Psalm 73 popped up in my readings this morning. It’s a Psalm of a man called Asaph, one of King David’s musicians. The start of the Psalm begins with him stating a truth but also making an honest admission about how he nearly missed that truth.

No doubt about it! God is good — good to good people, good to the good-hearted. But I nearly missed it, missed seeing his goodness. Psalm 73:1-2

He then goes on to talk about how he had been distracted by the wicked people around him, people who had amassed wealth with no concerns about how they achieved it. He describes the easy life they lead having the best of the best, with no problems at all to dampen their lavish lifestyle. He talks about how he was jealous of them and what they have. He laments the fact that instead of doing what they have done, he stuck hard and fast to the rules, making sure to do what is right and proper, with a total net gain of zero!

I’ve been stupid to play by the rules; what has it gotten me? A long run of bad luck, that’s what—a slap in the face every time I walk out the door. Psalm 73:13-14

If you are a follower of Jesus who has tried to dedicate your life to following God’s instructions at every point on the journey (I know we won’t have always done that correctly) you will probably resonate with Asaph’s thoughts here. I’d be lying if I said that there haven’t been times where I have been envious of watching others enjoy a lifestyle that I myself wouldn’t or couldn’t live. There have also been many times where I have watched someone ‘win at life’ through means I didn’t approve of and instead of being ashamed of their journey, they seem completely unaffected by it. It certainly intrigues me. Asaph is describing something here that generations after him would also wrestle with. He goes on to talk about he could have given into these thoughts but in verse 17 it all changes.

Until I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I saw the whole picture: The slippery road you’ve put them on, with a final crash in a ditch of delusions. In the blink of an eye, disaster! A blind curve in the dark, and—nightmare!We wake up and rub our eyes. . . . Nothing. There’s nothing to them. And there never was. Psalm 73:17-20

I love how that first line marks the turnaround of the whole Psalm; “until I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I saw the whole picture.” The application is super obvious here but this is how we all need to think. Without the Lord’s wisdom and view on our lives it simply isn’t going to make complete sense. Without the God-eye-view we will only receive a short-sighted, blurred, distorted view of the world. I’m not just talking about a slight distortion either; we could be talking about the difference between right and left, black and white, up and down. God’s wisdom changes absolutely everything. When our sights are set on His wisdom, His sanctuary, then everything else falls into place. He is the only goal as Asaph concludes at the end of the Psalm.

You’re all I want in heaven! You’re all I want on earth! When my skin sags and my bones get brittle, GOD is rock-firm and faithful. Psalm 73:25-2