Introduction

In our study today we are going to consider this wonderful Psalm and it’s honest insight to the frailty, failures and wickedness of the human condition and the power, provision and promises of an Almighty and Good God. It is a Psalm of confession, repentance, praise and hope for those who believe, and a stark warning for those who reject God.

The Psalm is also an insight to the problem that throughout history there appears to have been this apparent contradiction of believers in God suffering, whilst those who live wicked lives prosper. We can look at our own world today with a similar view. We can see the challenges of our own struggles, and those of brothers and sisters in other parts of the world who are persecuted, imprisoned, and murdered for their faith, whilst those with a disregard for God seem to prosper and come to no harm. There seems to be no justice, and it challenges us as to why we should continue believing and following God when such things are allowed to be.

We are going to see how easily we can fall into similar traps or potentially lead others there by how we view and communicate our frustrations and expectations of God’s goodness with the world around us. 

The Psalmist is however not accusing God in his reflections, but is honestly confessing to his own weakness in holding such thoughts and questions. 

In doing so he comes to the point of realising the difference between the apparent prosperity of those in this world who are actually heading for judgement and destruction, and the actual and true prosperity of those who are loved by God, and follow him.

It is an encouraging Psalm to help us when we face similar thoughts and challenges. It is a Psalm intended to lift our eyes from ourselves and our circumstances to the good that is actually ours now and forever in the provision, protection and love of God. 

So let’s take time to go through the different elements presented to us, and consider them together.

1. The contradiction of the goodness of God and the prosperity of the wicked.

The Psalmist starts with a powerful and true statement in verse 1,

Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

It is important to state at the beginning that we need to understand that throughout this Psalm there will be a distinction between those who belong to God, and those who don’t. For the Psalmist, the nation of Israel were God’s chosen. They were the nation that God set apart and God loved. This is further distinguished in that God’s love is for “those who are pure in heart”. This might cause us a challenge to think that only those who are pure and perfect are loved by God, but that is not what is being said here. You see only God is pure and perfect, and the statement is that he loves and is good to those whose hearts, desires, faithfulness etc. are towards him. They are the ones who believe and trust in him. 

By contrast, reference to the wicked, is indicating those who do not believe, trust and follow God. These are the unbelievers, and as we will see, the people who believe in themselves and those like them. It is easy to consider our own definition of wicked against the human perspective, and limit it to those who only do the worst kinds of sinful behaviours. But an early warning and heads up for us all is that the wicked is a catch all for everyone who does not believe, and does not have a heart for God. They are wicked by comparison with God’s perfect and holy standard.

And as the Psalmist looks at the behaviour of those around him, and tries to align God’s goodness with what he sees happening, he is really challenged. And he confesses that these thoughts have almost given him cause to stop believing and start behaving as the wicked do.

Verses 2 and 3,

But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

In verses 4 – 12, we see him set out the behaviours that appear to suggest that God is also good to those who hate him, and do whatever they want. 

These are people who live life without fear of death or it’s consequences. They have plenty of provision, they don’t go hungry. They don’t seem to be bothered by trouble or difficulty in life. They are full of pride and full of entitlement. They have a high opinion of themselves and use their power to threaten and oppress others. They mock and scoff, and speak wrongly, and have no place for God in their lives. They draw others to them who want what they have, and they are not called out for how they behave.

And it is all driven by contempt and arrogance for others, but worst of all for God. They arrogantly presume God does not care, or so see what they are doing, and will even claim there is no God at all. 

Verse 11,

And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

These are people so assured of themselves, they live at ease with all they do. They see the benefits of riches and their health and prosperity as justification of them being right.

And by contrast the Psalmist looks at his own life, and wonders why he is struggling with life and many challenges when he has set his heart towards serving and following God,

Verses 13-14,

All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.

I don’t think the Psalmist is expressing unique thoughts as a believer. I am sure as we look around us at the world today we can see what he saw. Perhaps as Christians we find ourselves in times of struggle, for whatever reason. It might be our finances and limitations, or health challenges, or the mockery and rejection of others just because we follow Jesus. We might ask, if God is good to those he loves, why doesn’t it feel that way for me?

But as I have stated earlier, this Psalm is not a question or challenge to God for these issues, but a confession by the Psalmist of having the wrong perspective of what he is witnessing in the world around him, and of his understanding of God’s goodness.

2. A new perspective

Verses 15 -17, provide a turning point in the Psalm as we see the changing perspective.

In verse 15, we see an important insight to the damage that can be done by having the wrong perspective of God’s goodness towards us. So far the question of God’s goodness has been self-centred. The Psalmist has expressed goodness very much in terms of the worldly comforts and blessings he sees others benefiting from. He is acknowledging that if we compare and measure God’s goodness merely in terms of our comfort and ease of life then we are betraying truth and leading others astray from the real blessings and goodness of God.

If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

There are many who do this today. They draw people to Jesus with an expectation of health, wealth and happiness. That is a false teaching, and a false gospel that leads to disappointment, and despair for many. But we also have to be careful not to ignore that as God’s children we are blessed with many of these things, whilst others face many challenges who are also genuine believers.

And the Psalmist acknowledges this challenge in verse 10,

But when I thought how to understand this it seemed to me a wearisome task,

How can the limitations of the human mind, wonderful as it was created to be, ever resolve and reconcile the multiple challenges of how God addresses our existence and behaviour. We see the wicked prosper, we see the wicked suffer. We see the Godly prosper, and the Godly suffer. We see those who do great evil continue to go unopposed, and those who seek to do good and bring love to people subjected to great trials and difficulty. 

There is no philosophical or academic answer to these paradoxes. I challenge you to have a go to see how quickly you come to the same realisation as the Psalmist. It will wear you out without resolve. However,…

Thankfully, the Psalmist comes to understand where his problem can be resolved and answered as we see in verse 17,

(until) I went to the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.

You would think this would be the obvious place to find answers to the questions we have. As believers we should know that our peace, our help, our resolve is found in God and God alone. Yet so often we wrestle with the problems around us in our own strength, or look to others as our solution or answer, completely ignoring God.

And it is with God that we find the resolve to the injustice we see around us. This is what we find in verses 18-20, a reminder of the fleeting existence of those who think they are prospering, and reminder that only God is in control of us all.

3. A warning to the unbelievers

Verses 18-20,

Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

In the timeline of eternity, our existence isn’t even as much as the blink of an eye. Our perspective of time may be different in terms of the life we experience, but these verses remind us that whilst to others the wicked may look powerful, successful and something to be admired, they are in a very dangerous place in terms of their separation and rebellion towards God. God has the power and authority over everyone, and when he determines the end, that is it. They have no say in it. 

When the Psalmist says that God will rouse himself it is not saying God is asleep whilst this all goes on, even though the wicked think so. No he is referring to God being patient in not dealing with them in offering them the opportunity to repent, and turn from their wickedness. 

These verses are an indication that their end is not without justice and consequences. These verses are a reminder that death and judgement can come upon them at any time, and for the avoidance of any doubt physical death is not the end. Even if some justice is resolved in this life, a more eternal justice awaits. A justice of terror in facing God’s wrath for their wickedness and sin. These are the terrors of hell separated from God’s goodness for all eternity. 

And if you are here today, and you are not a believer in God through Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour then I want to make a call directly to you at this time. Hell is a reality for all those who don’t believe. For all those who are not pure in heart, and trust and obey God with a desire for him. For all who have not turned from living life their own way to living life His way. That is called repentance. 

Now you may have considered the behaviours of the wicked set out in the earlier verses and thought, well they don’t apply to me. Well as I said earlier on, the term wicked is a collective term for all unbelievers who are measured against God’s perfect standard, not just the list of concerns the Psalmist expressed. If we jump ahead to verse 27 in this Psalm we read,

For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.

So I am going to ask you to consider very carefully all that has been said to this point and how you will respond. We never know the moment God will call time on our lives, so hopefully you will respond to God today.

And if we are believers who have shared the thoughts of the Psalmist then we can also share in his repentant response as he comes to his reflective senses in his approach to God.

4. The repentant response

As the Psalmist continues to reflect on his thoughts, and his answers from God, he is brought to a place where he recognises his need to repent – change his thinking and direction. As we have said his thoughts have been moved from self-centred to God centred, and we see him respond to God by acknowledging his wrong. Verses 21-22,

When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in the heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.

Here we have the confession of someone who has behaved foolishly. He has been driven by human thought, desires and ignorance. Like an animal he has been consumed by satisfying physical needs only. 

This part of the Psalm is a beautiful reminder that even though we get it wrong, there is still hope. We are not cut off from God because we are not perfect. He draws us to the correct understanding when we turn to him. He is a God of grace and mercy, and we should never feel he will turn us away if we turn to him. 

God is good to the pure in heart, those who turn to him, repent, trust, and know that they are not perfect, but he is. Those who know that he is the one who changes them and transforms them. Those who know he is the one who forgives.

Even if we lack faith, He will always be faithful. Even if we mess up, even if we lose sight of God in our lives, he will never lose sight of us.

This is what we see as we look at the next verses which address the hope and assurance of God’s goodness for believers.

5. The hope and assurance of God’s goodness for believers

Verse 23 is a wonderful assurance, that even when we have lost our way and lost sight of God in our wrong thinking and behaviour he has never left us.

Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.

This is a wonderful picture of God’s protection and care of his children. The Psalmist is not saying it his determination to continually be with God, but reflecting that he is always with God by God’s determination. God is holding us by the hand. I often see this as a picture of a loving and protective father holding a determined and rebellious child by the hand. When my children were little they would often have in their mind an idea of where they would rather go than where I needed them to go when we were out walking. Sometimes they walked along quite happily, and other times there was a lot more defiance as they sought to break my grip and get to whatever was attracting them. Often I went with them, but I never let go of my grip. They didn’t have the strength to break free, and I didn’t break my grip in order to keep them safe.

Despite our determined defiance, God never lets go of our hand because he is a good God who loves his children, and keeps them safe.

The Psalmist also recognises that not only does God protect, but he also gives guidance and counsel, as we see in verse 24. 

Through our lives as believers we are not left to figure things out for ourselves. We don’t need to figure out the right way to live on our own because through his word God has provided his directions to know he exists, to know he loves us, to know how he wants us to respond to him and to love others. God is not a distant concept of man. God has made himself known to man. 

And through God’s goodness he is teaching us how to live in relationship with him now, so we are prepared to live with him forever in eternity. 

Verses 24 – 26 capture this so beautifully. 

You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

When we stop to think about God’s goodness to us, we need to recognise it is evident in the goodness of God himself. We were created for relationship with God, and even though man’s wickedness separated him from God, God is good and loving and has made it possible to restore that connection. What can compare with the eternity of the glory that awaits us in God’s presence? As believers, we don’t have judgement and wrath ahead, but glory. How good is that?

And what is the greatest good we have to look forward to? God himself. How can anything in this world begin to compare with that? As the Psalmist acknowledges, Who do I have in heaven but you? 

But as we contemplate that I do wonder if we truly grasp it? For many people they might see believing in God as just a ticket to heaven, and forget about the blessing of relationship with God now. Perhaps the view of heaven is too self-centred rather than God centred. What I mean is, I wonder if people are picturing heaven in a very limited way. Maybe it is just a nice idea without any real thought of what it will truly be like to be in the presence of God. Maybe we just have this idea of a nice place where everything is perfect, and we get to see loved ones again, play the perfect golf course, and do the other things we like doing here but only better. And perhaps that very limited view of heaven keeps us weak and vulnerable to the temptations of the material desires, and self-centred thinking of life here and now. 

But what if our desires were like the Psalmist, in verse 28,

For me it is good to be near God.

What if your desires were for the goodness of God in our daily lives now, with an even greater desire to experience the glory of God in eternity? Can you imagine what it will be like to be in his visible presence forever. To be able to look and see Jesus himself. To hear his voice with our own ears. To know for ourselves what heaven and the new creation will actually look like. To be surrounded by all our brothers and sisters who have believed through history. To be able to sing with the most incredible and beautiful voices with people of every language to the glory and praise of God. To never be tired, weary or sad or broken, or troubled, or sinful, or poor, or hungry, or angry, or sick, and so on and so on. 

And as we look to eternity, let us not forget who we have a relationship with now, every day. Again, that is perhaps an issue with us not fully grasping the reality of who God is. We have a relationship with the Almighty God, the creator of all things. The God who loves us as his children. It is important we don’t dismiss the wonderful blessings and gifts we receive in this life. These are not bad things to want or enjoy, but the gifts should never be more important than the relationship we have with the giver of these good gifts.

As Christians, we can know that is a reality that is way beyond comparison with anything else we can experience in this world. And we can know that it is ours because God is good. We can know it is because God’s goodness to us was evidenced when he stepped into this world himself and gave himself to pay the price for our sin and brought us into that relationship with him. We were rebellious sinners destined for wrath and judgement, but he took that punishment for us. Do we spend enough time thinking on that when we think life is not as good as it should be for us? Do we think about Jesus enough? Do we think that being near to him is enough?

To think on such things, and to long for such things is never wearisome. 

These are the evidence of God’s goodness that we should speak about. These are what we share with others, and speak to ourselves as a constant reminder. 

Whatever we see happening in the world around us. Whoever we think is benefiting more than us. Whenever we struggle being self-centred and not God-centred, I pray this will be a reminder and comfort to us. 

As the Psalm concludes in verse 28,

I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

Will we remember that God is our refuge. Our place of safety and security. Our Saviour, redeemer and protector. The one who provides for us. The one who keeps his promises. The one who gave his life for us. Who in heaven do we have but God? What else can compare with that?

That is what the world needs to hear. Will we be the ones to share it?

I pray that this will be a blessing to us all today, and that we will all know the goodness of Almighty God.