This Week's Sunday School Lesson, "I Almost Slipped Until I Remembered God", Psalms 73:1-26, 6/19/2022

 I ALMOST SLIPPED UNTIL I REMEMBERED GOD

Psalms 73:1-26

 

WE MAKE TROUBLE FOR OURSELVES

Psalms 73:1-4

 Surely God is good to Israel,

to those who are pure in heart.

2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;

I had nearly lost my foothold.

3 For I envied the arrogant

when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

 

I think it Is normal when you work hard, and do the right things

And still can’t make ends meet to be dissatisfied.  Then when

You look at others who seem to work less but get everything

You want, you can be envious.

 

It is easy to ask God what am I doing wrong? It is easy to look across

The street and see greener grass. We want to feel normal and

Not less than. It is frustrating when your best is not good enough.

 

The Psalmist compared himself to his peers and fell short of his

Own expectations. For a while, he was dissatisfied and was about

To lose faith in the Father.

 

Anytime you compare yourself to someone who seems to be doing

Better than you, you can get discouraged. When your mind is focused

In the world, it is easy to forget what God has done for you. Christianity

Has to be more than a religion. Christianity has to be a way of life.         

Faith, the root of Christianity has to be more than a word we use on

Sunday, but the basis by which we operate.

 

The Psalmist was about to lose his faith in God until he remembered

The goodness of the Lord. He remembered his position in the Lord.

Maybe the Psalmist remembered that he didn’t have all He wanted,

But he had all he needed.

 

The Psalmist had been focusing on the wrong people. He had focused on

People who had no relationship with Lord were doing all the wrong things.

The love of God does not always show up in stuff and accomplishments.

God shows His love for us in ways we cannot imagine.

 

God is not focused on the present, but the future He has been planned for you. Enduring the present whether good or bad in your eyes is part of your spiritual growth and development.

 

The Psalmist said I almost lost my foothold, but I remembered the Lord.

Whenever we start comparing ourselves to the world, we need to refocus

On the Lord.

DON’T COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS

Psalms 73:12-14

This is what the wicked are like —

always carefree, they increase in wealth.

13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure;

in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.

 

When you meditate on the actions of the wicked,

You will always see their sins and how bad they are.

You are constantly judging them according to your

Standards.

 

You become the judge of right and wrong in violation of God’s commands.

James 4:11

Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.

 

The Psalmist lifted himself to the point where he could not recognize

His sins. He saw himself as righteous, deserving the blessing of God.

He saw the wicked as sinful and undeserving. Anytime we compare ourselves

To others, we become judge and jury. Instead of being humble, we become

Prideful. It is our pride that causes our frustrations.

 

 

James 4:1

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?

The Psalmist was having a battle with himself. His complaint had nothing to do

With Lord. His complaint had nothing to do with the wicked. For the moment

He was showing his ungratefulness for the blessings he had received.

Isaiah 2:17

 The arrogance of man will be brought low

and the pride of men humbled;

 

The Psalmist doubted his devotion to God as useless. He doubted that

Following God’s commands was beneficial to him. The psalmist forgot

That the reason he had something to compare to others was his

Blessings from the Lord.

 

It is important to consider the goodness of the Lord because it always

Greater than we can see or even conceive. Any comparison you make

Of yourself to others is limited by your ignorance of what God is doing

In your life that you can’t see.

 

ALWAYS FOCUS ON GOD

Psalms 73:16-18

When I tried to understand all this,

it was oppressive to me

17 till I entered the sanctuary of God;

then I understood their final destiny.

18 Surely you place them on slippery ground;

you cast them down to ruin.

 

Our thoughts are not God’s thoughts. Our ways are not God’s ways.

God’s thoughts and ways are as high as the heaven is from the earth

Compared to us.

 

There is no way for us to understand why God allows some to prosper and

Some to go to ruin. He blesses who He wants to bless and curses who

He wants to curse.

 

The best we can do is meditate on the Word of God and allow Him to

Comfort us in our frustrations. When we meditate on God’s Word, the Holy

Spirit will teach us the meaning of our frustrations.

 

What we must understand is God has a reason for the wicked in our lives.

The wicked draw us closer to God. The wicked put urgency in our prayers.

The wicked increases the frequency of our prayers. The wicked forces us

Into real prayer.

1 Samuel 2:9

He will guard the feet of his saints,

but the wicked will be silenced in darkness.

 

When we compare the destination of the wicked to ours, we can see that

They will soon be destroyed. Our destination is heaven, and theirs is hell.

The wicked keep us humble before the Lord.

Psalms 1:5-6

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

 

AN UNGRATEFUL HEART IS SINFUL

Psalms 73:21-22

V:21 When my heart was grieved

and my spirit embittered,

22 I was senseless and ignorant;

I was a brute beast before you.

 

When we focus on the success and prosperity of the wicked, we are

Likely to get upset.

It is all a mind game. Who are we upset with; Ourselves or God?

We work ourselves into a frenzy over our desire to have what others

Have. We don’t have it because it is not in God’s plan for us. We don’t need

It, we just want it.

 

 

James 4:2-3

You quarrel and fight. You do not have, it because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

 

All of us are sinners. None of us is good enough to deserve the blessings

God bestows upon us daily. None of us can boast of our righteousness.

The good we think we do is nothing more than a filthy rag before the Lord.

If we boast, we must boast in the Lord. If we lift ourselves up, it must be our

Faith in Jesus.

 

GOD IS MY HELP

V:23 Yet I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand.

24 You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward, you will take me into glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

 

The key thing to remember is that God is in control of our lives.

No matter what is going on around us, God knows what is best

For us.

Some things God withholds from us is to keep us from being corrupted

By our desires.

When we desire what the world has, we make ourselves an enemy to

God.

James 4:4-6

4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?  6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

 

This is not our home, we are just passing through. To get attached to the world

Is to get detached from God.

The steps of a good man/woman are ordered by the Lord.  God guides us on

A path of righteousness.

 

My hope is in the Lord, not what I have or will obtain. Jesus died that we

Might have eternal life, not this life. In this life, Jesus makes it possible

For us to have peace and joy through faith in Him.

John 16:24

 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

 

When we put our focus on the Lord, the desires of the world become of

Little importance. Everything we need we have in Jesus.

 

The desires of our hearts should be the desires of the Lord. When our

Desires match the Lord’s, we are assured of our success in the Lord.

 

Rev. M. Mitchell