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It Starts With a God Encounter
September 8, 2023 · 31 min
Explore the contrasts in Psalm 73 and understand Asaph's struggle between God's goodness and personal experience.
Series Transforming Your Inner World September 8, 2023 · 31 min · Transforming Your Inner World
Explore the contrasts in Psalm 73 and understand Asaph's struggle between God's goodness and personal experience. ...more Show the full description Show less Explore the contrasts in Psalm 73 and understand Asaph's struggle between God's goodness and personal experience.
Series Transforming Your Inner World
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Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
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The Struggle of Faith and Perspective 0:10 Shall we give the Lord a clap offering, church? Hallelujah. It is joy to see you through this video and to study the word of God together. Psalm 73 is what we are0:21 gonna focus on today. It starts with a God encounter. Let's read verses 1 and 2 together. The word of god says, truly god is good to0:33 Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled. My steps had nearly slipped. I want0:45 you to pay attention to these 2 verses. Truly, god is good to Israel and to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had0:57 nearly stumbled. I want you to listen to me carefully. In those days when the psalmist writes a a song, it is sung throughout the nation,1:10 people who would take that song and sing it in different villages. But imagine this with me. At the as they are hearing a psalmist sing this, truly, god is1:22 good to Israel. They will say amen to that. But when it comes to verse 2, but as for me, there is a contrast there. It will be almost like1:33 a jarring to their years, isn't it? I want you to listen. Why is there a contrast here? What could be the contrast? See, I already established this with you. When you study the word,1:45 study look for the contrast. There are 3 possibilities of contrast here. Contrast number 1, god is good, but I'm not good. So the psalmist who penned this,1:57 his name is Asaph, he could have realized that god is good, but I'm not good. That could be the contrast. Or the second contrast is they are pure in heart, but I am not pure in2:08 heart. Or the third contrast could be, God is good to Israel, but God is not good to me. See, I want you to realize this. The first 2 is a contrast between2:20 God and God is good, a goodness of god and myself that I'm not good. The purity of the Jews and my purity. But the third 1 is about the religious cliche2:32 and my personal experience. So what do you think is the contrast here? The contrast here, I believe, is the religious cliche. Everybody understands and everybody says amen to god is good to Israel.2:45 But as for me, it is not my experience. Why do I say this is the this is the possibility of the contrast? Because look at how the Psalms end. This Psalm ends2:57 in verse 28, and this is what it says. But for me, it is good to be near God. It's the same language. But as for me, he's talking about his personal experience.3:10 So here he is a he's a psalmist who is going through something, and he says that God is good to Israel, but that is not my experience. My personal experience is otherwise.3:22 Like, for example, if I say to you, god is good, what would you say? You would reply by saying, all the time. It's like a religious cliche. But how many of you truly believe that god is good all the time in every3:34 moment of your life even when you go through challenges? That's exactly what the psalmist was feeling. So the reason why he was feeling this way is given to us in verse 3. Verse 3, the Bible3:45 says, for I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Look at that. There was a struggle that was going on within3:57 him. His heart, there was a inner struggle. And in his mind, there was a depression. And the depression is caused by this inner struggle. There's a inner conflict, and the inner conflict is because he4:09 says, I saw the prosperity of the wicked, therefore, I was envious. For. The word starts with for. That's the reason.4:21 I want you to pay attention to this. This is a million dollar questions, and people have always wrestled with it. What is it? The question is this. Why do good people suffer and bad4:33 people prosper? Isn't it? I believe the psalmist, in this case, his name is Aesop, watched the wicked in Jerusalem4:44 prosper, but the good go through suffering suffering and pain. And his question the perplexity that he was going through caused him to have an inner conflict.4:56 And this was his struggle. As a result, the Bible says, he elaborates what he saw among the wicked. What did he see about the wicked?5:08 Verse 4 on the way, verse 4 all the way to verse 12 explains what he saw about the wicked. There are 3 things he sees about the wicked. The wicked were prosperous,5:21 the wicked were proud, and the wicked were powerful. Look at this. In verse 4, he says, for they have no pangs until death. Their bodies are fat and sleek.5:33 Underline that, their bodies are fat. Now you can't go to someone and say you're fat. They will slap you. But this is a Middle Eastern idiom. The idiom is they are fat,5:45 meaning they are prosperous. Just like in the Chinese, even in the Indian, some cultures when they when they see somebody, a little put on a little bit more weight, they will say, oh, prosperous,5:57 isn't it? Or there's some good things happening in your life. Listen. That's exactly what he's saying. Their bodies are fat, meaning there is a there is they are going through prosperity. Secondly, in verse 6,6:09 therefore, pride is their necklace. Violence covers them as a garment. Look at that. Pride. Because they are so prosperous, they are wicked, and they are prospering. Pride, That means they think that6:21 nothing can bring them down. And so as a result, they are proud. Thirdly, in verse 8, he says, they scoff and speak with malice. Loftily, they threaten oppression.6:32 In other words, they are violent towards the weak and the poor and the marginalized. In other words, they threaten oppression. That means they are powerful. So 3 things he looks at the wicked. Why he was6:44 envious, why he was, looking, why he was envious of the wicked because they are prospering, they are proud, and they are powerful. And this almost6:56 stumbled him. That's what he says. So just pause there and recollect what we just read. First 2 verses says, truly, God is good to Israel, but for me, that's not my experience. Why? Because I7:08 was looking at the wicked, and I was envious at heart. What did he see about the wicked? That the wicked is powerful, the wicked is, proud, and the wicked are prospering. So he wonders, what is the point of7:20 this all? So there's a inner churning. There's a churning within. I want you to embrace those 2 words. You will hear us talk about it in some of these lessons in the series, the churning within.7:32 In other words, the inner life is so churned. There's some bitterness. There's some there's some angst. There's some concerns. There's some problems. And he's saying, how am I gonna deal with it? Now why7:44 would I say that that he had 2 inner struggles? Because he listed. Look at this. In verse 13, he says, all in vain have I kept my heart7:55 clean and washed my hands in innocence. In other words, he's basically saying, what's the point of me being religious? What's the point of me doing all these righteous things and then go through suffering when the8:07 wicked are prospering? What's the point? What's the point of serving god and doing all this? At the end, I didn't get the promotion. What's the point of doing all this and my marriage failed? What's the point? I want you8:19 to listen to me carefully. All in vain have I kept my hands clean and washed my hands in innocence. So, basically, his inner struggle is I want to give up. But8:31 the problem is he can't give up. So that was his inner struggle. I want to give up, but yet I can't give up. Why? Look at verse 15. If I had said thus, I will speak thus, I8:43 would have betrayed the generation of your children. Look at what the psalmist says. If I had said like that, I wanna give up, I would have betrayed an entire generation of your people. What does that mean?8:55 It means this. This psalmist is not just any ordinary psalmist. This psalmist, Asaph, is the worship leader for the entire nation of Israel. He's the worship leader of King David.9:07 So if he had stood up and said, I give up on being religious, I give up on pursuing God, what would have happened? A whole generation of young people, the whole generation would9:19 have been stumbled. That's why he says, I want to give up, and yet I can't give up. Can you feel the tension? You know, story was told on a Monday morning9:31 in his kitchen. The mom calls the son and says, son, get ready for school. The son says, mom, I don't wanna go to school. The students9:43 hate me. Son, get ready for school. And the son says, mom, I don't wanna go to school. The teachers hate me. Son, get ready for the school. Mom, I9:55 don't wanna go to school. You have to go to school. You are the principal. I want you to listen to me. You have no other choice but to step up and do what you don't enjoy doing.10:07 Why? Because there is a responsibility. That was his struggle. You know, god has given me grace to journey with so many church leaders and pastors all around the world. Sometimes they are going through a dry10:19 spell in their life. They are disillusioned or disappointed or going through a despair or discouragement. This is what happens. They just go through the motions, but there's no real life in10:31 what they do. That's exactly what he was feeling. There was a inner inner conflict. What he was doing on the outside meant nothing to him on the inside. What was the second inner struggle? The10:42 second inner struggle is I want to understand, yet I can't understand. Look at this. He tried to reason it out. Verse 16 says, but when I thought how to understand this, it seemed a very10:54 simple task. Look Look at what he says. When I tried to understand this, analyzed it, I want to do I wanted to study it, and I want to make sure that I understand why I'm going through all this. He said it was a11:06 very some task. In other words, it was too much, too difficult for him to handle. So here is a man of God who's going through an inner struggle and a11:18 churning within, but he doesn't know how to handle it. He wants to give up, but he can't give up. So what's the solution? I want you to see whenever you read the scriptures, I want you to pay attention to these11:29 lenses. Whenever you see the, see the story building up, there is a biblical tone I want you to pay attention to, the tone in which things are said. Secondly, I want you to11:41 pay attention to the biblical tension in the narrative that is building up. Every good story, there's a tension, isn't it? Not only that. Wait for a biblical twist. Every narrative, there is a11:53 narrative twist that happens. But finally, every good story ends with a theological purpose, biblical theology. So watch for the tone, the tension,12:05 the twist, and the theology. In this case, there's a twist and the twist the tension is building up, but there's a twist happening. And you know where it happens? In verse 17. Verse 17, the Bible says,12:17 everything shifted once Asaph entered into the sanctuary of God. Look at this. Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then I discerned their end. Who's12:29 there? The wicked's end. The message translation says it like this. Eugene Peterson wrote, until I went into the sanctuary of God, then I saw the whole picture.12:41 I want you to pay attention to this because until I entered into the sanctuary of God, that's why I want you to catch this principle church, Everything changed when Asaph, the psalmist,12:53 entered into the presence of God. Hallelujah. Everything shifts. You know how many times we mutter and sputter? We fume and we spurt,13:05 and our ego gets hurt when all we know is that we need a moment with him. That's all we need. We need to go into his presence. The moment you go in his presence with the13:17 word of God and with prayer, when you enter into his presence and empty your soul, that's when everything shifts. So here in verse 17, the Bible says, he entered into the sanctuary of God and everything13:29 shifted. What shifted? What happened in the presence of God? I wanna ask you this fundamental question. What did the psalmist learn in the presence of God that turned his desperate13:40 struggle into an absolute surrender and gave him a spiritual compass for his pilgrimage? That's the key question I want you to ask. And you know what was the answer? The answer is 313:52 profound lessons the psalmist learned. Psalmist learned the 3 profound lessons. What are they? Number 1, his evaluation of life was from the wrong14:04 perspective. First thing he recognizes that his evaluation of life was from the wrong perspective. I want you to pay attention to verse 18 and verse 19.14:16 He says, truly, you set them in slippery places. You make them fall to ruin. Who are they? They are the wicked. He comes into the presence of god. Suddenly, his perspective14:28 is now shifted because he was evaluating life from a temporal perspective rather than an eternal perspective. And so when he comes into the presence of god, his perspective14:40 shifted. As a result, he says, truly you, meaning god, you have set them in slippery places and you make them fall to ruin. Verse 19, how they are destroyed in a moment, swept14:52 away utterly by terrors. In other words, the destruction of the wicked comes suddenly upon them. It's almost like they are walking in marble floors and the floors15:05 have oil on it. So it's slippery. I want you to listen to me carefully. Many times, we view life from a temporal part point of view,15:16 temporal perspective. That's why we get so churned on our inside. We look at the arrogant. We look at the wicked, and we say, how can they prosper like that? How can the15:28 righteous suffer? Because we are looking at temporal viewpoint. Can I humbly say this? Believers ought to always evaluate what perspective we function from.15:40 See, the the problem with us is there are 2 there's a term theological term, ontological inversion. God created us as spiritual15:52 beings and then he placed us in a physical body. But we are first a spiritual being that have physical experiences.16:04 But, you know, we have immersed it. We have now become more of a physical being who have spiritual experiences every now and then. When you come to a life group, you're having a spiritual16:16 experience. But when you go back, you're back to your physical being a physical being. That's the ontological inversion that happened because of the fall of man. But can I humbly say this? You are first and16:27 foremost a spiritual being. That's why you need to understand eternity. You have been created for eternity. You need to see everything through an eternal perspective. And the bible says,The Turning Point: Entering God's Presence 16:40 when you come to that place of embracing an eternal perspective, you recognize this world, along with all its desires, will pass away and it's temporary. That's exactly what you and I16:51 need, isn't it? Otherwise, if we don't catch that this world and all is temporary, we will be crying for things that do not need to be cried about. A little boy came back from17:03 preschool. He has a dog named Paddy. He usually plays with the dog after he comes back preschool. But on that day, the Paddy ran into the road and was17:15 struck by a car and the paddy died. So the mother wasn't sure how to tell the little boy that his dog died. So when the little boy came back home, he said, mommy, where's paddy?17:28 And the mom said to him, Patty died today. And the boy said, okay. And then he went to the backyard to play. And the mother thought, wow. He took it well. Few minutes later,17:40 he ran back into the house and says, mommy, where's Patty? And he says, boy, I told you already, Patty died. And the boy started screaming and crying and wailing. So the mother paused17:52 and asked him, what happened? The first time I told you, there was no reaction. Second time, you're yelling and crying. What happened? He said, I thought you said daddy. I18:03 thought you said daddy died. I want you to listen to me. Many times, we cry for the patties of this world, and we fail to recognize the cry of our own father. The father who loves you18:15 is calling for you. That's why embrace the eternal perspective. So he evaluated his evaluation of life was from the wrong perspective. Secondly, his goal in life was of the wrong pursuit.18:28 Read with me verse 21 and verse 22. The Bible says, when my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and18:40 ignorant. I was like a beast toward you. Look at what he says. My soul was embittered, and I was pricked, he says. And as well as I was senseless and18:51 ignorant, I was a beast. I was like a beast. When you ask yourself this question, what is he what does he mean by that? My soul is embittered. In other words, he had19:03 wrong desires, wrong pursuits. He was measuring life with the wrong measuring yardsticks. And as a result, there were so much fatal attractions, sinful desires,19:15 and unworthy loves and pursuits in his life. And they were causing him to be like a beast, he says. Why would he say he's like a beast? A beast doesn't know19:27 the difference between right and wrong. A beast doesn't think. Is this wise or unwise? Is this essential or nonessential? Is this valuable or not valuable? The beast doesn't think like19:39 that. The beast just does what it feels like doing, the indulgences. That's exactly the the the beast always moved by instincts. And that's what he's saying. I was moved by all19:51 these wrong, sinful, fatal attractions and sinful desires. Here on Mark chapter 4 and verse 19, Jesus said this, the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of20:03 riches, and the pride of life or the or the desire for other things, they choke in and they remove the word from us. These are the fatal attractions. We need to20:14 evaluate our heart. Is our heart longing for the things of the world? Is there a desire for other things? Is there a desire for the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches? And that was the20:26 language he was using. I was embittered. I was senseless. I was pricked. And I was like a beast. In other words, he needed to20:38 shift his, not only his perspective, but he needed to shift his pursuit from material to spiritual. He needed to shift in his pursuit20:50 from material to spiritual. You know, sometimes we are we don't take time to really evaluate what we are learning. We don't reevaluate how is our21:02 life, what are we longing, where are what is our what are we yearning for, what are we longing for. We don't take time to evaluate. Sometimes you're going after the wrong thing21:14 and hoping that this thing will satisfy. But then you recognize even if you get everything you desire, it doesn't ultimately satisfy. Story was told of a pastor who went to21:26 an asylum and, in a mental asylum. He was taken into the asylum by the chaplain and he went from 1 corridor to the next. And in 1 of the21:37 corridors, he heard a man was yelling, Lulu. Lulu. And so the pastor asked the chaplain, what's what's, what happened to him? He said, Lulu jolted21:49 him. So he went to another corridor and another guy was also yelling, Lulu, Lulu. What happened to him? Oh, he also was jolted by Lulu.22:01 Then they went into a the facility even further in deeper in where there are severe cases. And there was 1 guy banging his head on the door and and and and scratching his22:13 fingers on the wall, and and he was yelling, Lulu, Lulu. So the pastor said, did Lulu jolt him? The chaplain said, no. He married Lulu. In other words,22:24 just because you get what you desired, sometimes it doesn't satisfy. Recently, I was having a chat with 1 1 of the, 1 of the very successful,22:36 business owners. And this person, during the time of our meal together, shared with us how even though successful in22:48 business, lost marriage, failed in marriage, and as a result, what's the point? I want you to listen to me carefully. Sometimes you're pursuing22:59 things without realizing what is it costing us on the other aspects of our life. So we need to take time to evaluate. Are we pursuing material things? Are we pursuing23:11 spiritual things? Are we looking at life from a temporal viewpoint or a eternal viewpoint? Thirdly, he talks about his foundation in life was in the wrong place.23:23 Look at what he says in verse 23 and 24. Nevertheless, I'm continually with you. You hold my right hand. Nevertheless, you're continually with me, and23:35 you hold my right hand. I love that. It's a it's a idiom again. You hold my right hand. What does it mean to hold my right hand? It's a idiom for sponsorship, That God is the 123:47 who sponsors you. He protects you. He provides for you. And he says, behold, you're with me. You guide me with your counsel. And afterward, you receive me to glory. Hallelujah.23:59 I want you to listen to me. Here is the, dilemma that this man of god was going through. In the first 16 verses, if you read it carefully, a lot of the word that24:11 is repeated is the word I. Mark every time you see the word I. You will see that it was all about self. It was all about him, me, myself, and I. But when it came24:23 to this, in the shift happened in the presence of god in verse 17, From verse 18 onwards, you will see the shift that it's all God's perspective. He shifts his perspective from God's perspective,24:35 and he says, you, you, you. Again, you read here. It says, you hold my right hand. You will lead me into glory. In other words, god,24:47 you have become my foundation. Earlier, it was self, but now the shift has taken place. A shift of foundation from man to god, from self to24:59 god. Now this is 1 fundamental and vital for us. You and I, we need to understand that the psalmist went through 3 shifts, and these 3 shifts for us are very25:11 vital. So read with me the verses 25 all the way to verse 28. When you read verses 25 to 28, you will see how he makes these shifts. Verse 25 says,25:23 whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth I desire besides you. My strength and my heart may fail, but god is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.25:35 And then in verse 27, he says, for behold, those who are far from you shall perish. You put an end to everyone who's unfaithful to you. Hallelujah. And verse25:46 28, but as 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. Praise God. So whom have I in heaven but you? There is25:58 nothing on earth I desire besides you. He's talking about a shift in his desire, in his pursuits. Look at the next verse. My flesh and my heart may fail,26:10 but god is the strength of my heart and my portion. In other words, my foundation is no longer in myself, but it's in god. Thirdly, he talks about you will deal with the wicked.26:22 Those who are far from you will perish. You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. Can you see the picture? There's a shift in his desire. There's a shift in his pursuit and his perspective26:34 and also in his foundation. I want you to listen to me. There are 3 shifts that you and I need to make constantly in our journey as a disciple of Christ. The 3 shifts are, we need to shift in26:46 perspective from temporal to eternal. We need to shift in our pursuits from material to spiritual. And we also need to make the shift in the place26:58 of foundation, place of hope from man to God, from self to God. Listen to me carefully. Why don't you take this time in your life groups to27:09 evaluate how is your foundation? Is your foundation on earth or in heaven? Is your foundation of hope is in man or in God? Is your pursuits the fatal attractions27:21 that that desires of your heart? Is it of material or is it spiritual? Or is your perspective very temporal or is it eternal? How do you evaluate life?27:33 I want you to take a moment to do that, and that's why I'm giving you 5 things for you to consider. So not only in this, in this life group session you do this, but also during this27:45 week, take some time to do a think time. What is a think time? Think time is where you dedicate a chunk of time. It could be half an hour or it could be 3 hours. A chunk of time where you are27:57 going before the presence of god and you're evaluating your own life. And you go before god and you say, lord, search within me. And you are able to go through these 5 steps that I'm giving you here.28:08 1, recognize the true state of your inner life. What is the current state of your inner life? Is it filled with fatal attractions, unworthy loves, ungodly28:20 pursuits, sinful desires. Evaluate it. If we don't take time to do this, we will continue to do life the same way. Secondly, repent of all those28:32 things that are not glorifying to god. Repent of all those things that doesn't please God, the sinful desires, the fatal attractions, the unworthy loves. Even as I'm saying this,28:44 I sense in my heart there are some chats you need to delete in your WhatsApp. There are some things that you're receiving, some person that with whom you are communicating you shouldn't be. You're playing with fire.28:56 These are fatal attractions that will destroy your marriage, destroy your life. Repent. Come back to God. How do you repent? You remove all temporal viewpoint and worldly values. Things29:08 that the lord is earmarking in your life, things that he's pinpointing. You remove them. You can't you you you need to remove them, and then you'd replace them. Replace them with what? With eternal29:20 viewpoint and biblical values. And finally, you renew your commitment to bring order to your inner life. This I will recommend that you not only do this coming week,29:32 take some time to do it intentionally, but also as a life group, keep each other accountable to be able to do this. But every now and then, come back to this and do this in your think time.29:45 I pray that the Lord will speak to our hearts continually, and he will continue to transform us from the inside out. So let us not be people who are, churned on the inside, but29:57 rather we are rested on the inside because we are fully surrendered before God. We have a eternal perspective. We have a spiritual orientation, and our foundation is in heaven. It's in30:08 God. Hallelujah. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this moment. Thank you for speaking to our hearts through Psalm 73. Indeed, mighty god, that we will turn to you30:21 and by having an encounter with you, that our lives will truly be transformed. I pray that you bring these necessary shifts in our hearts, and we give you the glory, the30:32 praise, and the honor in Jesus' name and people of God said. Amen and amen. We love you. God bless you. Have a blessed life group session.In this video 0:00 The Struggle of Faith and Perspective16:39 The Turning Point: Entering God's Presence
Paul Jeyachandran
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