Paradoxes of Life
Psalm 73

In a film called The Street there is a scene in which a man was in the doctor’s office. The Street refers to Madison Ave. In Chicago in which down and out people were helped by the Pacific Garden Mission. The doctor was working on his feet, and he asked, “If God loves people why is there a street like this one?” One can certainly ask the question, “why do people suffer?” One might think that disobedient, rebellious people should suffer, but why do good Christian people suffer?

We cannot deny that the good do suffer. They are not immune from disease, danger, disaster, or death. Thousands of God’s people have been through life’s difficult times. In our own time we have seen devastation from hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods and disaster.

Both the good and faithless suffer alike. Godliness is no guarantee of a security against ills common to man. If it were possibly to be keep from all harm as a Christian, people would probably flock to the church as a magical charm against evil. Many people followed Jesus because they thought He would throw off the Roman rule and bring good times to their life. When he was crucified, many were disappointed and turned away from Him.

The writer of the Psalm groped for answers to his problem. He looked at the flow of life from the cradle to the grave and saw many inequalities that he could not understand at first.
But he did finally come to some answers which will help you and me understand some of life’s harsh moments.

I. We understand injustice in the presence of God

Everywhere you turn and see the work of evil men it seems they are prospering. They seem to a way of turning cheap metal into gold. They can fleece the poor and they seem to prosper. For example, there was once a man I knew of in Tennessee who had a large farm of many hundred acres. He did not get it by farming. Night after night he gambled with other men and that is how he paid for it. The Psalms says they prosper.(v.3)

It seems that they are not in trouble as other men (v.5) The wicked seem to do evil and never seem to get caught for it. The high school I attended had 5000 boys. It was necessary to have some means to keep students from wandering around the halls out of class. To prevent this a pass signed by the teacher was necessary. Many of my classmates could sign a certain teachers name better than the teacher could himself. They would sign his name and go meandering around the halls. None seem to have been caught. But if I went through the right procedure to get permission, it would not have been granted. If I had been missing I would have been caught for sure.

The Psalm says that they speak wickedly.v.8. I once knew an army sergeant whom I could not stand being around. He had a rather soft job as a sergeant but he had a mouth which was exceedingly vile. Every other word seemed to curse God or man. Verse 8-9 describes their words, “ They sneer and say cruel things, and because of their pride, they make violent threats. They dare to speak against God and to order others around.”

They blaspheme heaven. I had an experience once in which a friend of mine was starting a new church in a small town outside of Chicago. I offered to come and canvas the new housing area to help. The day I came, he was sick and I volunteered to go alone. Many of the people were congenial and friendly. I came to one house, rang t he doorbell, but no one came to the door. I heard a heavily accented voice asked, “What do you want?” I told him I was informing people about the local Baptist church. He then said, “I don’t want to have anything to do with the church.” He then told me that the church should leave him alone. I was then asked to leave, which I did. Nevertheless, the man spoke against the body of Christ which is the church and people are often doing that.

The Psalm writer observed all this and it seemed that nothing happened to these rebels. He raised the question about following what they do. “What good did it do me to keep my thoughts pure and refuse to do wrong?” V.13 We can be tempted to do wrong because others are doing the same thing and it does not seem to matter. One may be tempted to cut corners for the sake of money. One may be tempted to do other things that are questionable for the sake of money. One may be tempted to be dishonest in a business deal for the sake of money.
Envy is a trait that leads to destruction.

I became a Christian at the age of 13 or thereabouts. I wanted to be a musician and played the string bass in the highschool orchestra. There were 6 bass players in the orchestra. My partner on the stand was an active musician who played in an orchestra in many of the leading night clubs in Chicago on the weekends. His band made between 150-200 dollars a night. That was a lot of money in those days. A large percentage went to him. There was a temptation to follow that example. However, because I was a Christian I did not want to be part of an attraction to get people to come and drink and continue a life-style that was not good.

I am grateful for God’s direction in my life. My friend became a part of the sub-culture and long before drugs were in the culture, drugs were in the music sub-culture. My friend died at an early age from an overdose of heroin.

The turning point came when he went into the temple of God. It was hard for me to understand all this! it was too painful for me; (Psa 73:17) Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Sometimes many things have to happen before we come to the word to transition, “Until.” All these things happened and I did not understand “until” I went into the presence of God.
There is an example of this in the story of King Hezekiah. The king of Assryia, Sennacherib, sent a messenger to Hezekiah demanding him to surrender. They told Hezekiah how none of the gods could deliver other nations, and you surely don’t think that God can rescue you. When Hezekiah received the message he was in despair. He could not understand how he could be in such a predicament. He was a righteous king and his enemies were blaspheming the Lord. Nevertheless, Hezekiah went into the house of the Lord. He spread the letter out before the Lord and prayed. The word of the Lord came back to him by the prophet Isaiah, “this one who blasphemes against heaven shall not prevail. In the presence of God Hezekiah learned the end of the wicked one.

It is in the presence of God that we understand the end of the wicked. The Psalm declares that their feet are in slippery places. They are like people trying to climb a steep mountain covered with ice. Their feet will slip and bring them to destruction. I remember a farmer talking about judgement. He said that harvest does not always take place in October. It comes in terms of God’s own time. We have to remain faithful.

II. We Understand companionship in loneliness 21-25

During all these observations of the wicked, until his entering the temple, it seemed to psalmist that he was all alone. So it seems in many of our trials in life. It is only when you are alone that you can appreciate a real Friend. When you are the loneliest then you know the presence of God as Your Friend. One of the famous missionaries of modern times was David Livingstone who lived in Africa for a long time and after many years a reporter by the name of Stanley came to Africa to find him. When he found him, Stanley was deeply impressed with the fact that though he had suffering so deeply, he was free from anxieties, detractions of mind, complaints about his lot in life. As he lived with him he saw that Livingstone was master of the circumstances and the secret was his unswerving faith “in the presence of God.” As Christian we are never alone even when no human is around. We have been given the gift of God’s Spirit to indwell our lives and He is the source of strength, companionship and help.

Even in a group of people one can feel extremely lonely. Sometimes we need to ask ourselves the question of the writer: “ Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.” v.25. The answer was: “there is none on the earth that I desire but thee.” We are invited into the presence of God daily.

Dr. Walter L. Wilson tells of a girl in one of the great theater circuits. By her dancing and singing she won the hearts of many. She appeared never to have a care. She was attractive, delightful in conversation, and radiated happiness to those she met. This was Lillian in the public eye and on the stage. In the dressing room and in the hotel Lillian was a different girl. She frequently wiped away the tears from her eyes, deep signs would come from her heart. Sometimes after the performance he would return to her room, throw herself across the bed, and sob about her sorrows.

Lillian’s husband had tuberculosis. He had been on the stage at various times and as a team they were in demand. Now Willard was lying on his back wasting away. The bills were piling up. Her husband continue to grow worse, and the darkness in her heart became a greater burden, until she felt that she could hardly continue on the stage in her hypocrisy.

Her distress increased until one day she inquired of a stage hand if there was a down-town church where she might fo to find relief from the distress. They replied that they did not know for they were not church-going people. One of them told her of a factory where there were a lot of religious people who gave away tracts and Bibles. Perhaps she could get some help there. She found Dr. Wilson and in his office he told her of the words of Jesus, “Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The good news is that she found Jesus and his comfort in this lonely time of her life.

The writer of the Psalm did not know of the promises that we have in Jesus. Jesus promised his followers the Comforter. Jesus told his disciples, “Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me.” We are never alone.

III. We understand God’s faithfulness in our weakness....26-28

As you and I love each day we learn the growing frailty of our bodies. My back is not as strong as it used to be, my muscles in the legs don’t stretch as much as they once did, my eyesight is not as good as it once was. My reflexes are not as good as they used to be. I get tired quicker than I use to. I am lazier than I used to be. I don’t do some of the riskier jobs that I used to do. I fell off a 20 foot ladder, but I was only on the first step.

In the area of our spiritual lives we find that we are weak. But it is in this weakness that we acknowledge to God that we learn and know real strength. For when we admit our weakness, we find that God is the source of real strength. The Old Testament describes God as my Rock. The thought is that God is the firm foundation. If we could stand on something solid one is immovable.

My sister lives in Rancho Pales Verdes, CA, and her house overlooks the ocean. She is not far from a shifting area of the ground in which the highway has to be rebuilt occasional. One can see the places where it has been replaced. I asked about her house, whether it would slide down or not. Her reply was that it is built on a huge rock. There is no movement.

It is good to draw near to God. (V.28) I remember a story about an early snow that came with heavy snowflakes. It was sticky wet and clung to everything. When the snow had fallen for sometime the 4 yrs old daughter looked out and asked, “What’s happening to the shrubs?” On investigating it was found that the snow had bent them over and nearly buried them. So father and daughter put on their coats and went out and shook the snow off letting the shrubs come up straight again. From time to time during the day, the daughter reported that the snow was bending the shrubs again and several times they went out to shake off the snow.
That evening when they gathered for family devotions, the little girl asked, “why do people go to church.” The father explained that it was something like the shrubs, that people become weighed down with worries and problems which they could not shake off and so they go to church to worship God who helps shake off the burdens, and they were able to return home feeling better.”

This is not limited to church. At home we are able to draw near to God and by prayer enter his presence and found help. At work we can lift our hearts to God in prayer for wisdom, for patience,
for strength, for forgiveness. It is good for us to draw near to God anytime, anywhere.

There is a beloved song, “Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord. Abide in him only, feed on his word, make friends with God’s children, help those who are in need, forgetting in nothing, his blessing to seek.”

Conclusion
Have friends let you down? Have family members let you down? Remember the words of the Scripture, God is our companion and he will not let us down.