Seoul Grace Community
Prayer: Lead Us…Deliver Us
Psalm 73
June 14, 2015
1. Introduction
a. This is a psalm of guidance (lead me not…deliver me from) in the face of temptation to turn away from
God
b. Asaph, the writer is most like one of the Asaphites which was the musical guild for the temple (see 1
Chronicles 6, 2 Chronicles 5)
i. He was, in essence, the choir leader for the church! Probably a highly devout man who is seeing
others around him have a good life while his life is in ruins
ii. He's asking why good things are happening to bad people. Why isn't he getting his due? He's
tempted to give up and be cynical—he doesn't feel fulfilled.
iii. The temptation is to quietly give up on his relationship with God.
2. The Stumble
a. He almost loses his foothold (v. 2—a Hebrew idiom for “spiritually backsliding” or being tempted to slowly
turn away from God and go after other things for comfort)
b. Temptation is Simplistically Subtle
i. Temptation isn't always so overt.
ii. Temptation is essentially thinking your life could be better with something else—it’s subtle and
even overt sins are not as damaging as the quiet things that make you lose your foothold and slip
away from God (as is the case with Asaph who is simply admiring what others have around him-v.
3—it begins with simple envy but ends with almost losing his foothold on life entirely)
1. C.S. Lewis The Screwtape Letters: “It does not matter how small the sins are provided
that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the
Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to
Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without
milestones, without signposts,”
c. Temptation is Selfishly Self-Righteous
i. First, he admits he's been doing all the right things but for the wrong reasons (v. 13, it’s vanity)
ii. This shows that temptation puts the mirror back onto us to ask “why did I do all those good things
if I wasn’t rewarded properly?”
1. Being a Christian, therefore, means repenting not only of your evil acts, but also of your
good deeds because even those were probably done with some sort of selfish intent
3. The Sanctuary
a. What begins the change in his heart to battle temptation? V. 17—he goes into the sanctuary
i. He would have sung praise songs, he would have prayed
ii. So he goes into the sanctuary. The sanctuary. The presence of God to work out the battle you're
dealing with. He prays. It sounds trite. But it will be the only thing that keeps you from slipping.
iii. He sees the big picture. That all here will go away. (.v18-19—He gets perspective on his fleeting
troubles)
b. In a time when he feels God has abandoned him and he’s most tempted to walk away—he reengages
with the community in worship!
4. The Salvation
a. After the sanctuary, he admits he was only a “brutish beast” (v. 22)—selfish, ignorant, undeserving—yet,
he recognizes that God was always holding his right hand
i. The right hand signified the hand of honor and blessing (see Genesis 48)
ii. Though he has been selfish and petty he gets held in the hand of honor by God.
iii. This is pure, unmerited grace!
b. He gets to hold on to the hand of the father. Jesus lost the hand of his father. Do you know what God
would have gone through to lose his Son’s hand on the cross so he can, instead, clutch onto our hand
i. When Jesus cries out in Matthew 27:46, it’s because his Father loses the grip on his hand and
lets him fall into Hell so that you and I never have to experience that. We know we always are
being held—and by our right hand no less—we get the blessing and honor Jesus deserved!
ii. This will be the only true source of power and grace to help you avoid temptation!