and Lazarus. The Lord of life will despise them. In due time, they will be confronted with punishment for their sins and their wickedness. And so Asaph's trip to the temple solved the riddle for him. That's true. Sometimes the wicked do appear to prosper in this life. The most immoral, the most wicked people are sometimes the wealthiest and the righteous suffer. We think of Chinese Christians who can't openly worship God according to Scripture. We think of Christians in Islamic nations who risk their lives to speak of their Savior. All this injustice. But we know from Scripture what the end of the wicked is, what it will be. Even though they may not always suffer much here, in the hereafter, sin will be punished and it will be punished justly and righteously. God is righteous and He is just and His Word is true. The wages of sin is death. Brothers and sisters, we'd be short-sighted to just leave it right there. Because didn't the sacrificial system point to more, much, much more than the eternal death which awaits the wicked. The one great sacrifice. The Lamb of God. Jesus Christ died for the sins of His people. His death and suffering assure us that we will not experience the blood, the fire, the death that lasts forever. Asaph had that promise. He didn't have the reality. He didn't have it as we know it today. But because of the sacrificial system, because of what it foreshadowed, what it was pointing to, Asaph knew that he wouldn't be punished for his sins. He'd been senseless and ignorant. He'd been like an animal, he says, a brutish beast before God. An animal with a one-track mind. And there again you see that whole tunnel vision thing happening. Asaph struggled with understanding what he saw going on around him. And through this struggle, God revealed to him the depth and riches of His covenant, mercy, and justice. Coming towards the end of the psalm, you can almost see Asaph hitting himself on the head and saying, how could I have been so foolish? God is always with me. God is always holding my right hand. God will guide me. And then later, there will be glory because of His promises. Because of His merciful covenant promises. And that leads Him to the confession of verse 25. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. Those are powerful words, aren't they? Earth has nothing I desire besides you. Wow. God is His everything. Everything could be stripped away. But God will be His focus. Forever. Just in case you missed the point, he throws in a reminder in verse 27 that judgment waits for the wicked and unfaithful. But as for Asaph, he knows the one in whom he has a safe place. Forever and ever. And that's why he is going to speak about what God has done. He's going to speak, this time not raising all kinds of doubts and questions, but speaking in a positive way about the God of His salvation. Speaking to the next generation. Speaking to anyone else who will listen. Tell them that God is there. God knows what He's doing. God is good. This psalm tells us of a journey to understanding. There is suffering in our lives too. And it's easy to develop a kind of tunnel vision where we miss the big picture of what God is up to. And this psalm gives us that big picture. And it does it by referring back to that old sacrificial system that we probably don't think very much about anymore. That sacrificial system is not around anymore. But the truth that it pointed to is. The truth that the wages of sin is death, that's a truth that still stands. And there's also the truth that there is a Savior to whom that system pointed. The truth that God is good. And He does care for His people. And we might not always understand how that care and how that goodness is exercised. Asaph, he found a solution that he seems to have found very satisfying. But not all of life's issues are resolved so neatly. Sometimes we face problems and issues in this broken world where the only solution is with God. With God's sovereign love, His care for us. God's promises are sometimes the only thing you have to hold on to. Only God knows why. And that has to satisfy us. And we might not like it that way. But we have to learn to accept it. And that is very, very hard. And that's why we need to cry out to God for more grace. For the work of His Holy Spirit in our lives. That we may be able to do that. And at the end, we want to be able to say that it is good for us to be near God. That it is good for us to be in a close, meaningful relationship with Him. We want to tell of His works. We want to know Him as the God who loves. The God who also upholds His justice. And the only way to reach this destination on our journey is to travel the same road as Asaph and ultimately be found resting in Christ. He's the one in whom the mercy and justice of God are finally resolved. Apart from Him, there's only the wages of sin, which is death. But with Him, there is the free gift of God, the life that lasts forever in all its glorious fullness. So brothers and sisters, when we suffer, and we will suffer, let's find our comfort and hope in that fact. Let us pray. O God on high, God of love, God of justice, we thank you for the revelation of your word. We thank you that again this morning we have heard about your justice. We praise you that you are righteous, that you assure us in your word that sin and wickedness will be punished, That there is justice. And Father, we pray that You would help us to hold on to the revelation of who You are. Also, when we suffer, when we struggle with doubts and questions in our lives, we pray that You would help us to flee to You. To flee to the crucified Christ. We pray that we would hold on to Him. And that by doing that, we may also be assured of Your love and Your care and Your compassion for us. father we want to know you we want to live with you we want to be able to say that it is good for us to be near you and so father we pray that you would give us more grace we pray that you would continue working in our lives with your holy spirit we pray that you would help us to live as your people so that we may thereby lift your name up that you would be exalted through us Father we pray that you would hear our prayer in the name of the Lamb our Lord Jesus Amen