The Psalms

But as for me, it is good to be near God.
    I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
    I will tell of all your deeds. Psalm 73:28

Sometimes we ask ourselves, Who am I?
Where do I fit into this world?
What am I here for?
Every one of us is unique.
There is no-one who is exactly the same as you or me.
Each of us have been uniquely created by God so that we can have fellowship with Him. We are made to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
God calls you and me to walk with Him every day of our lives.
But we live in a broken world where this fellowship with God is not always so great.
Sin and its curse can spoil the good that God intended from the beginning but God has not abandoned His world or the people He has created for His own good pleasure. He sent His one and only Son into this world to seek the lost and find them.
To heal the broken and bind up the wounded.
To die on the cross at Calvary so that sinners might be forgiven and fellowship with our creator restored. God calls us to walk with Him – so when we wake up in the morning we greet God with ‘good morning Lord.” As we move through the day, God wants to be part of our decision-making.
He has given His Holy Spirit so that we might know that God is with us.
And after we have lived and worked and enjoyed God’s good gifts we say, “thank you Lord for your love and faithfulness, please bless the work of our hands.”
If only every day was lived that way.

The reality is that a battle for our souls, our minds and deeds is happening. The devil, the world and our own evil desires seek to destroy the fellowship that God wants for us. Why is it that so many people of faith love the Psalms?
There is a Psalm for every occasion, situation, and time in our life.
The days when the glass is half empty there are psalms which you connect with.

“Listen to my prayer, O God,
    do not ignore my plea;
   hear me and answer me.
My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
    because of what my enemy is saying,
    because of the threats of the wicked;
for they bring down suffering on me
    and assail me in their anger. Psalm 55:1-3

When the glass is half full there are Psalms which speak into your situation.

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul. Psalm 23:1-3

How many of our brothers and sisters, are crying out to God, ‘where are you?”
They could be like the Psalmist,

But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
    I had nearly lost my foothold.
For I envied the arrogant
    when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Psalm 73:2-4

One of our number was recently laid to rest. We have within our congregation those whose lives are ticking as if on a time bomb. None of us knows the number of days God has ordained for us as we travel this earthly journey. When we read the psalms, often they are relating not just to the writer’s situation, but also speak of the situation and life of Christ

Why would or could this be?
Because Christ though God, became flesh, like us in every way in order to fulfil the law of God for us. The sinless one stood in our place as the atoning sacrifice – the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He lay aside His glory and took on flesh and became the suffering servant.
What Psalm was on Jesus lips as He hung on the cross in agony physically but more so spiritually – bearing the wrath of God for the sins of the world. He cried out, “My God My God why have you forsaken me?” – Psalm 22

Jesus experienced grief and suffering like no other. He would quote the Psalms to demonstrate that He was the Son of God, the Son of man who would suffer and die in order to redeem his people. We can think of Psalm 2.

That is why the New Testament gospel writers referred back to the Psalms so often to demonstrate that Jesus is indeed the Saviour in whom we are to put our trust for our salvation. The Psalmist of our text has lost the plot. He was envious of the wicked. He felt that in vain had he served God. See some of his lament.

“But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
    I had nearly lost my foothold.
For I envied the arrogant
    when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

They have no struggles;
    their bodies are healthy and strong.
They are free from common human burdens;
    they are not plagued by human ills.” Psalm 73:2-5

“This is what the wicked are like—
    always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.

 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
    and have washed my hands in innocence.
 All day long I have been afflicted,
    and every morning brings new punishments.” Psalm 73:12-14

This speaks into Elijah’s situation after the powerful encounter on Mt. Carmel. There he confronted the prophets of Baal with the challenge of who the real living God is.
Remember they had both prepared altars for sacrifice.
“The God who answers by fire is the living God.”
The prophets of Baal cut themselves and cried and shouted and wailed, but no fire came from the god baal. Then Elijah prayed and the Lord burnt up the water
drenched altar he had prepared. After this the rain came, but also the threat from Jezebel to have Elijah killed. Elijah fled for his life and prayed to the Lord that He
might die. I am done. In vain have I laboured and worked for you for all Israel
has gone over to Baal. Then the Lord came near to Elijah – The Lord was to pass by.
A powerful wind came tearing rocks – the Lord was not in the wind.
Then there was an earthquake – the Lord was not in it.
Then a fire – the Lord was not in the fire.
After the fire came a gentle whisper – the Lord spoke,
“What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Then Elijah pours out his lament. I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. Your people have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put you prophets to the sword. I am the only one left and they want to kill me too.
Look at the turning point, the moment of realisation – the penny drops.
The Lord revealed to Elijah that there were yet 7000 who had not bowed their knee to Baal whose mouths had not kissed him.

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

What did he come to understand?

“Surely you place them on slippery ground;
    you cast them down to ruin.
 How suddenly are they destroyed,
    completely swept away by terrors!” Psalm 73:18-19

The Psalmist had indeed lost the plot for a time –

“When my heart was grieved
    and my spirit embittered,
 I was senseless and ignorant;
    I was a brute beast before you.” Psalm 21-22

Let’s unpack the last verse of this psalm. 73:28.

“But as for me, it is good to be near God.
    I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
    I will tell of all your deeds.”

We could also translate the first line as, “It is the best good to be near unto God.”
As the psalmist stated earlier, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And being with you, I desire nothing on earth.”

How is it possible to be near unto God?
Only through faith.

By faith we believe that all things were created by the Lord. This is what the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the other people of faith were commended for. There are days when God can feel a million kilometers away.
Think of the complaint of the people in Isaiah’s time.They complained,
“My way is hidden from the Lord.
My cause is disregarded by my God” Isaiah 40:27

Jesus was forsaken and bore the wrath of God to be the
atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world.

Hebrews 12:2 ‘For the joy set before Him, he endured the
cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand
of God.‘

Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. So by faith we fix our eyes on Jesus. We tell ourselves,
SELF – Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not grow tired or weary,
His understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power
of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall;
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles,
They will run and not grow weary,
They will walk and not be faint.
Why is it best to be near unto God? For under the shadow of His wings we find shelter. In the Lord we find help in times of trouble. When our anxious thoughts assail us and threaten to undo us, we find comfort in the Lord. When we are tempted to fret and worry, in the Lord we find strength as we put our hope and trust in Him.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” Matthew 6:25-27

Yes to make the sovereign Lord your refuge is indeed the best. As my son – in – law would say, “It’s gold”. We can draw much from what Jesus said to His disciples when He told them that He was leaving this earth, returning to His Father.

The new testament writers declared the glorious deeds of. God rescuing them from their times of imprisonment, persecution and being with them even in martyrdom –what did Stephen experience –

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:55-60

And who can forget the glorious deeds of the Lord as He rescued Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego from the blazing furnace, or Daniel from the Lion’s den.
Or Israel from Pharaoh.

WITH A MIGHTY HAND AND AN
OUTSTRETCHED HAND THE LORD
DELIVERED HIS PEOPLE FROM SLAVERY.

Or His provision throughout the 40 years of wilderness wandering.
Their sandals did not wear out.
They were given Manna to eat.
The Lord was with them guiding and directing them by cloud during the day and by night a cloud of fire to give them light. Yes indeed, it is best to be near unto God.
Not only does our sovereign God promise to supply all our needs, but he also wants us to bear witness to his great deeds. You and I have stories to tell – stories of the times when we felt like despairing at times of life itself. Yet the Lord revealed Himself.

We heard that small quiet voice ministering to our broken hearts,our battered inner being. He brought us to our senses. He supplied what we needed and redeemed us from the pit. He lifted us out of the miry clay and set our feet on
the rock – even the Lord Jesus Christ.

So let us not worry about tomorrow, but put our trust in the living one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If a small bird does not fall to the ground without the
Lord’s knowing, will not the God who knows the number of hairs on our head care for us.

His love is higher than the heavens and He is always faithful.

“In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family.

So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises.”And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.”Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 

For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” Hebrews 2:10-18
Amen