Why Do Good Things Happen to Bad People

On the ninth of these increase in book of the Turning Point of view through to you. Because unbelievers are the ones who seem to have a little fun of his life that I go to the jury what explains what is no reason for Christians shortchanged and every reason to feel blessed from his service going on in some ounces is still as compelling as why do good things happen to well that's kind of the opposite of the question we often hear and that is why do bad things happen to good people. We've taken the other approach in the kind of bug two sides of the same coin will get to that in just a moment. As we look at Psalm 73. Together you can have rallies this year because of: 19 so we scheduled a very special event that's going to take place online on 30 September at 9 PM Eastern and Pacific is a one night live online event was special. Just musical performances and interviews will be broadcasting live to our Facebook pages as well as our website and will be hosting special guest Sheila Walsh musical guest Anthony Evans and new friend and pastor Levi Lesko will also have a special prayer for our nation. It will be a night to really remember and help you get ready for what's coming in the months ahead. So don't forget to write this date down right now that's all you have to remember September 30, 2020 9 PM Eastern and Pacific.

Also, we want you to remember to ask for your copy of the 2021 calendar that is now available from Turning Point. The calendar has a theme called colors of creation is a full beautiful calendar with all kinds of special things enforceable is a 14 month calendar begins in November of this year the same color page for November and December that you have for every month in the new year and we make it available during the month of September so that we can get it to you on time, you can begin to use it when it's useful and have it already in process. As you move toward the new year we have been making this calendar available now for many many years. We probably done 20 may be as many as 25 calendars.

This is a beautiful one unluckily go on a limb and say it's the most beautiful lonely ever again here, but I want you to know the colors and creation is something you be proud to have in your home office in your kitchen your tenant in your bedroom it's it's a great hang on the wall piece of beauty and I hope you get your copy of it when you send your gift a Turning Point during the month of September. Ask for your copy of the 2021 calendar. Well it's time for us to get started with this really interesting question why good things happen to bad people.

Psalm 73 God allows us to ask questions. Are you sometimes we almost get the impression therefore godly and spiritual we will ever ask any of the hard questions the Bible tells us we need to be more like little children, little children are not ever afraid to ask any question what you know as we get older our questions get harder. Don't think they get more sophisticated and more difficult to express and surely what we have before us in the 73rd Psalm is a question like that for the writer of this Psalm, who was a man by the name of Asaph rights from the struggle within his own heart about a problem with which he has been wrestling and it's evident by reading the Psalm that this is not been a short term problem. He begins by telling us in verses one through three of his inner conflict any rights truly God is good to Israel to such as are pure in heart, but as for me, my feet had almost stumbled and my steps had nearly slipped for. I was envious of the boastful when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Jesus said that he understood two things. He understood that God was good and truly had been good to Israel. He believed that and yet he looked around in his life and saw some things which seem to him not to make sense for while God promised to be good to those who knew and loved him.

He also seemed to bless those who are ungodly and to honor those who did not name the name of God in faith and Asa was a faithful Jew, obedient to the law. He had a pure heart and clean hands, but he was not enjoying the goodness of God by reading the Psalm we discover that he was in a time of pain and pressure problem in his life and he couldn't sort this out. This conflict was just ripping him apart in his soul bothered him so terribly that it created a deep resentment in his heart and he says in the song that he came close to slipping off of the foundation of faith. How could it be he thought in his heart that the ones who honor God with their lives seem to bear in a less beneficial way than those who he describes here is ungodly and please remember that the definition of ungodly is not being as bad as you can be or even necessarily being bad but to be ungodly is just to live your life without God and Asa is tormented in his soul because here over on the side. He has this truth what he knows to be true about God that he is good that he honors those who are good and yet he sees some people that he knows are not good and they seem to be doing a lot better than he is. His inner conflict. You see, was based upon an outward contradiction, for in these verses that follow. Asaph describes how he views those who are ungodly and uses three or four words here to give us his understanding. He describes them. First of all, by way of their prosperity and he is tremendously bothered by this. He says in verse three for I was envious of the boastful when I saw the prosperity of the wicked, for there are no pains in their death, their strength is firm.

They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they played like other men to begin with Esau their prosperity. The word peace and complacency is wrapped up in that word prosperity the psalmist as he writes this he complains that the ungodly don't seem to have the pains and struggles that he has.

They seem to be sailing right through life with no problems at all they'll seem to have the pains of death their sleeping most of the time presented is having all their problems and bordering and no major difficulty are prosperous. Then he says if that bothered him. The thing that really bothered him was the fact that they were prideful. Verse six is therefore pride serves as their necklace and violence covers them like a garment. Asa said it would be bad enough if God seem to be blessing. Those who did not honor him but the ones who are benefiting like that are walking around boasting about all the stuff they have all the things they have gotten in all of the progress of the prosperity they have in their life and their in a sense they're shoving it down your throat.

Then he goes on to say that not only is he bothered by their pride is bothered by the profanity notice verses eight and 90's as they scoff and speed wickedly concerning oppression.

They speak loftily, they set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue walks through the earth.

He said they not only boast of their bountiful blessings, but they mock God they come up to you and say you are you trusting God look at us.

We don't trust God, look at all the good things we have the people you prayed. You read your Bible you go to church what you can man you just gotta get out there and do it man and look you have what we have mock basis is when he watches this just hears them up in his soul. He says he's bothered by their prosperity needs bothered by their pride and is bothered by the profanity and he's bothered by their popularity. They seem to be the people everyone looks to verse 10 he says therefore his people return here and water serve a full cup drained by them. They say how does God know what is there knowledge in the most high, behold these are the ungodly, who are always at ease and increase in riches. His problem is that Asa has noticed that the people we treat with the utmost respect seem to be the ungodly and the profane. In fact his inner conflict which is based on this outward contradiction explodes in verses 13 and 14 and he says this.

Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocence for all day long I have been plagued and chastened every morning you get what he's doing.

He's really now begin to feel sorry for himself. He said Lord I'm doing right I'm trying to live for. You have cleansed my hands. I try to walk in a godly way and look at how all these people are prospering and look at what's happening to me and I sometimes wonder Lord maybe this is all meaningless. Someone said a long time ago. There is more faith in an honest doubt. Believe me, that in half the creeds, but there's probably not a Christian who at some time in his life in a moment like Asa is described has asked himself that hard question. What if what if there right and were wrong.

What if life is really just getting all you can get while you're here and then you die as a dog and go to your grave.

What if there's nothing to live for. Beyond today. What if I'm living this kind of a life and it's all based on a myth will be inner conflict which is based on an outward contradiction leads in the last part of the Psalm to an upward confidence at the risk of being commercial. I want to tell you this is the real Turning Point in the Psalm because the psalmist now begins to climb out of this feeling that his swept over him. In fact, he takes six or seven steps out of this response in the thing I love about the Psalm is this it helps us to understand how we can work through things like this.

The Psalms are wonderful to help us understand that it is okay for us to express our emotion and then to work through it before God.

I want you to follow the psalmist as he works through this problem in his life because he's going to end up in the right place but it's not a short journey. It takes some steps back to God. First thing he does is this kind of incidental but I want to mention it to you. He resist the urge to voice his doubts to people who wouldn't understand. You know there's some folks you just can't go to and say let me tell you what I'm working through in my spiritual life. You tell about your doubts and it just blows them all away.

Listen to what the psalmist says in verse 15 he says if I had said I will speak to us. Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of your children. When I thought how to understand this.

It was too painful for me. The psalmist as you know I wanted to tell somebody about this. I wanted to express how I was feeling about the prosperity of the wicked, but I was afraid to do it because I was afraid that if I did I would leave some of your children astray. Maybe they couldn't understand my doubts. And so I just kept quiet whereas you want to say about a zip at this point he's got a nugget of faith or destiny.

There's evidence that he's got a little bit of something going on in his life. He's at least sensitive that he doesn't want to take anybody else down the path that he's gone down in his frustration and unbelief, then the key ingredient takes place.

Step number two. He returns to the presence of God.

Notice verse 17, until I went into the sanctuary of God, then I understood their end. Surely you set them in slippery places you cast them down to destruction.

How they are brought to desolation, as in a moment. They are utterly consumed with terrors as a dream when one awake so Lord when you awake you shall despise their image. Listen to what he says going into the sanctuary.

Asa puts himself in the presence of God. Now watch carefully if you try to sort out spiritual problems through natural thinking. You will get into very difficult trouble.

Up until this time Asa has been wrestling with this problem with God off at the side of the stage when he says now I go to the sanctuary, which was probably the temple and in the temple, he finds himself in the presence of God and now he wrestles with the prosperity of the wicked in the presence of God and what he puts in God into the equation. Everything changes. Now he begins to see not just a small portion of the picture, but the scope is widened and he sees how God sees the thing is when you get close to God you get God's perspective.

When you get far away from God. What happens is you see as the world see Asa had been evaluating life on the outward accouterments of success and prosperity.

He was looking at the assets of his friends and making subtle evaluations about the importance of life. But when God came back into the picture.

Something happened. He moved out of the realm of the natural and into the realm of the spiritual and all of a sudden things started to change what happens to us what happens to me is that when I began to have doubts like that. My tendency is to remove myself from the one place where I'm going to find the answer. You can't get out of the presence of God and work through spiritual struggles. Some of you people have gone through that in the first thing is you quit coming to church, listen to what he said when I went into the sanctuary. Then things begin to make sense to me. He began to think about God's perspective. The third step is that he reviews the rest of the story.

This is sort of Paul Harvey in reverse. The rest of the story you see what happened to ace it was this, he only saw a little slice out of the life of these people who appeared to be prosperous, he saw their toys and their trinkets. He saw what looked like success. He saw all of the outward aspects of prosperity and he made his judgment on the basis of that part of the picture. But when he got into the presence of God. Then he began to see the lives of these people in their totality and what he sees is this he sees that they're on a slippery place that they've been cast down to destruction that they are brought to desolation, as in a moment that they are utterly consumed with care and it's like a dream when the dream is over. There's no reality to what happened in the dream. Asa saw the future judgment of these people he thought were so successful, he discovered that without God, men cannot have inner strength and that what looks like success is often just a mirage. And so the psalmist is trying to help us get a picture of the real story he tells us, step number four that when he made this evaluation, he reevaluated his own life versus 21 and 22 he says. Thus my heart was grieved and I was vexed in my mind I was so foolish and ignorant. I was like a beast before you hear one things is good is when you realize you made a mistake, or you haven't thought through something correctly. It's good when you realize that to realize why you did it so you don't do it again so you and I like the person who, instead of having 25 years of experience had one year of experience 25 times, you know people like that lot folks live the Christian life like that you get one year of Christian experience. 25 times because I keep doing the same thing wrong. One time right after you will. The psalmist is not to do that. He's gonna back away from this whole thing in sight you want. As I evaluate what happened. Let me tell you where I met Puerto I feel stupid like that anybody here beside the pastor ever say on any occasion or do I feel stupid in the psalmist is, I feel stupid and I feel ignorant. There's a lot of things I could've no that I didn't know you see could've gone into the sanctuary way back here when he was going through the beginning stages of this and then he would've known what he needed to know to work through this, but know he pampered himself, you know you can do that we start thinking these thoughts and then you just carry them on you current on and you pamper yourself and you let them go in the psalmist.

I feel stupid and I feel foolish that he says I feel like beast. What was that like a rat like a dog like a snake in the grass as I feel like an animal.

Step number five. He reassures his heart of God's love and goodness.

This is where Psalm gets so good he says in verse 23. Nevertheless, I'm going to circle around that word you get down to that part of the psalmist. Nevertheless, here's all this problem, but nevertheless it's his. Nevertheless, I am continually with you, Lord, you hold me by my right hand and you will guide me with your counsel, and afterwards you to take me to glory see what happened way back. Carrie started up out of this and now he's come back and he realizes it while he was questioning God.

God was never questioning him that God had a hole in his hand in the past that God holds his hand in the present and the greatest thing is God's been taken by the hand and lead him into the future glory that he has planned for them. Asa.I realize now that I'm the object of your love that you have loved me. All of this time. Nevertheless, I am continually with the and then step number six.

He reestablishes his faith in God versus 25 and 26 whom have I in heaven but you and there is none.

Upon earth, that I desire besides you my flesh in my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalmist comes back to the real bottom line fact of life. Disney hey if you got God. You've got everything came you save a pastor, I sure would like a BMW will try driving it to eternity and will get you there. Amen. I like have that big house will if you like Randolph person, you can't sleep in it. What good is it to you and I'm not trying to be foolish and I'm not trying to say that nice things don't matter. All of us because of our humanity need to understand that God is given us all good things to enjoy.

There's nothing wrong with them. Unless that becomes the focus of our life and I want to tell you something if you get in the game of comparison which is what Jesus was doing.

There's always somebody who's got a little bit more than you have.

There's always somebody who lives in a little nicer house and dries a little better car and got a little better job and little better benefits. And if this is a game of comparisons. There's no way you can ever find peace psalmist comes back and he says you know, I realize that I've just missed out in evaluating my life.

I've got God.

What else could I ask for you know the difference here is folks, the world is in the price tags God is in the value does not grab you. The world is in the price tags. But God is in the real value. God doesn't have price tags. God deals with genuine value. When you have God. You've got the genuine article. You have to be examining price tags. The world loves to show you how much it cost God loves to tell you how much it's worth when you've got God, and you may be listening to my voice today and you say pastor Jeremiah I'm so poor I've hardly got enough to keep body and soul together. I don't know where next week's rents coming from I want to tell you something I know that doesn't feel good.

But if you have a heavenly father knows and love you you know is going to take care of you and you know he cares about you and you know that in him you have the most valuable relationship that is possible to man so the psalmist step number seven resolves to stay near God.

Listen to this for indeed, those who are far from you shall perish. You have destroyed all those who dessert you for harlotry, but it is good for me to draw near to God. I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all of your works.

Take the Psalm apart and go back and read all the things that Jesus said about the wicked at the beginning and then write down all the things he said about them. At the end.

Write down all the things that he said about the godly at the beginning and write down all the things he said about them.

At the end of what you see is that when Asa got into the presence of God.

Everything got flip-flopped and now he sees the wicked for what they are there to the parish are not prosperous parish.

You see the difference and the godly who seem to be suffering to be taken to glory by the hand of God himself, and the only difference only difference was that Mason got back in the sink with God's greatness of the Bible, God is a God of second chances allows us to come back leaning is so onerous to him. He brings us back out of his kindness and mercy and grace.

When we come back and forgets about what's happened in the past and he offers us his forgiveness and love for the future and what a great testimony to the grace and mercy of God. Tomorrow here on Turning Point in going to talk about how to be truly forgiven and when to use the experience and the writing of David to teach this principle tomorrow. Psalm 32 and Psalm 51 the story of David and his forgiveness and friends. We have a beautiful resource for the month of September. It's the 2021 Turning Point calendar: colors of creation and it's available to you during this month only and send a gift of any size to Turning Point.

We encourage you to be generous, as generous as you can be you do what you can do and when you do it you ask for this beautiful calendar and will show up at your doorstep before you know it love. This is something you want to look at it every day, thanks for listening. More information on Dr. Jeremiah's current series God. I praise.

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