Sam Storms’ (Enjoying God Ministries) comments on Psalm 73.
Asaph, author of Psalm 73, was deeply disturbed and perturbed by the prosperity of the wicked and the oppression of the righteous. It led him to question God’s goodness and greatness. It stirred him to wonder if the pursuit of godliness was really the wisest path to follow.
His problem wasn’t with the traditional problem of evil. Asaph’s struggle was with why it so often seemed that those who do deserve to suffer don’t and those who don’t deserve to suffer do. The problem wasn’t whether or not God existed, but whether or not God was just…..
….”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 [not even the opulence and apparent success of the wicked!]. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (vv. 23-26).
What is all the wealth of the world compared with the spiritual riches of God’s presence? Can the power and prestige of earthly fame trump the assurance and peace of God’s grip on our lives? Our having him and his having us is simply unparalleled, unsurpassed, and unfathomable. Intimacy with the Almighty transcends all earthly pleasure.
What it all comes down to, then, is a matter of perspective. So I close with these insightful words of D. A. Carson. Everything, says Carson,
“depends on where you start. If you begin by envying the prosperity of the wicked, the human mind can ‘interpret’ the data so as to rule God out, to charge him with unfairness, to make piety and purity look silly. But if you begin with genuine delight in God, both in this world and in the world to come, you can put up with ‘flesh and heart failing,’ and be absolutely confident that, far from being the victim of injustice, you are in the best possible position: near to the good (v. 1) and sovereign (v. 28) God” (How Long, O Lord? 143).
Sam
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 