Declaring God’s Works

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 Your works.

Psalm 73:28

The Scripture exhorts, ‘Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.’ Asaph has arrived at a good conclusion. He was not in a good place at the beginning of the psalm. He testifies, ‘But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; My steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.’ As God gave him understanding, he arrived at renewed devotion to God as he ‘drew near to Him.’ He also ‘put his trust in the Lord God.’ The results of these two actions enabled him to, ‘declare all Your works.’ This is where we find ourselves in relation to Christ. We observe people and circumstances and have difficulty coming to terms with what we see. We struggle even to the point of ‘almost stumbling’ and our ‘steps’ may ‘nearly slip.’ It is only when Christ meets us in ‘the sanctuary’ that we come to the place of understanding. We arrive at the conclusion that, ‘it is good for me to draw near to God.’ We put our trust in Christ wholly and completely. As the result of those two actions, based upon the understanding Christ has given us of Himself and His Ways, we are able to ‘declare all (His) works.’ This enables us to navigate the treacherous waters of life and to point others to Christ, Who will enable them to navigate life as He draws them after Himself and strengthens them to trust in Him. Today, let us in greater ways draw near to Christ, trust in Him, and after that take every opportunity to ‘declare all (His) works.’

Our Glorious, Wonder-Working God,
we rejoice in Your many Divine Acts.
We praise You that we have the glorious privilege
of telling all the world the great things You have done.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

‘I Have Put My Trust in the Lord’

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 Your works.

Psalm 73:28

As Asaph arrives at the conclusion of his contemplations about the prosperity of the wicked and the ways of God, he arrives at some firm conclusions. We explored one of these conclusions yesterday. Today, we take up the second conclusion. Asaph says, ‘I have put my trust in the Lord God.’ Given the context, we can easily see that Asaph had put his trust in the Lord God in more than one way. At the outset of the Psalm, Asaph could not reconcile what he knew to be right versus what he was seeing of the prosperity of the wicked.  He had to learn to put his ‘trust in the Lord God,’ to correct this inequity. He also had to put his trust in the Lord God not to cast him off for what he himself admits was foolishness and ignorance. Instead of cutting him off, we see, ‘Thus my heart was grieved, And I was vexed in my mind. I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You. Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, And afterward receive me to glory.’  How much is this our experience of how Christ deals with us. We fret and fume over the inequities that we observe. We have put our trust in Christ, yet we struggle in what we see going on around us. We are at times, ‘foolish’ and ignorant,’ yet instead of Christ casting us aside for our failures, He allows us to be continually with Him. He holds us by our right hand and guides us with His counsel. He will afterward receive us to glory. This is our experience of Christ. This is why it is no mistake to put our trust in Him. Today, Child of God, understand that Christ is utterly trustworthy. You have put your trust in Him. He will not fail you.

Our Good and Kind God, we praise You,
that You do not cast us off for our foolishness and our ignorance.
We rejoice that we may trust You forever,
and that You will never fail us.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

 

‘Good…To Draw Near to God’

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 Your works.

Psalm 73:28

Asaph was a thinker and as he analyzed the world around him, he saw things that troubled him deeply.  He found himself deeply troubled by the prosperity of the wicked. He describes their prosperity in the passage which precedes our text. God very graciously revealed to Asaph the true and correct state of affairs regarding the wicked. As God revealed these things to him, he came to understand ‘their end.’ He saw that, ‘Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awakes, So, Lord, when You awake, You shall despise their image.’ Because of his errors of understanding, Asaph experienced deep conviction, ‘Thus my heart was grieved, And I was vexed in my mind.  I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.’ His conviction led him to confession and his confession led him to devotion. From the depressed, vexed place in which he had begun, he landed in a good spiritual condition. His conclusion regarding this spiritual experience forms our text for the next little while. Asaph reached the conclusion that, ‘it is good for me to draw near to God.’ When we have exhausted all our cognitive energy upon subjects which we cannot understand apart from Divine Revelation we then arrive at the conclusion that, ‘it is good for me to draw near to God.’ As we draw closer to Christ, He reveals to us greater truth.  He shows us what we can never understand while we remain at a distance. Today, let us draw near to Christ with our whole hearts knowing that He can enable us to understand.

High King of Heaven, we rejoice that You are Sovereign,
and that Your Rule extends over all things.
We praise You that we can trust You, to do right in every situation,
even the ones which we least understand.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

I Understood Their End

‘…Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end.’

Psalm 73:17

Asaph was struggling with justice. The context of our text for today is His declaration, in print, of his turbulent thoughts regarding the undisturbed success of the wicked. He contrasts his own situation with the feeling that he has been virtuous to no profit. He considers that, ‘surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence.’ By the time he arrives at our text, he has gained what is, in a de facto way, the Lord’s perspective. Christ is the Judge of the living and the dead. He will ultimately divide the righteous from the unrighteous. He will not fail to render justice to those who have profited in their evil-doing. It is only by drawing near to Christ, by entering ‘into the sanctuary’ that we begin to comprehend this. It is only in this way that we can ‘understand their end.’ True spiritual understanding is seeing things from God’s perspective. The same Christ Who saves, is the Christ Who will not fail to bring to justice those who profit, and prosper while they continue in their wickedness. Understanding this truth from Christ’s perspective will prevent us from becoming bitter because of the apparent temporal inequity. As the old divine preached, ‘their foot shall slide in due time.’ In the meantime, we may draw near to Christ, knowing that He will draw near to us, and that He will make all things right at the last.

O, Judge of all the earth,
we praise You, that You will do right, in every circumstance.
We rejoice, that You will render judgment and justice to every soul,
and get glory, for Your Own Great Self.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning