What's this all about? Part 4

So, last time we learned some pretty sobering news. Sometimes we can get so clouded by this world's pleasures that we can forget about God! We get so carefree that we stop caring about what (actually Who) really matters.

The psalmist describes this:

Surely in vain I have 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.
Psalm 73:13-14

He's saying, "Look at how carefree they are! I'm sitting here trying to do the right thing, but it doesn't matter! I'm not prospering, so all this innocence and purity has gone to waste! Why be good at all?"

He continues to agonize:

If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have betrayed your children. When I tried to understand all this, it was oppresive to me
Psalm 73:15-16

So, what do we usually do when we're faced with an issue like this? We're seeing the wicked prosper and we see them carefree. Do we join them? Do we agonize and give up? Where do we turn? This next part is incredible:

till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny
Psalm 73:17

The writer's been asking why God hasn't been throwing him a bone in life and agonizing over why he should even follow God in the first place, but he still enters the sanctuary of God for answers! See, this guy realized something we all need to know. If we're ever mad at God, questioning God, or disowning God, the worst thing we can do is run away from God. The only way we'll ever find answers is to run towards God! Now, after asking God, he realized the destiny of these prosperous wicked...what is that 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."

Psalm 73: 18-20

Yeesh! That's pretty harsh! There's a good passage in 1 Timothy about this and a great explanation of it by John Piper that we'll examine next time.

To be continued...