SCRIP-BITS

Psalm 73:17.        Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.

‘Beautiful days are here again! Glory Hallelujah!’ Yes friends, after a few wet, dark and cloudy days, our lazy-day Saturday has opened bright and sparkling, with blue skies all around. We’ll never refuse a beautiful day, even if it’s on a lazy-day Saturday. (smile) And I guess you’re wondering what I’m doing up so early on this day given over to laziness. Well, I just happened to get up early and decided to get a move on, to enjoy my lazy time after the Bit, rather than before it. So, with all of that in mind, let’s begin by saying our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer. 

As one sincere voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ Oh my people, don’t those words just bring a calm, relaxing presence to your spirit, body and soul? They surely do to mine! 

Now, yesterday we promised that if God granted us life, today we’d continue looking at that rather interesting and appropriate Psalm 73, which talks about the prosperity of the wicked. And since we are still alive and kicking, (smile) let’s get to it. In the first part of the psalm yesterday, we saw how the wicked can prosper right throughout their lives despite Bruh David saying in Psalm 37, that they will soon be destroyed. And that fact got the psalmist Asaph to wondering about the purpose of righteousness when the wicked were prospering in their wickedness while seriously oppressing the righteous.

And it almost caused him to stumble. As he said: ‘For I was envious at the foolish (boastful), when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.’ (Ps, 73:3) Now that situation affects all of us, for it’s a sort of contradiction to God’s word. But what we have to realize is that God didn’t say exactly when He would destroy the wicked, just that He would do it. 

And furthermore, our job is not to be envious of them, but to remain righteous and do God’s will, believe His promises and live in obedience to his plan for our lives, like Bruh David says in Psalm 37:4-8. Delight, commit, trust, rest in the Lord, etc. etc. ‘For evildoers shall be cut off (destroyed): but they that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. (Ps. 37:9)  

But, fortunately, the psalmist Asaph, after almost stumbling, found the cure for his ailment. As he writes, it was not ‘Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.’ (Ps. 73:17) And the scholars explain: ‘The second part of the psalm is prompted by the content of verse 17. Not until the psalmist entered God’s sanctuary and received a divine perspective on the wicked’s prosperity, did he find his answer to the problem. 

He saw the destiny of the wicked: ‘Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brough into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.’ (Ps. 73:18-20)  

Then he repented of the envy that he had so foolishly allowed to envelop him. ‘Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins (pierced in my mind). So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.’ (Ps. 73: 21-22) And as the scholars tell us, then he finally ‘found his happiness solely in a warm and growing relationship with God (vs. 23-28).’ 

So let’s see what those verses say nuh. ‘Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden (held) me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon the earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength (rock) of my heart, and my portion for ever. For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.’ (Ps. 73: 23-28) 

Now friends, that’s the kind of strong and steadfast declaration (steups!!!) we believers ought to be sincerely making, especially in these dark and troubled times, when the wicked are prospering more than ever, and the poor and righteous are suffering through no fault of their own. And it’s certainly not easy to do when all the unfairness and inhumanity are blatantly being perpetrated right before our very eyes. But we need to stand strong on God’s word, that the wicked will be destroyed in God’s time, while if we stay righteous, we will inherit His goodness and mercy. 

And, as the scholars conclude: ‘The point of the psalm is driven home even more dramatically when remembering that Asaph, the author, was a spiritual man who grew up with deeply religious training. (1 Chr. 15:16-19; 16:4-7; 2 Chr. 5:12; 29:30)’ Yes friends, Asaph was one of the singers appointed by Bruh David to accompany the ark of the covenant. The Bible tells us: ‘And he (Bruh David) appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to record, and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel: Asaph the chief…’ (1 Chr. 16:4-5) 

And from 2 Chronicles 29, we read: ‘Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.’ (2 Chr. 29:30) Yes my faithful brethren, Asaph was a very bright, influential and spiritual man in Bruh David’s time, and that’s why to this day, we still sing the psalms he wrote. So if a man of his stature could fall prey to the envy of the prosperity of the wicked, why wouldn’t so many more of us today, who are not nearly as spiritual and righteous? 

And it just goes to show the power of Satan, once we allow him into our souls. That’s why it’s ever so important for us to do as Peter says: ‘Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 

Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in (experienced by) your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish (confirm), strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.’ (1 Pet. 5:6-11) 

And my fellow saints, there are no better words for us to end on this lazy-day Saturday. So please, let’s read and inwardly digest them, then put them into action in our lives. It will be one of the best decisions we can ever make! Much LOVE!

…commit thy way unto the Lord…trust also in him…and he shall bring it to pass…. (Ps. 37:5)  

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