A Word about Knowing Truths to Hold Onto

Today I want to share a word about how to reach our potential in Christ by knowing some truths to hang on to as I comment on the 73rd Psalm. Let’s begin by reading verses 1-17:

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, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.

When hard times come upon us, we naturally ask, “Why?”  Or, “Why me?” That answer is often hard to come by here on this earth. We will ultimately get an answer, but it will probably be once we arrive in Heaven, and then we won’t care! Until that time, however, we are left to work through our own hard times; therefore, as we live in this imperfect and fallen world, we need some truths to hang on to. We can find these truths in Psalm 73.

This Psalm begins with the first of these truths: God is good!

Since we know that God is the ultimate authority in the universe, it is natural to blame Him when things go wrong. He is like the captain of a ship, responsible for everything, right? Yes, He is, but He is more than that. He is good. In fact, in the original Hebrew, the Psalmist says that only God is good. We know that all have sinned, and fallen short of God’s glory, but we have hope, because God is good to His people, those who relate to Him and bow their knees to Him.

This one truth should encourage us and give us a firm foundation to stand on. Like the stirrups of a saddle or the corrugations on a metal step, the fact of God’s goodness means that we have a way to stand in the midst of difficult days.

The next truth is found beginning in the second verse: appearances are deceiving.

Attractive facades are everywhere we look. People spend more money than they make. People will report that everything is fine, when it isn’t.  People exaggerate success and they minimize defeat.

On the north side of the DMZ at Panmunjom, in Korea, in full view of the south, the North Koreans have built a massive and beautiful city, but it is all fake. The buildings along Mainstreet in both Disney Land and Disney World look like they have two and three stories, but that, too, is all fake. Beautifully crafted, and very convincing they are, but fakes they remain. And that is the way many lives are today: impressive facades, but empty on the inside.

People also seem to be able to thumb their noses at God. They reject His way, they reject His people, and yet, they seem to get along just fine. We will see that isn’t true, but it appears to us to be true.

Like the Psalmist, we can stumble over the things that we see. Like he was, we can be deceived by what we see, and we can become jealous, we can feel foolish, and we can be very hurt. We must remember that appearances can be deceptive, and, we need to hold onto another truth revealed in verses 17-20:

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.

The third fact that the Psalmist would have us hold onto is that God will repay.

God owes no person; He gives, He does not borrow. He always pays what He owes us, whether that be good or bad.

Years ago, there was a commercial for automobile oil filters that admitted that their product was more expensive than their competitors’. They also asserted, however, that their filters were more effective, and that they would prevent engine failures more often than the cheaper brands. The actor, who was playing the role of a mechanic shop owner, gave a tagline that said, “You can pay me now, or you can pay me later.”

The Bible tells us elsewhere, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, whatever a man sows that also will he reap.”

God will dispose of the wicked. He will allow then to fall on their own, or He will knock them down Himself if that proves necessary. The wicked, therefore, live in a dream world, but someday, reality will crash into their delusions, and they will experience a harsh truth.

The final truth we find in Psalm 73 is that God gives comfort.

Verses 21-28 tell us,

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.

When we are hurt, we push God away and we jump to unhelpful and unhealthy conclusions. Like a wounded animal biting the veterinarian who is treating it, we lash out against God.

Instead of pushing God away from us, however, we must draw closer to Him. We must make Him our refuge and our strength. We must make Him our source of spiritual supply.

We may not know why things happen, but we can know that God is always with us, and that He holds our hands as He guides us through life’s highs and life’s lows as well. He forgives us our outbursts and He changes our hearts. He is steady and firm when we are unstable and weak.

When we are struggling with life, we need to take a lesson from boxers. They know that engaging your opponent in a clinch is often safer, for a time, than standing apart and trading blows. God is not our opponent, though we often treat Him as if He is. Still, being in a clinch with God is far safer and far more encouraging than standing apart from Him! If we let Him, He will comfort and encourage us!

In conclusion, when we are confronted with tough times, let us resolve not to ask, “Why?” Instead let us resolve to ask, “How?” How can we grow closer to God. He is the only good One and He will give us what we need.

Thanks so much for visiting with me today! I'll be back soon with another word from the Bible that we can share together.

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt