Jump  Start # 704

Psalms 73:16-17 “When I pondered to understand this, it was troublesome in my sight until I came into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end.”

In our last Jump Start we looked at the beginning of this chapter. There the Psalmist admitted that he nearly lost it, his words, “my steps almost slipped.” His faith was shaken, things didn’t seem right and he nearly gave up on God.

There are many things that can get us in those dark corners.

• Temptation is one of the leading areas that lead folks away from Christ and into the arms of sin. The short term fun of sin blinds them to the consequences and eternal punishment of a life without Christ.
• Worry and hardships are another area that can’t hit our faith hard. Death rattles those who are not strong. The desperation and consequences of having no money can make a person feel like they are all alone. Faith can dry up and blow away like a leaf on a fall day.

• Prayers not answered quickly nor the way we anticipate can make a person give up on God. Our plan A may not be God’s plan A. He has a will that often doesn’t fit our agenda. Wanting to get out of problems is often not the plan that God has for us. He leads through the valleys to strengthen us and teach us lessons. That’s hard to see. It’s easy to turn and go the other way, without God.
• Our chapter, Psalms 73, presents another reason why some are shaken in their faith. It was none of the reasons above. It had to do with the blessings of the wicked. That didn’t seem right nor fair. The wicked ought to suffer. The wicked deserve to have a hard road to travel. Often, they don’t. Rather, it’s the righteous who are the ones who suffer. Those thoughts nearly caused the Psalmist to slip and fall in his faith.

Our verse today is what made the Psalmist regain his footing and continue on with God. It was in the sanctuary of God that everything made sense. It was there that he understood the outcome of the wicked. He “perceived their end.” That end, was not the death of the wicked. He stated earlier that they die fat and in ease. He’s witnessed the death of the wicked. That didn’t help his faith at all. “The end” must be when the wicked face God. There, before God, all wrongs are dealt with. All unfairness is made right. There justice prevails. There truth is triumphant.

There are things we can only see when we are in the sanctuary of God. By “sanctuary” I am not referring to the auditorium of a church building. I am thinking of God’s word, and more than that, I am thinking of the presence of God. There are some things I only understand, when I see them from God’s perspective. The view from Heaven changes everything. Death looks differently when viewed from Heaven. Worship, praise and obedience to God looks differently when viewed from Heaven. Wickedness, and wicked ways, and living by wicked rules all look differently when we see it from Heaven down. Definitions of success, fun, right, good, life all seem differently than what we are used to when we view it from Heaven’s side of things.

We need to do that. Without that our feet slip. Without that view we wonder why we do what we are doing. Without that view it seems that Satan is winning.

Come to the sanctuary…come see what God sees. Come and understand. It will help your faith. It will strengthen your resolve. It will conquer your fears and doubts. It will lead you to lift up the banner of Christ and continue with Him on your journey.

Come to the sanctuary!

Roger