When I Have Doubts - Psalm 73:1-5,12-20,25-28

Now that some of us are older and can look back across years of experience I am made to wonder if anything has ever been more devastating to the Christian life than the doubts and fears that we have allowed to weaken our confidence in our fellow man and the God we serve. When we first believe and place our lives in the care of Jesus Christ there is usually a surge of confidence that wells up in us and drowns out the fears that life has taught. This contented state of mind comes to us through our faith and by the grace of God.

The mental and emotional process of fear and doubt begins in our early childhood and a strong confidence has to be relearned. During our first three to five years we are loved, protected and made secure by the love and care of our parents. We have no reason to fear because we trust our parents to always do right and furnish our protection. Usually by the age of four or five our sin nature causes us to start doing things that are unacceptable and loving and caring parents are forced to enact restrictions, and teach personal accountability. As we grow into the age of accountability we enjoy our own way less often and soon begin to fear the results that our actions may bring. Doubt and fear enters our lives and we become less comfortable individually and more dependent on god as our spiritual leader.

This process repeats itself through the early years of our Christian life. We must accept Christ as a child and believe that He will cause all things to work together for our good, Romans 8. Then, as our Christian life grows, we learn that we are not always spiritually obedient and that God will hold us to our commitment even if it requires Him to punish us for our sins. Soon, even as a dedicated Christian, doubts and fears reenter our thought patterns and cause us to worry about our position in God’s sight. This is a dreaded position that should not bother any man who has a great and abiding faith.

As we grow older, it is not uncommon for us to incur problems with our eyesight; two of the most common problems are far and near sightedness. When our distance vision is impaired it is know as myopia and may require correction in order to see things that are afar off. What is even worse is spiritual myopia that occurs causing us to be able to see those problems which are temporal, physical and earthly. One with spiritual myopia can only see the things in the here and now.

This psalm addresses one of life’s most difficult “life seeing problems?” Christian people just can not discern the answer to this problem. “How is it that the wicked often prosper while the godly suffer so much? This is a specific problem to all of us who have myopic faith. We must always remember that it is not possible for a person to see and trust in the eternal things of life while his focus is on the temporal things of life.

Asaph was the musician that wrote this psalm. He remembers a time in his life when he envied the prosperity of the wicked and fell into doubt about the goodness of God toward the righteous. He did not understand why God’s people suffered while the ungodly seemed to prosper at the same time.

Look at and read the first verse carefully. Asaph could look back through the ages and remember the many times when God had been especially good to the country of Israel. I am sure that one of the greatest memories the Israelites had—was their ability to look back to the six thousand years of slavery in Egypt—and to remember that God used Moses in a very great way to bring them out of Egyptian bondage and to care for them all the way to the Promised Land. Asaph said. “Surely God is good to Israel.” {Even with full knowledge of this great love, he still had doubts.} In verse 2 he said, “But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.

Be sure to note why he had slipped away. He said it was because “I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” He says the wicked can be carefree and still always increase in wealth. In verse 13 he continues—“Surely in vain have I kept my hart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. I am still plagued, in fact punished every morning.”

Let me beg you to be honest with God, yourself, and me. Have you ever had some of these feelings that Asaph is expressing? Have you doubted God? Have you feared that you would not receive your rightful blessings because of the way God was reacting to you differently from others? In verse 12, do you feel with him that the wicked can remain always carefree and still increase in wealth? Do you vainly keep your heart pure and feel that all you gain is punishment ever morning and each day you live? The psalmist had a problem. Today, we Christians still have the same problem. Complaining Christians think they see what is happening and believe it to be wrong. They sometimes believe that sinners are prospering more than Christians. What many have forgotten is that there will be a judgment day…some day; and when the scales are balanced there will be some on both sides who are very surprised.

The thing that bothers me more than anything else in this day and time is that those who want to eliminate the name of God from literature, and especially in a government function, seem to be gaining power and control. I know that in this world where the wicked seem to prosper more than the righteous—the believer’s eye must be fixed on God and his goodness. Only God can give the true believer a proper outlook on life and eternity. This perspective will dominate the believer’s life only when he constantly focuses on God, trusting in him alone. Your father and mother, or your best friend may let you down but God will never fail you. Do you believe this?

Does this lesson fit your situation? Have you ever encountered an ungodly person who had better things in life or a better situation in life than you have had? Why do you think God allowed this to happen? Why do you believe God allowed someone else to prosper more than you prospered? Is it very important to you that God allowed this difference to exist? To some people, why is close fellowship with God more important than fame and fortune? Is it more important to you? Why do you not examine very carefully and find that the one who seems to have more of this worlds goods than you have…who seems to have prospered the most…just may be the one that has the greatest need for a close fellowship with Christ on a daily basis? Here is a good question for you: would you like to trade places with your rivalry? I know my answer would be NO. I can live with my doubts and fears regarding my daily prosperity and be much more content than if I am required to live on a daily basis with out the love, compassion, and protection of God Almighty. WHEN I HAVE DOUBTS I CAN ALWAYS GO TO MY LORD FOR COMFORT AND SECURITY.