The Wisdom Journey

Finding Answers in the Sanctuary

• Stephen Davey

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When life looks unfair and the loudest wins seem to go to the least deserving, it’s easy to slip into resentment. We sit with Asaph in Psalm 73 as he names those hard questions, then watch the hinge moment: stepping into God’s sanctuary and seeing everything—success, suffering, and the future—through a clearer lens. That shift doesn’t erase pain, but it reframes the story around destiny rather than optics.

We unpack how Asaph moves from envy to empathy by “considering their end,” recognizing that the apparent security of the wicked is a slippery surface that ends in sudden ruin. From there, the spotlight turns inward. Asaph confesses how bitterness shrank his vision and rediscovers what he actually has: God’s nearness, God’s guarding hand, and God’s wise counsel through Scripture. The line “afterward you will receive me to glory” becomes the anchor, contrasting terror with triumph and exposing why eternity changes how we measure a good life today.

The conversation grows practical and tender as we explore how worship reorders desire: “Whom have I in heaven but you?” We draw a vivid picture of daily reliance through Joni Eareckson Tada’s morning prayer—asking for Christ’s smile when her own is gone—and connect it to the way perspective renews stamina for ordinary routines. By the end, we emphasize nearness and witness: it is good to be near God, and from that refuge we tell of his works with humility and hope. If you’re tired of comparison, hungry for clarity, and ready to choose the long view, this journey through Psalm 73 will meet you where you are and lift your eyes toward glory.

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The first of Stephen's two volumes set through the Book of Revelation is now available. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FQ3XCJMY

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SPEAKER_00:

In our last study here in Psalm 73, we found Asaph, one of the leading musicians in the nation of Israel, ready to throw in the towel and quit. He composed a song to tell us about all these questions and frustrations he'd been wrestling with and how close his feet had come to slipping. We detailed seven questions, we called them forbidden questions that Asaf effectively asked the Lord here in this psalm. And every one of these questions has probably run through your mind and mind more than one time. Questions like: why do unbelievers seem to have less trouble in their lives? Why do unbelievers seem to have plenty of money? Why do the wicked often seem to have a better health? And why don't evil people get exposed for who they are instead of receiving the approval of everybody around them? While the believer struggles with opposition, the wicked seem to get a standing ovation. Well, as Asaph labors with these inner frustrations and questions, he writes now in verse 16, this was a wearisome task. He's basically saying that the fact that those who hate God seem to get away with it, and those who follow God don't seem to benefit from it, and you try to figure that out, and well, Asaph is saying it's literally wearing him out. It was a wearisome task to try and make it make sense. Well now Asaph mentioned at the beginning of this testimony that his feet had almost stumbled, his his steps had nearly slipped. The good news is that instead of completely slipping and falling spiritually, Asaph is is now going to slip instead into the sanctuary of God. And at this point in his song, everything begins to change. He writes here in verse 17. I went into the sanctuary of God, and then I discerned their end. In other words, I I just looked a little farther down the path. Yes, my life is hard. Yes, the lives of unbelievers often look easy. They they seem to be carefree in life. But I'm going to look ahead here. What's waiting at the end of their path? Well, consider that. You see, the issue isn't about their carefree disposition, it's about their final destination. And it's here that ASAP begins to regain a biblical perspective on the lives of unbelievers. He says here in verse 18 Truly, you, Lord, set them in slippery places. It might look like they're secure. Well, that's only temporary. ASAF goes on now to describe their coming appointment. You see, they're going to slip into death, and this is permanent. He says here in verse 19, how they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors. He's describing death for them as a terrifying reality. Charles Spurgeon commented on this text more than a hundred years ago when he wrote that without warning, uh, without escape, without hope, despite their golden chains, their expensive apparel, death hurries them away. Their lives last but a moment, before the terror of death sweeps them away. And Asaph says here in verse 20, like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them. It seems like they're living the dream, but you know, dreams only last a few moments. And just like that, their lives, which seemed to last a long time, well, in the light of an eternity, their lives lasted but a few moments. Asaph is regaining this biblical perspective on the lost, and that's going to replace his envy with pity. See, Asaph also regains a biblical perspective on himself. He writes now here in verse 21 when my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant. Let me let me paraphrase his words this way. Listen, beloved, those unbelievers that you might be envying or resenting because of their success, their health, their house, their money, their promotion, their stuff, just consider their end, their tragic end. And like Asaph, that's going to change your perspective. We don't envy the lost. We pity them. We pray for them. We want to win them for Christ. We realize that if they finally reject the gospel, their dream life is going to be replaced one day with eternal judgment and suffering. Now, with that new perspective, ASAF gives us something positive to sing about now here in Psalm 73. He writes in verse 23, I am continually with you, you hold my right hand. It's as if he's singing about the fact that God is continually guarding him. Think about it, beloved, God never goes off duty, he never stops guarding you. Well, secondly, he says, you know, let's let's sing about God wisely guiding us. In verse 24, Asaph composes these lyrics, you guide me with your counsel. God's word happens to be a wisdom journal. And by the way, that's why we're calling our study through God's Word a wisdom journey. Well, Asaph now looks down the road to the end of his own life and the lives of those who follow the Lord. And he's going to write now about your future and mine. It isn't terrifying, it's triumphant. Verse 24 reads, You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Oh, the solution for Asaph's frustration. It happened to be a matter of concentration. See, he'd focused on what the wicked enjoyed, not where they were heading. He'd focused on what he was suffering, and he forgot where he was heading. Now all that's changed. And with a renewed perspective, Asaph writes now this great text, and this one is worthy of singing to this very day. Here it is in verse 25. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire. You see, he's getting past those earlier forbidden questions. Now he's saying effectively, Well, I might not have much money. I might have a lot of challenges, but I have the Lord. He then writes here in verse twenty six, My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. And with that, ASAF comes to the final measure in this great musical composition. He writes here in verse twenty-eight, but for me it is good to be near God. I have made the Lord God my refuge that I may tell of all your works. Reminds me when I was growing up, the church we attended near downtown Norfolk, Virginia had wooden letters attached to the wall behind the pulpit. And the letters spelled out these words to know him and to make him known. Well, that's ASAF now. I've been reminded of who I am and who God is and what matters most in life. The greatest thing that I could ever do with my life is worship God, get to know him, and then make him known to everyone in my world today. You see, this renewed perspective brought ASAF to a place of renewed joy. It also reminds me of Johnny Erickson Tada. Maybe you've heard of her, a quadruplegic woman, who wrote about a conversation she had with a woman who asked her one time, Johnny, you always look so happy in your wheelchair. I wish I had your joy. How do you do it? Well, Johnny wrote, Well, I don't do it. She writes, after my husband Ken leaves for work at 6 a.m., I'm alone. And then I hear the front door open at 7 a.m. That's when my friend arrives to get me up. I listen to her uh make coffee. And while she's making coffee, I pray, Lord, uh my friend's soon gonna come in here and get me and give me a bath and get me dressed and sit me up and in my chair and brush my hair and teeth and send me out the door. Frankly, I don't have the strength to face this routine one more time. I don't have a smile to take into this day, but Lord, you do. May I have yours. That's a good testimony. Frankly, that's the testimony of Asaph here in Psalm 73. If you ever thought about the fact that his circumstances haven't changed, he's still facing health problems and financial shortfalls, and he's still got pressure and he's got troubles in this brand new day, every single day. His circumstances haven't changed, but his heart has. His focus has shifted back toward the Lord. So his perspective is once again taking the long view, and he's going all the way to the end of life and right on into the glory of heaven. And as a result, God has given his smile to Asaph. It's a smile to face another day. Well, that's my prayer for you. May God give you his smile today. Well, until we set sail again on our wisdom journey through this wisdom journal, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.