You read the news and you see wickedness winning. You attend your local school board meeting or city council meeting and you see wickedness winning. You skim social media and see that hurtful person from your past celebrating a win, a victory, a “blessing” that hasn’t come to you. Perhaps you even go to your local church and see wickedness winning. What do you make of it all?
Have you ever felt caught in the tension between what you know about God and what you see in the world? You know God is good, but you see wickedness running rampant and the wicked themselves seem to be getting away with it. At the same time, you see good people, people who love and serve the Lord, enduring hardship and suffering. This begs the question in your heart, “Is it worth it to trust God and do right?” At face value, sometimes it may seem that wickedness pays off while righteousness does you no good at all.
If you could answer yes to the above question, then you can relate to Asaph, the penman of Psalm 73. He begins, “Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.” He then struggles to reconcile this knowledge with his observation: “For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”(Psalm 73:3) Envy had crept in as he notes that, “They are not in trouble as other men; Neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride comapasseth them about.” (Psalm 73:5-6) It’s bad enough that wicked people exist and do wicked things, but it is almost unbearable to watch those wicked people do wicked things in smugness and comfort. To add injury to that insult, righteous people seem to be the ones that suffer for it. This observable, and felt, truth seems to contradict the theological truth of God’s goodness. This drives Asaph to assume, “Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.” (Psalm 73:13) In other words, he is asking whether it is really worth it to trust God and do right.
When we, like Asaph, are asking this question, we need to do what Asaph did. Psalm 73:16-17 says, “When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.” Yes, when wickedness is winning, the thought is painful. That is why we must go into the sanctuary of God. Physically, this may have been the temple for Asaph, and for us it may be a church building. Spiritually, going to the sanctuary of God is simply placing ourselves intentionally in God’s presence. It means coming boldly before the throne of grace that we may find help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). In verse 23, Asaph says, “Nevertheless I am continually with thee.” While God is always with him, Asaph is making a conscious choice to be present with God, to dwell or bask in God’s presence.
This is the first step we need to take when wickedness seems to be winning—enter God’s presence. Then we must seek His eternal perspective. When Asaph entered God’s presence, then he understood. He could see things from God’s perspective now. Asaph could now see that the end to the story of the wicked is not good. In fact, this psalm uses words like perish and destroyed in relation to their end. Their ending isn’t worth any of the good things that they may experience in this life. In contrast with the wicked, the righteous have a happy ending. In verse 24, Asaph says, “Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel; and afterward receive me to glory.” While the wicked have destruction coming to them, we have glory coming to us! The bad things we may experience in this life are nothing compared to the glory that is coming to us. The New Testament puts it this way, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18) The eternal perspective lifts us from the ant’s eye view where everything looks so intimidating and big enough to crush us. The peace—that inner calm amid outer chaos—we all want comes when we intentionally enter God’s presence and seek the eternal perspective.
After exploring the painful and honest question, “Is it worth it to trust God?” Asaph ends as confidently as he begins the psalm. After weighing the evidence, Asaph comes to a conclusion. He says, “But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.” (Psalm 73:28) Verdict: It is good to trust the Lord because the Lord is good. When we trust God, we will have plenty to declare. God is good and we can see that and sense that when we enter His presence and seek His eternal perspective.
After glimpsing the eternal perspective, Asaph realizes the truth about his perspective: “So foolish was I, and ignorant.” As humans, it’s easy to get lost in the story our senses paint for us. We paint a story with what we can see, smell, hear, touch, and taste, like little ants following their antennae. Yet we miss out on reality completely when we don’t tap into what God senses. On our own, we only get an ant’s eye view of the story. God has the whole story.
So, we must put ourselves in His presence and seek His perspective for peace in this life. As we do, we will find that God is our guide, our everything, our strength and portion to the glorious end! Asaph says, “Thou hast holden me by my right hand . . . Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:23, 25-26) This reminds me of a verse in the New Testament. Galatians 6:7-9 says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” This verse gives us perspective and purpose. We must glimpse the eternal perspective—our good God is in control—and then we must do good. Do not be weary in well-doing. Do not faint because, just as surely as the wicked will get what’s coming to them, the righteous will get what’s coming to them! Do not let your senses tell you the wrong story. What you know about God (Truly God is good) and what you see in the world (the prosperity of the wicked) are not in conflict. God has already reconciled the two because He has already written the end of the story. Stay on the right side of His[God’s]story! It is worth it.