Is Life Unfair? Is God Un-Good?
Psalms 73:15–28
“If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have betrayed Your children. When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final 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. When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You. Yet I am always with You; You hold me by my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel, and afterwards, You will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from You will perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all Your deeds.”
The Apostle Peter wrote, “for if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless people (for that righteous, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment (II Pet 2:4–9).” The second part of Psalms 73 is encouraging as much as what St. Peter said. He also reminds us, as Grace shared a few days ago, "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (II Pet 3:9).” God is just and our father Abraham rhetorically asked, “shall not the Judge of all the Earth do that which is right (Gen 18:25)?” Grace also shared, “real joy has nothing to do with how much we have”, and this goes beyond merely material possessions, but also talents, looks, eloquence, brilliance, skills, influence, and connections. God distributes these all to everyone for a purpose, and it can also be sought and prayed for, although it is important to watch our hearts. I did some slides on Psalm 73 for Cell Group sharing back in 2015. It’s nice to look back and review, a really good reminder for me for such a touchy topic. I would like to share it with you all as well: “Is Life Unfair? Is God Un-Good?” http://bit.ly/2BVt6Mu To conclude, the finite perspective that we have further limited by envy and untoward experiences that make our view very myopic, can be tempered by praying for an eternal perspective, and importantly, it is a matter of heart, attitude, and character; let us not be like the ‘other’ prodigal son, though physically in the presence of his father, his heart was nowhere near: “He answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' (Luke 15:29–30), that sounds so much like “surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence, all day long I have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishments (Psa 73:14)”, and when I have thoughts of indignance and envy, like Asaph’s, God whispers to me, “My son, you are always with Me, and everything I have is yours (Luke 15:31)”, may we always listen closely to His every word. And when the time comes for our neighbours, even enemies, and/or those we envied, to come home to God, if they do (and we earnestly pray), no matter how much had been squandered, we genuinely celebrate, “and be glad, because this brother/sister of ours was dead and is alive again; was lost and is found’ (Luke 15:32).”
“If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have betrayed Your children. When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final 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. When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You. Yet I am always with You; You hold me by my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel, and afterwards, You will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from You will perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all Your deeds.”
The Apostle Peter wrote, “for if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless people (for that righteous, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment (II Pet 2:4–9).” The second part of Psalms 73 is encouraging as much as what St. Peter said. He also reminds us, as Grace shared a few days ago, "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (II Pet 3:9).” God is just and our father Abraham rhetorically asked, “shall not the Judge of all the Earth do that which is right (Gen 18:25)?” Grace also shared, “real joy has nothing to do with how much we have”, and this goes beyond merely material possessions, but also talents, looks, eloquence, brilliance, skills, influence, and connections. God distributes these all to everyone for a purpose, and it can also be sought and prayed for, although it is important to watch our hearts. I did some slides on Psalm 73 for Cell Group sharing back in 2015. It’s nice to look back and review, a really good reminder for me for such a touchy topic. I would like to share it with you all as well: “Is Life Unfair? Is God Un-Good?” http://bit.ly/2BVt6Mu To conclude, the finite perspective that we have further limited by envy and untoward experiences that make our view very myopic, can be tempered by praying for an eternal perspective, and importantly, it is a matter of heart, attitude, and character; let us not be like the ‘other’ prodigal son, though physically in the presence of his father, his heart was nowhere near: “He answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' (Luke 15:29–30), that sounds so much like “surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence, all day long I have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishments (Psa 73:14)”, and when I have thoughts of indignance and envy, like Asaph’s, God whispers to me, “My son, you are always with Me, and everything I have is yours (Luke 15:31)”, may we always listen closely to His every word. And when the time comes for our neighbours, even enemies, and/or those we envied, to come home to God, if they do (and we earnestly pray), no matter how much had been squandered, we genuinely celebrate, “and be glad, because this brother/sister of ours was dead and is alive again; was lost and is found’ (Luke 15:32).”
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