And the scripture reading, then, as I mentioned, is from Psalm 73. It's found on page 616 of the Pew Bible. The entire chapter is our text. Psalm 73, a psalm of Asaph. 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 tongues 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. Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then I discerned their end. 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. This is God's word. Truly, God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. That's how the psalm begins, with a statement that is a confession of faith. And it's a good confession, but it's not without its problems, as we're going to see. In this psalm, the psalmist surveys life, and he wonders if he doesn't have reason to question the truth of this statement. And so we're going to see that it's one thing to say what you believe, but it's another thing entirely to believe what you say. Because life is complicated, isn't it? You know this, I know this. Just think of relationships, for example, that you're in. Think of your work. Life is complicated. And then you add on top of that suffering, whether it's physical suffering, mental suffering, spiritual suffering. And so given the complexities of life, the good, the evil, the suffering, how can the psalmist not only say this, that God is good, but also believe it? And how can you take these words on your lips and in your heart and believe them as well? What perspective do we need? And how do we gain this perspective? These are some of the questions we'll be looking at this evening. And the answer, in a nutshell, the main point of the message is that coming into the presence of God helps us gain the perspective we need for the complexities of this life. Because it is here in God's presence that we discern the destiny of the wicked. And it is also here that we grow in our understanding of and our appreciation for God's goodness to us. And so keeping that in mind, we're going to move through this passage and we're going to see three things. Yes, I know, that's what they teach me, three things. First, we're going to be looking at the prosperity of the wicked and then how that leads to the perplexity of the psalmist. And finally, we'll see the portion of the people of God. So the prosperity of the wicked, the perplexity of the psalmist, and the portion of the people of God. Or if you prefer, confusion leading to crisis followed by a confession. So first, confusion. If you look at verse 2, verse 2 is very different than verse 1. Verse 1, we have this confession, but then in verse 2, he says, The psalmist is stumbling or slipping. In other words, he is doubting the truth of what he said in verse 1. Why is that? Well, we look at verse 3. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. He's confused at what he's seeing. And the reason the psalmist is confused is because of his starting point. You see, there's this principle that he's expecting to see worked out in life. Basically, that the righteous will get what they deserve, and the wicked will get what they deserve. Now, this is a good principle in some ways. It's biblical in some ways. You see it throughout the wisdom literature, particularly in the book of Proverbs. Here's one example of a proverb. that says what I mean. The desire of the righteous turns out well, but the hope of the wicked leads to wrath. And so take this into account as we try to understand the psalmist's experience, as we try to understand his worldview. And this is a familiar enough idea. Other religions have this too. This idea that what you do comes back to you. Maybe most popularly, we could think of the idea of karma. It falls in this line of thinking. And so the thought then is that suffering is related to punishment. The more evil you are, the more you will be punished with suffering. And so the greedy corporate businessman should suffer more than the generous philanthropist. Or the tyrannical dictator should suffer more than the benevolent servant leader of a democracy. And yet that's not how it is all the time. And that's not the case for the psalmist. Look at verses 4 and 5. For they have no pangs until death. Their bodies are fat and sleek. Good things. They are not in trouble as others are. They are not stricken like the rest of mankind. Life is good for the wicked. It's great even. They have what they want and more. People would look at these men and women and say, in our terms, they lead a charmed life. Things are great for them. Just look at them, he says in verse 12. They're always at ease. They're increasing in their wealth. And so the psalmist is confused. He's bewildered. The result of all this prosperity for the wicked, we see that in verses 6 through 11. They're proud. They're arrogant. Their success leads them to be violent. They are bold as they threaten and oppress anyone who gets in their way. They disdain others. They mock them with malice. Verse 8, and they follow their heart's desire to whatever end. And the worst thing about it is that this arrogance that they have leads them to blasphemy. There's this imagery in verse 9 of tongues strutting through the earth. Arrogantly strutting. Brashly defying God. And they say, how can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High? Are you kidding me? God knows everything? You see, they know they're living in open opposition to God, and yet they're not experiencing any negative consequences because of it. They boast, they challenge God, but he doesn't seem to respond. And so how powerful could he be if he doesn't strike them down for their insolence? This is a familiar problem to us. Maybe you recognize it. We call this often the problem of evil. How many times have you heard somebody say, Surely God doesn't know everything. Or, God is an all-knowing, all-powerful, and if he is, then he can't be all good. And now remember, that's the question from verse 1. Truly God is good to Israel. That's the confession of the psalmist. That's what we're testing here. And so this is an ancient challenge as well. This questioning of God's knowledge. It's a question that Satan asked in the garden. It's a question that atheists ask openly. It's a question that people who are oppressed ask very practically. It's a question that the foolish ask thoughtlessly and carelessly. But do you know, it can be our question too sometimes. The believer can ask this question faintly, secretly, fearfully. You see that in verse 10, a hint of that. The translations vary from place to place. But God's people are drinking in the words of these wicked and prosperous people. You know, we confess that God has created all things, heaven and earth and all that is in them. And that he upholds and governs all things by his counsel and providence. We talk about this doctrine of providence. And so that everything that comes our way in life comes not by chance but by God's fatherly hand. That's what we confess. Do we believe it? John Calvin said that if this truth was deeply rooted in our hearts, then our faith would be distinguished by far greater steadiness and perseverance to overcome the temptations that assail us in our adversity. But when the smallest temptation which we meet with dislodges this doctrine from our minds, it is clear that we have not yet been truly and sincerely convinced of its truth. Powerful quote. I think it's right. It doesn't take much sometimes for us, does it? In the regular anxieties of life, again, think of your relationships or your work, your finances perhaps. If things don't go well, sometimes these questions are on the tip of our tongue. Or think of bigger things in life. Think, for example, of what is said when people consider war. Very relevantly, this week, think of what people say when they consider chemical weapons being used in Syria and the damage that's been done even to children. Does God really know what he's doing? Is he really able to do all that he wants to do? Or think of somebody who, we look at people who are good and they seem to be struggling in life, They're very poor, but then somebody who we know is corrupt seems to only get richer and richer. Or think of people involved with an organization like Planned Parenthood. Horrible work that's being done, and yet they still go on. They still exist. And so we see these things, and we ask these questions. And we're not just confused sometimes, but sometimes believers get to a point of crisis, And that's what we see from the psalmist. If you look at verse 13, he says, All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. He's questioning his core beliefs. He says, is it all in vain? Maybe there's no point to my worship. Maybe there's not even a point to my life. You know, he would be thinking, I'm sure, as he's struggling to the wisdom literature, and he would point maybe to a psalm like Psalm 1, How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of scoffers. This blessed man, this righteous man will prosper. But then he looks around and the wicked are prospering and the righteous are suffering. And so he says, maybe it's all in vain. Now it's easy to get cynical in life thinking from an earthly perspective. I'm sure we could think of a number of different examples of how this is true. One that comes to my mind is the way parents teach their children to be nice, to be kind. Parents, which one of you has not wanted your child to be nice and kind and told them many times that this is how they ought to be? And yet, what does the world say about that? The world says, nice guys finish last. And so the implication there is that being nice doesn't pay off, so there's no point. There's this disjunction that exists in our world between the way that we want things to be, the ideal, on the one hand, but then on the other hand, the way things actually are, the real. And it's frustrating. So one response people can have to this is they get cynical. The psalmist is tempted to be a cynic, but he doesn't go there. And why not? We see in verse 15, why not? He says, If I had said, I will speak thus, in this way, I would have betrayed the generation of your children. The psalmist has this awareness of the covenant community, a concern for the members of the covenant community, and he realizes the harm he could cause to others. I teach catechism on Sundays. I know a number of you do as well. Just imagine if we sat there, and we have these students who are looking to us for guidance, and we were to say to them, God doesn't really know everything. He's not really in control of everything. He's not completely good. If we question that in front of these children, how harmful would that be? And so the psalmist knows that he cannot speak thus. And yet he's doubting God's goodness all the same. And so he sits there and he suffers. And you can imagine as he suffers with no one to talk to, with doubts filling his mind, all the questions that would surround him. Does God really know? Does he care? Is he able to do anything? Is he really even there? You know, we have examples in Scripture, blessedly, that help us in this. Job, a righteous man, wrestled with some of these questions. Because you know the story of Job, that as righteous as he was, he lost his family. He lost his wealth. He lost even his health. His friends came to help him, but they were confused because they were working off of that principle I mentioned at the beginning, that the righteous and the wicked should both get what they deserve. And so they were at a loss to help their friend Job. But they're not the only ones who were confused. Job was confused too, of course, at all of this that was happening to him. And so he questions God. And he says, I cry out to you for help, but you do not answer me. When I stand up, you merely look at me. You have turned against me with cruelty. You harass me with your strong hand. What about you? Perhaps you've had a chronic disease. You have a chronic disease. There seems to be no end in sight. And you look around and others are healthy. Perhaps you have had a miscarriage or your newborn died after only hours outside the womb. And you look around and you see others who haven't experienced that. Or your son dies in a car crash at the hands of a drunk driver. Drunk driver lives, your son dies. What do you do in these situations? Well, you try to figure it out. What's the result of that attempt? wearisome you're tired it's exhausting and this is just as the teacher in ecclesiastes found out the teacher there sees the prosperity of the wicked surveying life and comes to the conclusion that life is futile so he says there is a futility that is done on the earth there are righteous people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve and there are wicked people who get what the actions of the righteous deserve i say that this too is futile and that's so true isn't it take that mother who lost her son in a car crash she's asking the question why how do you how do you answer that question you don't and that's why we call these things senseless tragedies you hear that all the time because we cannot fully make sense of it. It's not easy. It's tragic. It seems absurd. So no matter how hard we try to find the why, we cannot find it. This world is bent, brothers and sisters. It's crooked and we cannot straighten it. And especially, particularly, it is hard to discern, to make sense of all of this on your own. You're filled with doubt and confusion, as I said, but then there's verse 15. There's that awareness of everyone around you. And so what do you do? Well, you smother those doubts, that confusion. You suppress it. But that, of course, is extremely unhealthy. And so it seemed hopeless to the psalmist. Verse 16, it seemed hopeless. Until he went somewhere. And here's the key to the whole passage, verse 17. Until I went into the sanctuary of God. He went to God's meeting place. Having exhausted the wisdom of the world, he now turns to the wisdom, you could say, of the Word. He goes to the sanctuary, that place where the law would be read, where sacrifices were offered and made. And the key is that this is the meeting place of God with his people. His presence is here in a special way. And it is in that presence that the psalmist discerned the destiny of the wicked. So this is a huge moment, the huge moment of this text. And so we need to stop here for a moment and ponder this for ourselves too. When life is hard, we need to come into his presence. I'm relatively young, I realize, but I cannot think of how many times in my life I have heard somebody, whether a good friend or just an acquaintance, who is struggling, and so they stay away from church. I don't think I can go to church. There's too much that I'm struggling with. And they have all these doubts, but they stay away. It's tempting to stay away when you're suffering, but that is not the solution. We need to be here. And hear me, this is not about a law we need to be here. This is for our own benefit. It's a gift. well why how do we gain the perspective we need when we're in god's presence well for israel the sanctuary activity would have been focused on god's law and his promises unfulfilled as they were but for us our worship is focused on christ and christ is the embodiment of faithful israel think of verse one he is as pure in heart as they come. And yet he had a harder life than anyone. Despised, rejected, man of sorrows. Think back to the last few sermons we've heard in Mark. He's tortured. He's beaten down. And it seems for the moment that there's no consequences for the oppressors. These people are oppressing him and they seem to be successful at what they're doing. In fact, so successful that They put him to death. They scoffed him. Let me remind you, we've heard these words recently, but they say things like this. He saved others. Let him save himself if this is God's Messiah, the chosen one. If you are the king of Jews, save yourself. You see, it looked as if God was not actively defending his cause. And so the voices come out and they say, does God know? Does he really know? And even Jesus himself cried out, didn't he, in the midst of great crisis, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And so this question, I think, is hanging there. Is God good to Israel? To those who are pure in heart, is God good? Yes. Yes, he is. How do we know this? because he acted powerfully in the suffering and death of Christ. Now, of course, the results of that weren't immediately seen, but they were revealed soon after in his resurrection and in his ascension to glory. And it's not just that, of course, as amazing as that is, as that is the pinnacle of everything. Yet, because he lives, because he reigns, we also will live and will be raised to glory, won't we? We have this confidence. For now, we may suffer, yes, this world is sin-cursed. But one day, all suffering will be no more. Everything will be made new. That will be the day. And so we live in this hope. We put our hope in Christ, Christ the hope of glory. And yet it's not here. And so in your crisis, you need to understand who Christ is. This is the confession of the psalmist. The truth of Christ that allows him, enables him to gain that perspective that he needs to discern, we're told, their end, the end of the wicked. And so it is with this long view in mind, this broad scope in mind, that now the psalmist totally shifts his thinking. Look with me at verse 18. Let your eyes scan verse 18 and then go back to verse 2. You'll see a bit of a parallel there. In verse 2, the psalmist had said, But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled. My steps had nearly slipped. But then verse 18, he says, Truly, you set them in slippery places. You make them fall to ruin. 180 degree turn. They will come to utter destruction. He knows this. Maybe there will be a sense in which that will happen already on this earth. Or maybe that's talking about their final destruction. But he knows it. And so he can say what we read in verse 20. Verse 20, which at first glance seems to be a difficult verse. And indeed, translators have had fits trying to figure this one out precisely, the best way to put it. And yet, I think the meaning is very clear. The wicked may think that their prosperity is something. But one day, reality is going to hit. And then they will be only a shadow of their former self, a ghost, a phantom, as it says in our text. Think if you want a visual of a footprint that's in the sand and then washed away by the tide. Gone. Like the fading beauty of a flower, to use a scriptural metaphor. So fragile, here today, gone tomorrow, so the wicked and their prosperity will come to nothing. To use the language of Paul, God is enduring the wicked and their prosperity with great patience, but they are objects of wrath ready for destruction. And we're told in that same chapter, Romans 9, that God is doing this to show us His power and the riches of His glory for us. Us who are objects of His mercy being readied for glory. A beautiful text, beautiful things to dwell on in our minds. And yet in the moment, it can be hard to see this, can't it? Our heart is pricked, verse 21. We get all bitter and wounded. And so in our stupidity, in our lack of knowledge and foresight, we can be beastly towards God. We can be beastly, we exalt ourselves towards God. The image here of a beast is somebody or something who is only interested in the present, only interested in the physical pleasures of life. But when we're in this state, we don't understand that it doesn't matter how prosperous we are in this life. Because this life is for a moment, and then there's eternity. And so how one spends eternity will always determine ultimately whether or not you are prosperous. And so even in your suffering, as a believer, you should be able to say, I am as prosperous as anyone can be. We have it so good, brothers and sisters, even though we can be beastly goddesses. so good to us. Look with me at verse 23 to 26. I think of some of the most beautiful words in all of Scripture. 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. How is God good to Israel? How is he good to us, his people? He is with us. God's goodness is seen in his presence. He is continually with us, we're told, holding us by the hand. But it's not just that he's with us. Notice the personal pronouns in here. You hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel. And afterward, you will receive me to glory. Our God cares for each one of us. He knows us by name. And no one and nothing will be able to snatch us from His hand. Isn't that beautiful? He guides us, we're told in verse 24, with His counsel. How does He do that? Where does He do that, perhaps we should ask? In His sanctuary, in His presence. And what's the best part of it all? Verse 24, after all of this, we will be taken to glory. Our end is secured. And so the psalmist doesn't just discern the end of the wicked, but he also discerns the end for the believer. He will receive us into glory. What precisely does that mean? How much did the psalmist have an understanding of the resurrection of the body? Probably that was somewhat vague in his mind, But we, as members of this new covenant community, as members living after Christ has completed his earthly work, we know what this means. We know the hope of glory that we have. So the psalm ends with this contrast, a contrast between the wicked and the righteous. The wicked, those who are far from him, verse 27, will perish. He will put an end to them. but those who are near him will find refuge in him. He is their strength and their portion forever. And what does that mean for you as you hear this? It means that there needs to be no more envy of prosperity. Riches are nice as far as they go, but that's it, as far as they go. Health is nice as far as it goes, but it is the same. And so the psalmist is focused on delighting in his God instead. He says, my flesh and my heart may fail. My earthly prosperity may not be there. I may not be prosperous. And yet now he has the perspective, now that he has come to the sanctuary of God, he has this perspective to know that his end is not suffering because God is his strength. God is his portion forever. Brothers and sisters, is this your hope? Is this your hope? Do you trust in God's providence? Can you say that when prosperity comes, you are thankful? But that when adversity comes, you are patient? Because you trust in your Father so completely that you do not doubt that he will give you all that you need for body and soul. And he will turn to your good whatever adversity he sends you in this life of sorrow. Do you believe that? That is our confession. Beautiful words from the Heidelberg Catechism. And so the psalmist makes a confession and we make a confession. His confession is in verse 1, as we've discussed, but his confession is also in verse 28. And so as we bring the message to a close, as the psalm comes to a close, we see again the psalmist confessing. In verse 1, he confessed that God is good. And here now in verse 28, he confesses how God is good. It is in his presence. It is good to be near God. For that is where God is his refuge. So brothers and sisters, take delight in drawing near to God. Take refuge in him. Don't take refuge in the things of this world because after all, they're only passing away. Remember where your true prosperity lies. Remember it too, again, words from Paul in Romans, that suffering produces perseverance. And perseverance produces character and character hope. And that hope will not disappoint us. And why will it not disappoint us? Because God is good. Our God is good. So take refuge in His Son, Jesus, the true Israel, the perfectly pure in heart, and you will be blessed. You will experience His goodness. And another thing, too, don't underestimate what we are doing here. You've heard, I know, many times that this is somewhat ordinary, But it bears repeating. What we are doing here sometimes doesn't seem like it's all that much. But yet it's here when we meet as covenant community with our God that we gain that perspective that we need to discern what really is and what ultimately will be. God's presence is our good. He's not passive, but He's acting. And even now He is acting by His Spirit to create and confirm faith. Through his word. And so love meeting with God. Love worshiping him with his people. Love praising him for the work of salvation that he has done in Christ. And he will shelter you. He will set you on high ground. He will lead you on level paths. And he will not allow your foot to slip. Amen. Let's pray. O God, Father in heaven, you are our refuge. We praise you that you are our strength and our portion and that even though our flesh and heart may fail, we can know this with a certainty that this gives us this peace in the midst of confusion, confusion that can tempt us sometimes to doubt you. Lord, we believe, help our unbelief. We thank you that you are good and gracious to us. And Lord, we praise you that as your people, we know that you will not allow us to stumble, but one day you will present us blameless in your presence to worship you and honor you forevermore. We praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.