going to talk on Psalm 73 today. I had started thinking about this Psalm long ago and I just about changed my mind about doing it because a lot of it is what similar to what Cammie taught on in Psalm 37, and she did such a good job, and I thought, eh, should I change, you know, about where our focus should be? And believe it or not, Christy helped me on this somewhat. Your kids do teach you something once in a while, but she told me that I should stick with it because, you know, everybody has a different perspective, which is true. And then also the Apostle Peter helped me. I was reading in 1 Peter 1.12 where he said that he will always remind us of these things even though you know them. And I thought, well, that's so true. We need reminders. I constantly do from scripture. I need those reminders from the Lord. So I stuck with Psalm 73, and I am really glad I did because I've learned to just treasure it so much in my own life. So let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we are grateful for your word. Thank you for the truth there. I just pray that as we look into Psalm 73 this morning that our thinking would be challenged. that the Holy Spirit would bring maybe things into our mind that we need to change, or things we need to trust you with. But anyway, Lord, thank you that you want us to grow into women that are like Christ, and I pray that that would be one of our purposes today, that we would honor and glorify you in all that we do and say. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. A couple, three months ago at our table, I was reminded of a story about C. Soleil. Some of you are new here. My husband passed away. He's been with the Lord about three and a half years ago. But anyway, this was many, many years ago and we were talking about something that I did not want to do, believe it or not. It might have been one of those seed corn meetings that they give you a good dinner and they talk for two hours about seed corn and I just find it so boring, you know. I think that's where I started writing novels in my head, which need to stay in my head, please. Anyway, whatever it was, you know, something I did not want to do. And I finally said to Cecil, and please don't go home and tell your husbands that Nancy said this because it is not biblical, it is not doctrinally sound. I was just joking with him and he knew it. I said to him, you know, God just put me on this earth to have fun. And instantly he said to me, and you're doing a really good job. And I said, thank you. Well, ladies, don't we wish that life was like that, that we just had a lot of fun, that there was never any problems, that we didn't have to deal with anything that we don't want to deal with. Oh, we'd like that. But we know that life isn't like that, that things show up that we have to deal with, and sometimes we ask a lot of whys. Psalm 73 is a psalm by Asaph. He was one of the worship leaders of the Israelites. First Chronicles 15 tells us about the musicians and verse 19 tells us that, here we go ladies, he was one of the cymbal players. I know, heavenly whores, cymbals on the worship team. Sorry, I just couldn't resist that. And gals, we're not going to go there today at all. But it just got me to thinking, you know, it might wake some people up if there were some symbols up there. Can you imagine? So in Warren Wiersbe's commentary, he had broken this psalm down into what I thought was a great outline that I want to share with you. And I'll be sharing it again as we go along. Thankfully, again, Christie helped me. I'm not a techie person. But she put the outline up there so I wouldn't have to go through so slow. So anybody who is interested, this is the outline, the first one. Did it come up? Yeah. The believer, standing on what he knows. That is verse one. Second is the doubter, slipping from where he is standing. And that's verses two and three. Third is the wrestler, struggling with what he sees and feels, verses 4-14. Four is the worshipper, seeing the bigger picture, verses 15-22. And fifth is the conqueror rejoicing over God's goodness in verses 23 through 28. And I'll just leave that up there. So verse 1, the believer standing on what he knows. That verse says, surely God is good to Israel to those who are pure in heart. Asaph knows that this is who God is, that he is good to Israel. He knows that in his head. But notice in verses 2 and 3, which is the doubter slipping from where he is standing, he says, but as for me, my feet had almost slipped. I had nearly lost my foothold, for I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. In my Bible, I circled the words, and for circling and writing notes, I just use a ballpoint pen. But I circled that, but as for me, because he repeats that again in the end of the chapter, he says, but as for me, my feet just about slipped. And I wrote a note in my Bible too that says, danger of a wrong focus. Again, he knew in his head that God was good. But in his heart, and in his attitude, he thinks, but I'm not seeing that as true in my life. There is a quote of A.W. Tozer that I really like, and he said this, and I quote, We can know the right words, yet never be changed. This is the difference between information and transformation. And I'll repeat that. We can know the right words, yet never be changed. This is the difference between information and transformation." So Asaph knew the words, but at this time in his life, they were having very little effect on him. And I think that if we're honest with each other, we've all been there at times. Verses 4 through 14 are the wrestler struggling with what he sees and feels. I'll read those to you. He's talking about the wicked. He said, they have no struggles. Their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man. They are not plagued by human ills. Therefore, pride is their necklace. They clothe themselves with violence. From their callous hearts comes iniquity. The evil conceits of their minds know no limits. They scoff and speak with malice. In their arrogance, they threaten oppression. Their mouths lay a claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth. Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance. They say, how can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge? This is what the wicked are like, always carefree. They increase in wealth. Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure. In vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued. I have been punished every morning. So he's wrestling with what he sees and feels. Asaph saw people that were healthy, wealthy, carefree, didn't seem like they had any problems at all. They were thinking that they didn't need God and it just is really bothering him at this time in his life. He thinks, you know, I've been following the Lord and I don't see the good of God in my life. I love this story from J. Vernon McGee and his commentary as he opened up Psalm 73 with this story, and I'd like to read it to you. He writes, and I quote, many times as a pastor I found myself puzzled. I saw God's people tried. I saw God's people suffer. I saw the prosperity of the wicked, and it was hard for me to understand it. It was brought home to me when our first child was born. In the hospital, God took that child. I only heard the cry of that little one. All she ever did in her life was cry. I shall never forget the day she died. Across the hall from where my wife was, there was a very wealthy couple who had a baby boy and their rich friends came to celebrate with them. As I drove into the parking lot in my old beat-up Chevrolet, they all drove up in their Cadillacs. They went into the hospital with their champagne and celebrated the birth of the little boy. He was a precious-looking little boy, all they desired, I guess. I shall never forget that night. It was summertime, and I went out on a balcony that was there and cried out to God. To be honest with you, I don't know to this good day. why God took our baby and left the baby across the hall. Their little boy is now an adult, as my daughter would have been. After all these years, I still don't have the answer. You may be thinking, you are a minister and you don't have the answer? No, I don't have the answer. Then how can you comfort others? Well, I'll tell you how. Although I don't have the answer, I know the one who does. And he has told me to walk with him by faith. He tests me by putting me in the dark. In his word, he tells me that I can trust him. Someday he will explain the whys of life to me." And oh, those whys of life. You know, we all have them, don't we? If we admit it, we all have those whys of life. Why do I have health issues and they don't? Why do they have money and we don't? We work so hard. Why do they have a good marriage and I don't? Why does that area get rain when we did it so bad and we don't? Or maybe I should reverse that. Why are our fields covered with water? Why does their child walk with the Lord and mine doesn't? Or, one that slips into my mind every once in a while, why do they still have their spouse and I don't? You know, we all have them. We all have those wives of life that just seem to creep up into our minds every once in a while. So we go back to Asaph. He jumps to a wrong conclusion in verse 13. He says, it's all been in vain. I followed the Lord and it hasn't done me a bit of good. It just isn't worth it. Is it in vain? No. His thinking needs to change and that happens in the presence of God. In verses 15 through 22, the worshiper is seeing the bigger picture. These verses say, if I had said, I will speak thus, I would have betrayed your children. When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground, you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors. As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies. When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you. This wrong focus and this questioning has been leaving him depressed. In verse 16 he says, it was oppressive to me. But, excuse me, I'm going to back up to verse 15 because I really like that verse. I find it is an interesting verse. Here in this verse, he says, if I had spoken thus, and he's talking about when he thought, it's all in vain, it's just not worth it, I'm not going to follow God anymore. If he had voiced that a lot to other believers, he said, I would have betrayed your children. And that bothered him. And gals, it should bother us too. We all have those times when we struggle, when we get down and discouraged and wonder, you know, we have those whys in life. But we need to understand that what we say and how we live speaks volumes, especially to your kids, your grandkids, to other believers around you. It just does, gals, and At those times, we shouldn't look just inward. We need to look outward and think, what am I doing to other believers? Am I dragging them down by this attitude of, you know, it's just not worth it. You know, it's, you know, drink and be merry because it doesn't make any difference. So really think about, you know, it's these, that verse really made me think about, I like Asa saying that, that, you know, I would have betrayed your children if I had been really vocal about that. And then the wrong focus was getting him depressed. He said it was oppressive to me. I was FaceTiming my sister Bev, who lives in England, the other day. We were talking and she goes, you know, I don't know how it is over there, but It seems like Paul and I just know so many people that are so depressed lately. And I think it's true over here too, you know. And maybe you're one of them that deals with depression. It is not a fun thing to deal with. But we need to get our thinking right. We need to get our focus right. And I love verse 17. He said it was that way to him. It was just oppressive to me until I entered the sanctuary of God. He returned to intimacy with his creator. And now I'm going to apply this two ways. First of all, just as an individual, spending time with God. It is so important. We need that focus. I wrote a note to myself in my Bible that says, knowledge of God leads to right thinking. And it really does. If you're down and depressed about all that you see around you, and you avoid the Word of God, you avoid other believers, That's not going to help. You need to know who God is, what he says, to spend time with him. And we can get those times when we're down. And one of the reasons I think God led me to my underlining system was I remember times when Cecil was so sick. Focus was, I had a lot of whys, you know, in my life. And sometimes it was just hard to even focus with being in the hospital with him and taking care of things at home. It was even hard to just focus on his word and think through things. But I remember days, I would just leap through my Bible and read all the green, all the promises. You know, and I just needed that. And I would sometimes just camp on one and say, God, I don't see it in my life. I don't really feel it right now. But I know your word is true. It's a promise to me. So I'm just going to claim it by faith. And it was so helpful to me. So like I said, I think that's one of the reasons why God had me do that underlining system, because my focus just had to change and be on him. And it was great, too, to just read him to Cecil, you know, because he was the one going through the really hard time, you know, so just claiming God's Word together. Be in the Word. Put your focus on God. Get to know Him. We need those promises. We need His truths in our lives, especially when our focus is slipping. Secondly, I'm going to apply this when he says, until I entered the sanctuary of God, with being with other believers, with fellowshipping with believers. Hebrews 10.25 says, and it's underlined in pink in my Bible because it's a command. It says, let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing. It's a command. And when we look around in our society now, a lot of people are forsaking that. They just think, I don't need church anymore. We do need church. We need the messages from God's Word. We need fellowship with one another. We need to get to know each other, support one another. Just last time when I left Lyft, I went home just thanking God for Lyft because through Lyft I have gotten to know a lot of you that I would have never had the chance of getting to know. Some of you are those strange second service people. That our paths just don't cross. No, I understand. You've got little kids. You're not going to make it in time. No, it's just one of those things. And some of you worship at other churches. And I am so grateful for your attendance. It is an encouragement to me. And it's fun, even if I don't sit at your table and get to really know you well, it's just fun to see you. We need each other. We need to encourage one another and be blessed by one another. Use your friendships that way. You know, I introduced my two friends. Believe it or not, we do more than shop and laugh and spend money and eat. You know, the times we get together, you know, we share what's going on in our families, we share prayer requests, we pray together. It's an invaluable time. So use that in your friendships too. Cultivate the spiritual aspects of your friendships together. It'll help you get your focus back. But I love that, until I entered the sanctuary of God, you know, it just helps us so much. So we get our focus right in entering the sanctuary of God. Second Corinthians 4.18 says, thinking about our focus, it says, so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. The Greek word for that fix-our-eyes phrase is the word skopio, which I'm sure I just slaughtered the pronunciation of because I don't know how to pronounce Greek. But I think you can hear the English word that we get out of that word skopio. It's scope. It's like when you're going hunting and you're aiming at your target and you look through that scope just so your whole focus is on what you want to hit. And that's what scripture said where our eyes need to be. We need to fix our eyes not on what is seen. It's a mess down here and it can get us oppressed. And we think maybe God is doing us wrong. No, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. Fix our eyes on the goal. A few weeks ago in my Bible reading, I was reading through the book of Mark and I just love it when You know you've read something so many, many times before and all of a sudden the Holy Spirit will pick some words out and say, did you notice this before? You know, I love it when he does that. But I noticed something in these verses. Mark 7, 34 says, and Jesus had been healing the deaf and the mute man. And verse 34 says, he looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh, said to him, be opened. And then in the next chapter, in verse 12, he had just fed thousands of people. The Pharisees come to him and say, will you give us a sign? And verse 12 said, he sighed deeply and said, why does this generation seek a sign? Can you imagine Jesus just going, So Scripture says he did. He took deep sighs. And, you know, it just got me to thinking, you know, he was there because he had created it all. When the earth was perfect, when there were no marks of sin on man or creation, when Job tells us that the morning stars sang together and the angels shouted for joy, when the Godhead got together and said, it is very Good. But now he was here. He became one of us because of our sin, because of what we had done. And I thought, is it any wonder that day after day, when hundreds of these people are coming to him for healing or for food or something, there were days when he just sighed. It wasn't supposed to be like this. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He knew what the perfect was. We don't, not yet, praise the Lord we will someday, But he saw continually the effects of our sins, and that he would soon be paying for. And he sighed. And Peter tells us that Jesus is our example, that we follow him. So how did Jesus make it through? Well, Hebrews 12 tells us. Anyway, I thought you had memorized that, but maybe that's not one. OK, I know it's Romans. Yeah, sorry. I just saw the 12. Hebrews 12 tells us that he endured it all. for the joy set before him. He had his eyes on the goal. I love these people. I need to pay the price for their sin. And because I do someday, if they trust me, they will be able to get to be in heaven with me. He is the joy set before him. So gals, we need to do that too. We need to set our eyes on the goal and we need to do as Christ did, follow his example. We need to go on to the conqueror, rejoicing over God's goodness in verses 23 through 28. These verses say, yet I am always with you. You hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel and afterward you take me in the glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? and earth has nothing I desire beside you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish, you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, there it is again, but as for me, It is good to be near God. I have made the sovereign Lord my refuge. I will tell of all your deeds. I love those promises in verses 23 and 24. Asaph says, I am always with you. I am always with you. I may have had my feet almost slipping, but God, you were always there. I am always with you. And he says, and I love it, that he says, and you hold me by my right hand. Galsup makes a huge difference who's holding whom. If I had to be secure by me holding on to God, that might get kind of dicey. But he holds me. He holds me. Both physically and spiritually. And I'm going to talk a little bit about both of those things. Job 14.5 says, man's days are determined. You have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. So if that's true, if God has determined that, shouldn't I be able to just rest in that? Many years ago in our family, there was quite an incredible story that happened. Some of you know that my daughter Sherry and her husband John work with the navigators down in Jacksonville, North Carolina with the Marines on Camp Lejeune Marine Base. And every fall they take a camping trip with whichever Marines can and want to go. So they can just have a good time of fellowship and sharing and other staff members go. So it's quite a group and they go a couple hours away to this really pretty spot. And this particular time when they went, Cody was five years old. And they got to this place and it has a beautiful waterfall and one of the Marines said, you know, I know a trail that goes up to the top of the waterfall. It's really pretty up there. So they all decided to trek up there. So they were on this trek and just about to the top and John was up ahead with some of the Marines. Sherry was back behind and boys love those Marines. They were running around talking to those Marines and all of a sudden Sherry looked up And Cody had gotten off the trail and was standing right on the edge of the cliff. And it sloped a little bit and it was damp because they were up high enough that the waterfall mist was, you know, making things damp and there was dried leaves there. And her first thing, she said, Cody, get back. And he looked around at her and his feet slipped. But he got back. And when they got home after the weekend, the kids were down for their afternoon rest. John and Sherry were just sharing together, sitting on the sofa, just processing the weekend and things they had learned. They had a prayer time together and Sherry said that she started praying and she thanked God for his protection and she just lost it. She said she just sobbed. Because when she had gotten up to that point on the trail, she had gone over and looked and it was straight down to many rocks below. And she just sobbed and John held her and he cried with her. And Sherry said to John, if he would have fallen, he would have died, wouldn't he? And John said, yeah, yeah, he would have. So they decided to quiz Cody a little bit on it. So when Cody got up, they called him over. and said, Cody, remember when you were looking down on the cliff? And he said, yeah. He goes, my feet slipped, but Hampton caught me and pulled me back. And then he ran off to play and John and Sherry looked at each other and Hampton, he was in the Marine Corps and he fellowship with John and Sherry and he's still in the neighborhood. He's an ex-Marine now, but a good friend of theirs. And Sherry said Hampton was there, but he wasn't anywhere near Cody. But in his five-year-old mind, somebody grabbed him and pulled him back. So it must have been Hampton. But, you know, it's one of those things where they saw the promise of, no doubt in my mind, they saw the promise of Psalm 91 11 in action, where God says, for he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. There is no other explanation but that God said to Cody's guardian angel, it's not his time yet. It's not his time yet. You need to grab him and get him back. So, we should be able to rest in that, right? But we can have the information and not let it transform us because we worry about our kids, we worry about... because our problem is we don't know how long it's going to be for us, right? Is it one to two days, like J. Vernon McGee's little girl? Is it five years, twelve? 26, 34, 92. You know, we just don't know. And that's part of walking by faith. But we can trust in that promise that he has ordained the number of days for you and your children. Can we trust him for that? It's a challenge. You know, and ladies, when you stop and think about it, it's a good thing we don't know. It'd be awful if we did know, wouldn't it? But we walk by faith, not by sight. And let me just say one thing about that Psalm 91 11 verse. It's a wonderful promise. But remember that this is the verse that Satan used to tempt Jesus when he took him to the top of the temple. and told him to jump down because God has commanded his angels concerning you to guard you, so just jump. And what did Jesus say to him? Do not put the Lord your God to the test. So ladies, even though we claim that verse, it doesn't mean that we don't use our common sense that God has given us. We just don't go jumping off of cliffs and doing stupid stuff and expect God to protect us. But if it's not your time and it's one of those things, and that's one of my questions for you, because I know many of you may have stories of where God, you know, And there's going to be times in heaven when I think, oh, you did that? I didn't even know it. But sometimes we just know that it was God. He protects us physically, but also, gals, he holds us spiritually. And if you have accepted Christ as your Savior, he has a hold of you, and that's a secure place to be. John 10, 27 to 30. I love these verses. Jesus said my sheep Listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. No one can snatch them out of my hand My father who has given them to me is greater than all No one can snatch them out of my father's hand. I and the father are one He has you And ladies, if you are not sure of your eternal destination, I pray that you make sure today. First John says that God wants us to know. We can be sure that we have it. So if you're not sure, if you're not sure that you have accepted Christ as your Savior and your sins are taken care of, please talk to your table leader today or to me or somebody that can share that truth with you. It's so important. Verse 24 is so beautiful. You guide me with your counsel. He's given us his word. He's given us wisdom from other believers. You guide me with your counsel and afterward, you will take me into glory. It doesn't get any better than that. It just doesn't. That is awesome. You know, when our time is up, he's just going to take us home. And what a beautiful promise that is. Verses 25 and 26 and verse 28, again underlined in blue, these are prayers that I can pray back to God. But you may read verse 25 when it says, Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire, Beside you and you may think but that's not true. I Have loved ones in heaven that I am so looking forward to seeing there's more up there than just God that I want to see and I enjoy my family So much down here on this earth. I'm really not in a hurry and I remember that as a young mom I'm not in a hurry to leave them. I want to raise them and you know, there's other things down here that I enjoy So is that verse true? Well, these verses aren't saying that there aren't other things in heaven that we can look forward to. It's not saying that there... I can give you many scriptures and we're not going to take the time where God has given us all good things to enjoy. He's given us great things that he intends for us to enjoy in this life. What these sentences are saying is that there is nothing in heaven and nothing on earth that is more desirable for me than you. Yes, those things are good things and they're for us to enjoy. But if our focus is right, nothing is more desirable for us, either in heaven or on earth, than God. You know, when I get to heaven, I do look forward to seeing Cecil again. And mom and dad and ancestors that I found out that knew the Lord, you know, and I've never had the privilege of meeting, I look forward to seeing those people. But when it comes right down to it, when my focus is right, you know, they couldn't do diddly squat to get me to heaven. It's all because of God. It's all because of Jesus. So when I get up there, I can't wait to fall at his feet and worship and say, thank you. Because it's only because of you that they're here. It's only because of you that I am here. Whom have I in heaven but you? Nobody. Nobody else that could get me there. Nobody else that has done anything for my eternal life. It's all on God. Asaph says, one more, but as for me, in verse 28. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the sovereign Lord my refuge. He's got his focus back where it should be. And notice that he says, I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge. Now scripture words that two ways, ladies. Psalm 46, one says God is our refuge and our strength. So scripture says he is, but here Asaph is saying I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge and my strength. God is always available there to be our refuge. He is our refuge. But we need to enter that refuge. If we resist it, we're not going to enjoy the benefits of it. We need to let Him be that for us. We need to let Him be our refuge. I want to close with Psalm 38.5. Every once in a while, the Holy Spirit will put this verse in my mind when I am struggling, when, you know, I just get tired of life and see what's going on. This verse says, you have made my days a mere hand breath. The span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath. Sometimes our focus does get