“There's Within My Heart a Melody”

“It's Just Not Fair!”

•  The Ballad of the Doubting Heart, (Psalm 73)

A. The Struggle, (vs. 1-14)

1. Asaph is a believer, ( v. 1 ), “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.”
a. He knew God made a covenant with Israel to bless them when they obeyed Him.
1) ( Lev. 26:3-13 ), “If you walk in My statutes and keep my commandments… I
shall give you rain in its season … your threshing will last until the time of
sowing… you shall have peace in the land… your enemies will fall before
your sword… I will walk among you and be your God, & you will be My
people.”
2) “Pure in heart” does not mean sinless, but someone who is totally
committed to God!

b. But in vs. 2-3 , he slips from his confidence in God. “But as for me my feet came
close to stumbling; my steps had almost slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant,
as I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”
1) Asaph finds himself doubting for it seems like God is blessing the wicked!
2) There is a difference between “doubting” and “unbelief.”
3) Doubts come from a mind struggling to understand what they see. Unbelief is
rebellion against God in spite of all evidence to the contrary.

2. ( vs. 4-14 ), From Asaph's point of view it seems like the wicked in this life have it made…
a. Notice how he characterizes them…
1) No struggles in life or even in death – “There are no pains in their death.”
2) No normal life problems – “They are not troubled as other men, nor are they
plagued like mankind.”
3) They are arrogant about their wealth & circumstances – “Pride is their
necklace.”
4) They use violence to get what they want – “The garment of violence covers
them.”
5) Their hard hearts produce endless ideas for getting even more power, “The
imaginations of their heart run riot, they mock and wickedly speak of
oppression.”
6) They even had the gall to speak against God, “They have set their mouths
against the heavens!”

b. Yet the worst thing is that God's people “lap it up”! They follow in their footsteps!!!
1) ( v. 10 ), Therefore God's people return to this place; and waters of abundance
are drunk by them.
2) They quiet their guilty consciences by believing God doesn't see what them!
3) ( v. 11 ), “And they say, ‘How does God know? And is there knowledge with
the Most High?'”

c. Even Asaph wonders if he has wasted his time by remaining faithful to the Lord.
1) ( vs. 13-14 ), “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure, and washed my hands
in innocence; for I have been stricken all day long, and chastened every
morning.”
2) Asaph has bought into Satan's lie that people worship God only to get
something from Him.
3) ( Job 1:9-11 ), “Then Satan said to the Lord, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing?
You have made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has on every
side. You have blessed the work of his hands and his possessions have
increased in the land. But put forth your hand now and touch all he has; he
will surely curse you to your face!'”
4) Asaph almost bought into Satan's philosophy! Yet we know that God is
worthy of our worship regardless of what He allows to come into our lives!!!

B. The Worship, (vs. 15-24)

1. Before discarding his faith and walking away from God Asaph has to make some decisions…
a. He understands how his actions (as a leader) will affect those around him who are
younger in faith.
1) ( v. 15 ), “If I had said, ‘I will speak thus,' Behold, I should have betrayed
Your children.”
2) Matt. 18:6 , “ but ?? whoever ?? causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to
stumble, it ?? would be better for him to have a ?? heavy millstone hung around his
neck & to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”
3) Yet the more he thought about these things the more his heart was pained. ( v.
16 ), “When I pondered to understand this, it was troublesome in my sight.”


b. Asaph next decision was to enter into the sanctuary to worship.
1) Worship gives us the opportunity to see our lives from God's perspective…
2) ( v. 17 ), “Until I came into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end.”
a) Worship which does us no good in this life… is no good for the next
either!!!
b) For this reason God has commanded how He desires to be worshipped
for the sake (not of Himself) but for His worshippers.
c) Col. 3:16 , “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all
wisdom teaching and admonishing one another ins psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs.”
d) I Cor. 11:26 , “For as often and you eat this bread and drink this cup,
you proclaim the Lord's death, until He comes.”
e) I Tim. 4:13 , “Until I come give attention to the public reading of
scripture, to exhortation and to teaching.”
f) II Tim. 4:2 , “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season;
reprove, rebuke, and exhort with great patience and instruction.”
3) What made the difference in the worship to Asaph was when he focused, not
on the circumstances around him, but the destiny that lay before him!

c. The external lives of these people is not a true picture but is only a pretense!
1) They are in a precarious situation, ( vs. 18-19 ), “…You have set them in
slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. How they are destroyed
in a moment!

d. Finally Asaph confronts himself for what he had believed regarding the lives of the
wicked – and repents!
1) ( vs. 21-22 ), “When my heart was embittered, and I was pierced within, then I
was senseless and ignorant; I was like a dumb animal before you.”
2) It is through worship that this worship leader comes to understand God's
plan!

C. The Victory, (vs. 25-28)

1. In v. 1 , Asaph acknowledged God's goodness. But his struggle was in defining what
“goodness” truly means in this world.
a. He first believed “goodness” meant being free from problems, having money galore,
and being admired by others, etc.!

b. But now Asaph understands what true goodness means…
1) While the ungodly look for earthly rewards, the righteous know where their
reward is found… ( v. 25a ), “Whom have I in heaven but You?”
2) The ungodly have everything they want – except God, the righteous have in
God everything they will ever need, ( v. 25b ), “Besides You I desire nothing
on earth.”
3) The end for the unrighteous is too terrible to imagine, ( v. 27 ), “Behold, those
who are far from You will perish.”
4) But even death cannot separate the righteous from God, ( v. 28a ), “As for me,
the nearness of God is my good.”

c. Asaph leaves the temple of God equipped to tell others this good news, ( v. 28b ), “I
have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works.”
1) In the same way God has blessed us that we may tell others, ( cf. I Pt. 2:9 ),
“You are a chosen race, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a people for God's
own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies on Him who called
you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
2) Those who desire to receive God's true blessings may enter Christ today.
a) Eph. 1:3 , “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places in Christ .”
b) Notice that all spiritual blessings are only found “…in Christ.” The
question then that begs to be asked, is, “So how do I get ‘into Christ'
in order that I may receive all of these blessings?”
c) Gal. 3:26-27 , “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ
Jesus. For all of you who have been baptized into Christ have clothed
yourselves with Christ.”
d) God's answer to the question, is, “You need to place your faith in
Jesus and then be baptized into Him !”