Title: True Blessing (Psalm 73:1-28)
Contents
Psalm 73 is a psalm written by a man named Asaph and answers a very important question that any believer in God must have at least once. The question Asaph raises through this Psalm 73 is that if God exists and God is just and fair, why is the reality of this world not fair and just? In other words, why do the unrighteous and the wicked often live with wealth and prosperity, whereas those who want to live a righteous and honest life often suffer rather than suffer? Asaph, the writer of this psalm, confesses that witnessing this absurd reality, he was at the very least disappointed and frustrated, almost concluding that "There is no God" and "God is not just."
However, what we find when we observe this psalm carefully is that the psalmist's reason for falling into such a religious skepticism was that he had an erroneous conception of blessing. In other words, he knew that God was fair and that He blessed His people. However, when he saw the reality that God's people were not able to receive and enjoy the blessings he was expecting, rather, when he saw the reality that the wicked who denied God enjoyed more such blessings, he was almost offended. In other words, this poet named Asaph was disappointed in seeing the reality because he misunderstood the concept of blessing, the true blessing that God wants to bestow upon us.
But in verses 16 and 17 we see a turning point in his skeptical faith. In other words, while he was thinking a lot about such a problem, one day he went to God's sanctuary and prayed, and he realized the ultimate outcome of all things and God's will. Asaph looked at the absurd and unjust reality and was dissatisfied and worried, but after such a brief moment of reality, he realized that God's hand to judge and judge equitably was prepared. He came to realize that the prosperity enjoyed by the wicked on this earth is just like a midsummer night's dream. Then he repents. When he saw the prosperity of the wicked, he was resentful, sometimes envious of the prosperity of the wicked, and even doubted the existence of God, confessing that he was like a foolish beast.
And after realizing God's providence and repenting, the truth he began to realize was, "It is a blessing for me to draw near to God" (verse 28). In other words, he realized that being able to draw closer to God is the greatest and absolute blessing that God's people can receive when asking what is the true blessing. Do you have money or not? Are you healthy or not? Do you have power and power or not? Such things are not the standard of whether there is happiness or not in an absolute sense. Rather, Psalm 73 teaches us that it is a true blessing if we can draw closer to God every day, even through difficult and difficult circumstances.