Passage: Psalm 73 Speaker: John Moon Series: Summer in the Psalms
Speaker: John Moon - Our Summer in the Psalms at Gospel Grace Church begins this week with Psalm 73. This Psalm expresses what many, if not most, people have felt through the ages as they wondered why some wicked people seem to thrive, while God’s devoted people often struggle in life. The question of why bad things happen to good people has occupied the attention of many through the ages. Luther once commented, “This is a psalm, that instructs us against that great offence and stumbling-block concerning which all the prophets have complained: namely, that the wicked flourish in the world, enjoy prosperity, and increase in abundance, while the godly suffer cold and hunger, and are afflicted, and spit upon, and despised, and condemned; and that God seems to be against his friends and to neglect them, and to regard, support and give success to his enemies. This offence has existed, and has exercised and vexed the godly from the very beginning of the church.” The psalmist bears testimony that the answer to this question does not come by observation or reason alone, but through an experience of God which compels us to look beyond the present into the future. As one who nearly “slipped” he comes declaring to us that present realities are not ultimate realities.