P3 PSALM 73 | SUMMER OF PSALMS

Psalm 73 Sermon July 7, 2024

Intro: Businessman and Fisherman

Psalm 73:1-3 (NIV2011)
1 Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.
3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Psalm 73:13-14 (NIV2011)
13  Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence.
14  All day long I have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishments.

Comparison is the enemy of contentment
Example: 2-year-old

Accept that God determines the content of your life

1 Corinthians 4:7 (NIV2011)
7  For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
Example: Surprise Trip

Psalm 73:16-17 (NIV2011)
16  When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply
17  till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.

Psalm 73:21-22 (NIV2011)
21  When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,
22  I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.

Contentment depends on biblical thinking
Example: Studying wrong chapter
Example: Social Media vs. Bible stats
Example: 3D Movie

Contentment requires an eternal mindset
 
Psalm 73:17 (NIV2011)
16  When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply
17  till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.

Psalm 73:23-26 (NIV2011)
23  Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
24  You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
25  Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Example: 2 Runners running a race

John 11:25-26 (NIV2011) 

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 
26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

1 Corinthians 2:9 (NIV2011)
…it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” – the things God has prepared for those who love him…