37 vs 73

Psalm 37 is very beautiful.

But when I'm honest, it's not entirely convincing.

What do I mean? Here's an example...

Psalm 37:10-11
A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
   though you look for them, they will not be found.
But the meek will inherit the land
   and enjoy peace and prosperity.

These are comforting words when left unexamined, but they are harder to swallow when put under the glare of a spotlight.

Everyone knows there are wicked people out there who seem to live long, and live large. Not to say we'd want their lives. I wouldn't trade. But it's not like such people are hard to find. Some of these sorry souls have serious longevity! What's worse, we all know of righteous souls whose lives were cut short, ending in heart-wrenching tragedy.

So... what am I to make of Psalm 37 and its claims? If I'm honest, I must admit that sometimes it seems that the opposite is true.

Psalm 73 to the rescue. Flip the digits around and you have the story turned around too. (I confess I'm always pleased by mathematical parallels...)

Psalm 73:3-14
For I envied the arrogant
   when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
They have no struggles;
   their bodies are healthy and strong.
They are free from common human burdens;
   they are not plagued by human ills.
Therefore pride is their necklace;
   they clothe themselves with violence.
From their callous hearts comes iniquity;
   their evil imaginations have no limits.
They scoff, and speak with malice;
   with arrogance they threaten oppression.
Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
   and their tongues take possession of the earth.
Therefore their people turn to them
   and drink up waters in abundance.
They say, ‘How would God know?
   Does the Most High know anything?’
This is what the wicked are like –
   always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.
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.

So... this just in. I'm not the first person to struggle with "the party line" that is sometimes evident in the Psalms and elsewhere in scriptures. Asaph (the author of Psalm 73) lays it out on the table: he too grapples with the struggle of doubt that sometimes besets us all.

[Sidebar comment: As Christians, we are sometimes afraid to question aloud anything that the Bible says. It's God's holy inspired word. Will our honest questions undermine the faith of those around us? Most endearingly, Asaph shares our fears. In the next verse he notes...]

Psalm 73:15
If I had spoken out like that,
   I would have betrayed your children.

So let us revel in this paradox: A Psalmist in holy scriptures who is afraid lest he contradict... holy scriptures. And another paradox. If? Asaph did speak out like that. It's all there in the Psalm! Very funny, in a quirky way.

But moving on. What happens next? The wicked are not supposed to prosper... but they do. Does Asaph escape this conundrum? He does. Let's read on.

Psalm 73:16-17
When I tried to understand all this,
   it troubled me deeply...
till I entered the sanctuary of God;
   then I understood their final destiny.

In the verses that follow, Asaph reverts to the assurances of Psalm 37. The judgment of the wicked will come suddenly. But note that he doesn't say when!

Perhaps Asaph is suggesting that we put our stopwatches and our eyeballs to better uses.

Paradoxically, the ultimate solution to the mysteries surrounding wicked men seems to center around focusing our attention instead upon our good God:

Psalm 73:23-28
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.

My heart resonates ever so strongly with these words.

The wicked perplex us... Sometimes they last a long time... Sometimes the assurances of Psalm 37 seem hollow...

But along with Asaph I find my peace in turning away from the wicked and toward God's sanctuary.

Perhaps we should not be surprised that David, author of Psalm 37, begins with this same advice.

Psalm 37:1-4
Do not fret because of those who are evil
   or be envious of those who do wrong...

What do we do instead?

Psalm 37:4
Take delight in the Lord
   and he will give you the desires of your heart.

These two Psalms turn out not to be so different after all. They offer the same exact advice.

First, turn away from the wicked. Pay them no heed. (Once you do, the timing of their eventual judgement will cease to occupy your thoughts!)

Second, focus on God. Seek God. There alone will we find true peace.

And when life here is ended? We'll stand alongside Asaph. And David. In God's presence. In his sanctuary.

That's a good way live. That's a good way to die. And that's a good way to live again.

Careful What You Grasp For

"You've been grasping for the wrong person's attention, Pilgrim."

I spoke these words to myself a few days ago, but it could equally have been the voice of God speaking to me.

Over the prior week I had engaged myself in an exercise which had the potential to gain me praise and admiration from other people.

The time spent in this exercise came largely from the more solitary moments of my day... from times when I would normally have been fellowship with God. Prayer had gone out the window during that time span.

It was only in the pause after I finally had everything ready that I gave greater heed to the voices of caution in my head.

They had been speaking all along. Asking me what I was after.

The results of my labors might have raised my reputation a bit... but at the cost of dinging someone else's reputation by the same amount.

The good advice of a good friend came rumbling though my head...
A question to ask yourself before entering into a conflict...

"What is it that you hope to gain from this exchange?"

I had no good answer to the question.

That's when I began to ponder what it was I had been grasping for, and why, and at what cost.

I had been grasping for the attention of strangers. To gain recognition at someone else's expense. At the cost of my grip on God and lost prayer time.

Not a good exchange, and I knew it. So I dropped the project.

That was where I left it a few days ago, but then this morning in two different devotionals I happened to flip through I ran (twice) into a reminder of the only verse in scripture where we're told what exactly Jesus himself grasped.

Or did not grasp, to be more specific.

Philippians 2:6-8
Who, being in very nature God,
   did not consider equality with God something to be grasped
rather, he made himself nothing
   by taking the very nature of a servant,
   being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
   he humbled himself
   by becoming obedient to death—
   even death on a cross!

Ouch.

I, a mere man, had been seeking to become something.

Jesus, God himself, sought to become nothing.

The passage preceding these verses only added salt to the wound.

Philippians 2:5
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

But note the verses following the passage.

Philippians 2:9-11
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
   and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
   in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
   to the glory of God the Father!

God is a God of ironies and paradoxes indeed.

I had been seeking significance, and it wasn't a good thing.

But Jesus had his eye on even greater significance, and it was good.

The difference is that that Jesus was willing to become the ultimate servant and to die on a cross in order to reach his goal.

I had not been engaged in that game.

Legendary golfer Bobby Jones said of Jack Nicklaus (after watching Nicklaus win the 1965 Masters) that he "played a game with which I am not familiar."

I might say the same of Jesus.

But if I'm after significance, it's encouraging to know that Jesus was too. The question that remains is...

Am I willing to get familiar with the game Jesus played?

Wanted, But Not Needed

Needed, but not wanted
Despair marks the spot
Stripped of our value
We know we're not sought

Needed, but not wanted
Better than nothing at all
Perhaps not by much
Or perhaps not at all

Needed, but not wanted
We have something to give
But ourselves we must keep
And alone we must live

Wanted, but not needed
Not for talent nor wealth
Nor beauty of youth
Things that time steals by stealth

Wanted, but not needed
Inmost being so cherished
That when all else is gone
Our value's not perished

Wanted, but not needed
Full joy without measure
When in God we discover
One who grants us this pleasure

Wanted, but not needed
God can well do without
Yet he wants all the same
He still seeks us out

Wanted, but not needed
This God does enthrall
He tirelessly seeks us
Without needing us at all