THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: Living By Faith In God

LXXIII. Handling Evildoers’ Seeming Lack Of Accountability

(Psalm 73:1-28)

Introduction: (To show the need . . .)

Many parties wrong others today with no apparent accountability, what can dismay and frustrate the upright:

(1) Criminal-justice reformers harm the public with no visible accountability: “(S)tate legislators keep passing laws to impede gun ownership by the law-abiding and then boast about reducing the prison population even as repeat offenders, including gun criminals, remain free.” (Chris Powell, “Only insufferable students justify teacher raises,” Republican-American, July 13, 2023, p. 8A) Also, “ABC News” reports that the “Department of Homeland Security found that ‘the average American family will pay more than $500 annually in additional costs due to the impact’ of rampant shoplifting. Criminal-justice reform is often sold as a way to avoid penalizing the desperate actions of poor people,” but “(p)ro-criminal policies always fall hardest on the poor and working-class Americans whom they purportedly benefit – never their pious advocates from up on high.” (“Inflation is criminal – literally,” Ibid.)

(2) The Southern Poverty Law Center afflicts responsible mothers with no evident accountability: The “Moms for Liberty” group fights “for more parental control and involvement in public schools,” opposing “what many see as the inclusion of sexually inappropriate materials in school curricula and libraries” and supporting “what was once called American values but are now labeled ‘white supremacy.’” (Christine Flowers, “Moms show grace amid vicious treatment,” Ibid., July 12, 2023, p. 9A). Thus, the “Southern Poverty Law Center, . . . progressive fascists who have decided that they get to determine what is culturally acceptable and legitimate,” have “listed Moms for Liberty as a hate group,” so “violent activists . . . verbally abused the participants at this year’s national convention . . .” (Ibid.)

(3) The Associated Press oppresses the public with no sure accountability: As “the largest news co-op in the country,” the AP “is advising journalists to reject the idea of biological sex altogether, . . . to respect LGBTQ subjects’ preferred pronouns and to avoid terms like ‘biological sex.’” (“AP rejects reality,” Ibid., July 8, 2024, p. 6A) The AP “also” advises “avoiding phrases like ‘both sexes,’ indicating there are more than two that people use . . . In other words, The Associated Press is asking its journalists – and every journalist around the country whose employer adheres to the AP’s style guidelines – to lie.” (Ibid.)

(4) The editorial added, “This shift should not be blamed only on political progressives, but on conservatives and moderates who knew better but went along with the initial sex-gender distinction, which was only slightly less absurd than the wholesale rejection of biological sex that it inevitably led to.” (Ibid.) Nevertheless, compromising conservatives and moderates are evading accountability on this issue right along with their progressive bedfellows!

Need: So, we ask, “How can we handle witnessing many parties wrong others with no apparent accountability?”

I. Psalm 73:1-28 gives the testimony of the psalmist who had been frustrated over the fact that harmfully wicked people flourished, and how he learned to handle it. (Ryrie St. Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Psalm 73)

II. The psalmist’s testimony is marked by the repeated use of the Hebrew emphatic expression “wa‘ani,” translated “But I myself” (Kittel, Biblia Hebraica, p. 1038-1039), as follows:

A. In Psalm 73:1-3, the psalmist acknowledged that God was good to Israel, but [“But I myself” (wa‘ani), v. 2a] had almost slipped into doubting God’s fairness when he considered the great prosperity of the wicked.

B. The psalmist then explained his reasons for doubting God’s fairness in this matter in Psalm 73:4-14:

1. The wicked did not seem to suffer trouble like others (v. 4-5), and they indulged in pride and violence (v. 6) with boundless evil devices (v. 7). (Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 847)

2. The wicked scornfully, maliciously and arrogantly spoke as if they owned the earth (v. 8-9), they led many others astray (v. 10) and they were self-confident, thinking God did not know about their sin (v. 11; Ibid.).

3. The wicked were also always offensively carefree and wealthy, Psalm 73:12; Ibid.

4. The psalmist even wondered if he was vainly upright, if God blessed sinners and hurt good folk, v. 13-14.

C. The author added that had he voiced this view to others, he would have mislead an entire generation, v. 15.

D. He testified that what had caused him to correct this troubling viewpoint was entering God’s house and there recalling the tragic end of the wicked, what made all of their flourishing in this life futile, Psalm 73:16-21.

E. The psalmist then admitted [“But I myself” (wa’ani)] had been foolish to envy the wicked, Psalm 73:22.

F. Accordingly, he shifted his attitude, saying [“But I myself” (wa’ani), v. 23a] would cleave to God for life’s necessities and trust in the Lord for blessing in eternity to come after this temporary earthly life, v. 23-27.

G. Indeed, the palmist vowed [“But I myself” (wa’ani)] would fellowship with God and seek Him as his “Refuge, Shelter” (mahaseh, B. D. B., A Heb. and Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 340) from harmful deeds by the wicked and the trials of this life while praising God for His gracious works in his behalf, Psalm 73:28.

Lesson: The psalmist handled the seeming lack of accountability of the wicked by recalling their full accountability to God in their tragic end, causing the psalmist to trust in the Lord in this life and hope in Him regarding eternity.

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God's gift of eternal life, John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. (2) May trust in God to handle the trials we face in this life and focus on our blessings of eternity instead of envying the prosperity of the wicked since they will have a tragic end.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message and provide additional guidance . . .)

(1) As we deal with the temporary flourishing of the wicked in this life while anticipating our blessed eternity destiny with God, we can trust the Lord and obey His Word to handle the issues of concern in our introduction:

(a) On criminal-justice reforms that financially afflict the poor, (+) we should obey Scripture to see God guard us from the effects of inflation caused by such reforms (Haggai 1:6; Hebrews 13:5-6) while (+) investing a sizeable portion of our finances in business ventures (like stocks) to offset a lot of long-term inflation, Ecclesiastes 11:1-6.

(b) On the Southern Poverty Law Center’s abuse of Moms for Liberty, (+) we parents must view ourselves and not any other human entity as the ultimate responsible party before God in the rearing of our children (Ephesians 6:4), and then (+) to rear our children like Abraham did as taught in Genesis 18:17-19: (-) In that Genesis 18 context, Abraham’s rearing of his children in Genesis 18:19 is contrasted with God’s need to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their gross immorality in Genesis 19:1-29 (Ibid., B. K. C., O. T., p. 59) (-) Thus, what Abraham would do with his children that parents in Sodom and Gomorrah had failed to do with their children would be (i) order and (ii) example for his household (“after him”) to practice God’s (iii) “righteousness” (zedaqah, Ibid., Kittel, p. 23; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 842) and “judgment; act of deciding a case” (mishpat, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 1048-1049) (-) So, to lead our children to avoid the corruption of LGBTQ orientations and lifestyles of today’s world, we parents should do what Abraham did when he offset the corruption of nearby Sodom and Gomorrah in his era – assume the ultimate oversight of our children as opposed to any other human entity and order and example for our children the practice of what Scripture calls “righteousness,” and making good “judgments” in applying those righteous rules in everyday life!

(c) On the directive that the Associated Press gives to journalists to lie by denying biological sex and swaying others to do the same, (+) God provides Biblical pastor-teachers in local churches to equip believers in those churches to overcome the deception of the world so believers can edify one another in the church setting, Ephesians 4:11-16. Thus, (+) we should regularly attend a Biblically functioning local church for edification, Hebrews 10:24-25. (+) If no Biblical pastor-teacher or church ministry is available, we can rely on Scripture (Psalm 119:105) and the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16; John 16:13) for edification until the Lord leads us to a Biblical church.

(d) On the tendency for conservatives and moderates to compromise with error pushed by influential parties like the Associated Press, (+) Deuteronomy 13:1-3 and 2 Timothy 3:12-17 call us to view written Scripture, God’s Word, as our ultimate authority for all matters of faith and practice. (+) To illustrate, in 1 Kings 22:1-40, Ahab heard his 400 prophets predict that he would succeed if he fought in battle at Ramoth-Gilead. However, God’s lone prophet Micaiah said that Ahab would die. Ahab heeded his 400 prophets, he was mortally wounded at Ramoth-Gilead, he lost the battle, and he lost his life! Thus, majority opinion is not always correct where God’s Word is always correct!

(2) May we also recall the contrast between the tragic destiny of unbelievers and that of believers in eternity for hope and motivation in living: (a) Those who do not believe in Christ so that their names are not written in Christ’s book of life will be cast into the lake of fire and be tormented forever, Revelation 20:10, 11-15. (b) As for believers in Christ, Revelation 21:1-22:6 predicts that they will live in a newly created universe, Revelation 20:11b with 21:1. The new world in this new universe will have no more oceans that are uninhabitable for man, and a new Jerusalem that is 1,500 miles long, wide and high will descend from heaven and attach to the earth, and God’s people of all ages in glorified bodies will live there with God Himself. Past trials of sin, death, pain, sorrow, sickness, etc. will be gone, every believer will experience great joy, and the city will be lavishly constructed of 12 foundations of precious stones, twelve gates of solid pearls per gate, and the city streets will be paved with pure gold. There will be no night there, and God’s people will serve Him and reign forever in that new universe of righteousness.

May we trust in Christ Who died as our Atoning Sacrifice for sin that we might receive God’s gift of eternal life. May we trust in God to handle the trials of this life and focus on eternity to handle the flourishing of wicked parties in today’s world.