Vince Deagler

hi all.  lately i have been thinking about the story of asaph.  not familiar?  well that’s understandable.  asaph was a musician attached to the temple in ancient israel and wrote about a dozen psalms.  the most significant of which, at least in my opinion, is psalm 73.  it is an amazing story of how asaph wrestled through a crisis of faith and somehow came out the other end, better.  isn’t that the way it’s supposed to work for we who follow jesus?  i think so, but sadly, that is not always the case.  in fact i’m not sure it is even the most usual outcome.  experience tells me things like anger, bitterness, whining, complaint, depression, giving up are way more prevalent.  so i would like us to think through what asaph has to offer.  we live in a broken world.  we will at some point deal with exactly what asaph experienced.  probably already have.  i don’t want to fail in that moment, i don’t want you to fail.  i believe asaph can really help us.

as we come to psalm 73 the first thing that strikes me is asaph starts the psalm with his conclusion…surely god is good to israel.  this emphasizes that fact.  but asaph traveled a very dark road to get there.  look at how he moves from that positive affirmation of god’s goodness to his own personal journey.  he had nearly slipped, lost his foothold, why?  in a word…PERSPECTIVE.  he focused on the wicked…those who were not dedicated to following god as he was.  what he saw was a consistent pattern.  in general, they prospered.  they didn’t struggle, they were healthy, they were free of the burdens asaph was weighed down with.  they were the epitome of do your own thing success, and proud of it.  they flaunted it, they had a following, and they didn’t give god a second thought.  and that stung asaph.  he began to feel following god was the biggest mistake of his life, that it lead to only pain, and that kind of thinking made his life situation even more oppressive.

have you ever been here?  have you ever struggled with this kind of thought?  obviously you are not the first to do so, i don’t think you will be the last.  this is a crisis that sooner or later we probably will all have to face.  in a broken world those who follow jesus will eventually experience the same kind of thing jesus experienced…its inevitable.  those that are deceived by satan, who pursue their self centered agenda, often appear to prosper.  it can drive you nut’s.  it doesn’t seem right or fair.  so let’s deal with it.

first, how we measure things like success, prosperity, blessing has undoubtedly been skewed by living in a broken world.  we need a different yardstick.  second, i think we need to reconsider where we want to experience things like success and prosperity.  here and now on a temporary basis, or, in eternity, forever.  i think it is possible to have both, but what i’m getting at is the eternal state, our life experience in eternity is way more important that my life experience here and now.  in fact i believe this is why so many scriptures refer to our hearts (seat of human personality, the CPU of life where intellect, emotion, and will are exercised) or our minds.  our minds are to be renewed, follow the model of jesus, every thought taken captive, governed by thinking on “these” things, etc.  i say this b/c as asaph tells his story he tells us plainly everything changed when he went into the sanctuary of god (v 17).  then he understood.

he understood how ignorant his thinking was.  in that moment he realized as jesus teaches…what is a man profited if he gain the world and lose his soul?  sure, externally it appears the wicked are prospering.  but they have one foot in the grave and the other is on a banana peel.  he recognized there are times when life is very much like a bad dream…but guess what, we eventually wake up, the dream is not endless.  and this dream, well as bad as it is, will be replaced with a dream like existence for the righteous that is incomprehensible right now.  this is how asaph came to the conclusion “surely god is good to israel”.  in that moment of clarity he recognized god was always with him, that god would guide him through this life and then take him to live with him forever in that perfect place we call heaven.  as a result, the earth didn’t have anything to offer that would be so important as to control or dictate the course of his life.  i think what we learn here is:  if you do not have god, the only thing you have to live for is here, now, and the stuff the world is made of.  but if you have god, well you have so much more to live for that it would be silly to live a one dimensional, here and now kind of life. 

will that lead to pain?  you betcha.  those unconcerned with god are liable to advance in their “earthly” pursuits.  we may experience suffering as jesus did, as the apostles did, as the church has experienced throughout her history.  in that context we might find ourselves exactly where asaph found himself…our flesh and our hearts failing us.  but then we read…but god.  he is the trump card, he makes the difference, but that starts with getting our eyes off the externals that surround us, going into the presence of god, having that asaph like moment of clarity where we recognize what is really important. 

i find asaph’s story incredibly helpful.  god is good to me.  even when life isn’t working the way i would like it to, or think it should.  b/c life is about more than here and now.  one day god will take me to glory and all’s i can say about that is…WOW.  hope to see you there, so let me encourage you to check out the sanctuary of god…enter into his presence.  i don’t want to speak for you, but i constantly need him to straighten me out.

thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts.  blessings.  vince