Well, firstly, can I say thank you very much for having us here this morning.
It's a real privilege to be able to speak to you.
We've got lots of news that we want to tell you,
but as we mentioned earlier,
we're going to be coming back a bit later on in the year
to give you much more time and to be able to tell more news.
We're looking forward to telling you our news,
and I wonder what kind of news you're expecting.
I hope you're expecting great news of success
and of wisdom
and of walking with the Lord
and of the great things that result from that.
But what if we had failures to report?
How would that be received?
This psalm is a record of a godly man
who's speaking about a time of failure in his life.
We're not so good at talking about the bad stuff
when we talk about the Christian life
and the fear of the Lord
and the great things that result from wisdom.
It's generally all positive things.
It's true in other areas of our life too.
We prefer everything to be reported
from a positive point of view.
A difficult employee is not a problem,
he's a challenge.
At least that's what somebody told me recently.
Politicians always tell us of their successes
and conveniently omit any of their failures.
It's not just in the outside world,
in the church too.
It's difficult to speak of difficult times.
Whilst we were away,
my mum and dad sent me
issues of the Southern Cross magazine.
You know the one I mean.
And there are many stories in there
of church plants
and testimonies of people
who have been converted and so on.
But there were not many articles
on churches that shrink
or that disappear
or policies that have turned out
in retrospect not to have gone well
or so on.
On the whole,
we're not so good at dealing with failure.
Unless we can blame it on something.
But this psalm
is a testimony of regret.
Even in spite of a godly
and a wise life.
Now don't get me wrong.
Leading the Christian life
in the fear of the Lord
ought to be a cause
of great happiness
most of the time.
And it's right
that that theme
should be centre stage.
The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom
and of a blessed life.
But it shouldn't be
the only thing on stage.
It's right
that most of the psalms
should be full of praise
and of things
learned
and positive experiences.
But like this psalm,
there are sometimes occasions
when we need to admit
that despite living
in the fear of the Lord
and trying our best
to live a godly life,
things have not gone well.
Life is not always good
for Christians.
When we were overseas,
we met a number of families
who had to return
after a short time
back to their sending churches
through no fault of their own.
But I remember thinking
how hard it would be
for them
to report back
to their sending churches.
How could you
stand in front of a church
and say,
well, we accomplished
pretty much nothing
and we're sorry
to be back
three weeks
after you sent us?
Often,
we are addicted
to success.
I use the word addiction
because addiction
tends to crowd out
other things
and sometimes
our thirst for success
and growth
in godliness
and wanting
to hear positive news
of the results
of living a godly life
in the fear of the Lord.
Often,
that thirst
for success
can drive out
our willingness
to hear
the negative.
And it's
psalms like
Psalm 73
that enable us
to retrieve
our bearings
and get a grip
on reality.
Otherwise,
we simply
have no place
for understanding
doubt
or sin
in the Christian life.
There is a happy ending
to Psalm 73
but it comes
after
a very difficult
time.
You know,
I think
Christians today,
probably more than
say,
20 or 30 years ago,
are reasonably
comfortable
talking about
doubt
in the Christian life.
In some
Christian circles,
it's actually
fashionable
to talk about
your doubts
and your struggles
as a regular thing.
But one thing
that we're not
comfortable about
is speaking
of regret
in the Christian life.
Regret is saying
something like,
look,
I have been living
as a Christian,
living in the fear
of the Lord
and I regret
doing so.
what a waste
of my time.
But that's
exactly what
the psalmist
writes.
If you have a look
at verse 13
and 14,
he says,
surely in vain
I have kept
my heart
pure.
He's not
lamenting
some sin
he committed,
he's lamenting
living in the fear
of the Lord.
He's lamenting
and regretting
his life
of godliness.
In vain
I washed
my hands
in innocence.
And all
that he has
experienced
has been bad.
All day long
I've been plagued,
I have been punished
every morning.
He'd been living
the godly life.
Not cheating
on his taxes,
not stealing
his neighbour's
donkey
or nicking
his wheat
or whatever
he did
back then.
And you know
what?
It got him
nowhere.
Absolutely
nowhere.
He kept
on receiving
bad news.
Meanwhile,
the bad guys
were doing
very well
on Easy
Street
and he
envied
them.
In verse
4 he says,
those bad guys
they just have
no struggles.
Their bodies
are healthy
and strong,
free from
burdens.
they got
away with
all sorts
of violence.
Pride
was at the
centre of
their hearts.
They said
no to
God.
There was
no fear
of God
in their
lives
and the
result,
their lives
were great.
And the
psalmist
said,
I regret
being
a believer.
all day
long I've
been
afflicted.
Every
morning
brings
new
punishments.
This
isn't
just
a
passing
thought
on his
part.
The
psalm
does not
mention
any
scale
of time
explicitly,
but the
amount
of detail
and number
of examples
that he
gives,
lead me to
think that
it's at
least weeks
and probably
months that
he was
experiencing
this.
it's not
an isolated
thought,
but countless
examples that
he gives
in verses
4 and 5
and all the
way up to
11.
And he
concludes,
this is what
the wicked
are like,
always care
free,
they increase
in wealth.
And he
envies them
and more
than that,
he regrets
living a
life in
the fear
of the
Lord.
He
regrets
it.
In
vain I've
kept my
heart
pure.
We
know I'm
glad that
the psalmist
told me that
he felt like
that.
And I'm
glad that
God allowed
this psalm
to be
published.
God
didn't
censor
it as
an opinion
that might
disturb the
faith of
the
faithful.
The
psalms are
remarkable for
their lack
of censorship
of human
emotion.
Whilst we
were overseas,
I frequently
visited a
bookshop.
And on one
occasion I was
trying to find a
book on a
certain topic,
I won't tell
you what,
and I couldn't
find what I
wanted.
I asked the
manager,
and he said,
oh, we're not
allowed to sell
books on that
topic.
Now, if you
went to this
bookshop and
you just scanned
the shelves,
you'd not think
anything awry,
you'd not notice
anything missing.
But if you look
more carefully,
entire sections
were missing.
Accounts of
battles that the
country had lost,
for example,
recent political
history,
criticism of the
national religion,
no matter how
academic,
books on biology,
there was a lot
of censorship.
And most people
were not aware
of it.
They simply knew
subconsciously that
there were some
things that you do
not talk about.
I think that
regret in the
Christian life is
something that in
church we
subconsciously believe
ought not be
talked about.
But the psalm
here forces us
to because it
makes it public.
Successful
Christian living,
stories about
living in the
fear of the
Lord and the
great benefits
that arise from
this, ought to
take center stage.
But they ought
not to be the
only things on
the stage.
Because sometimes
these stories of
success can act
subconsciously as
senses.
We just don't
want to listen to
things like that.
People feel ashamed
of saying anything
negative.
But if doubts and
struggles, and not
just doubts and
struggles, but if
sheer regret and
pure envy, if that
becomes unspeakable
publicly in church, then
it's not long before
they become unspeakable
privately before God.
And after a while,
people simply don't
know what to expect of
the Christian life.
The Bible is very
different.
There are entire
books in the Bible,
like Job, like
Ecclesiastes, that
explore this darker
side to life.
And there are
psalms, which we
should probably
consider just to be
like church songs.
There are psalms that
speak of times of
regret and of
anger and of
sadness, despite
living a godly
life.
They're not the
majority, but they
are there.
The life of
Jesus is not
dissimilar.
Of the three
years, approximately,
that we believe he
engaged in public
ministry, teaching, and
so on, about so
much is written.
And about the
same is written about
the last week of his
life, which was a
terrible event.
But our God is
kind and
generous and
not insecure, and
he does not act
like a censor.
When Jesus
cried out on the
cross, my God, my
God, why have you
forsaken me?
God didn't
say to the
gospel writer, I
think you should
leave that bit
out.
A bit
uncomfortable, that
bit, especially
coming from the
Son of God.
God is not
insecure.
He's so
different to the
dictators of the
Middle East that we
read about.
Now, it's not just
that God wants us to
be honest with our
feelings, although
that's true.
In this psalm, it's
not honesty which
comes to the fore,
but it's that God
wants us to know
that there is a
way out.
God trains us to
acknowledge the
darkness and to
be assured that
there is a way
out of the
darkness.
This psalm is not
just a candid
admission of
regret.
It is also the
account of
thanksgiving, where
he says, I move
through that time of
regret, and I
see now how
good God is.
You know, the
writer of this
psalm speaks of
personal regret, but
it also speaks of a
time of a return to
confident and happy
faith in God.
And he concludes
by saying how good
God is.
I had this period of
regret, and then I
realized how great
God is, and how
the life of lying
and violence that I
envied won't end
well, and how one
day they will be
swept away in your
anger, oh Lord.
God.
The writer reminds us
of some wonderful
things.
In verse 22, when
I was a senseless and
ignorant beast, God
you still held on to
me.
You've always held my
right hand.
This psalm is a great
testimony to the
weakness of man and
the strength of God in
hanging on to us, even
in the middle of the
times when we regret
being a Christian.
And after that time of
regret, when we come
back to a time of
faith, as this
psalmist does, we
come back to God and
we say, whom have I
in heaven but you?
There is nothing in
heaven on earth or on
earth that can replace
you, oh God.
To live with you is all
I desire.
When Steve asked a
moment ago, everybody,
you know, what is it
that they would want
to have that somebody
else has that they
haven't got?
I said a new iPad.
You know, there are
times when you feel
like that.
If only I had this or
that.
But to know God, well
that is the best thing
of all.
It cannot be replaced.
Nothing in heaven or
on earth can replace
you.
To live in fellowship
with God is the most
wonderful thing of all.
You know, we cannot
depend on our own
strength or even the
steadfastness of our
own faith.
In this psalm, the
psalmist candidly admits
that he regretted being
a believer.
Now, we cannot depend
on our own steadfastness
of faith, but we can
depend on God, who
will hold our hand
even though we do not
know it, even in those
times.
God alone is our
refuge.
So this psalm is there
so that when you really
regret being a Christian,
you know that you are
not the first.
And you know that it's
okay to tell God
about it.
The psalm is there to
remind us that lives
in the church, even
godly lives, are not
simple success stories
all the time.
There are some people
who live the godly life
for a long time, who
find themselves saying
to themselves, you
know, I regret being
a Christian.
What a waste of my
efforts.
The psalm reminds us
that those thoughts
do occur to us.
We are not above
them.
Difficulties with faith
are real, and they
ought to be openly
expressed like they
are here in the psalm,
in a frame of coming
back to knowing God,
but there is still a
candid admission that
there was a time when
we felt like this.
In fact, can you
imagine singing a
song, and in the
chorus it said,
surely in vain I have
kept my heart pure.
What a waste.
You can imagine this
song being put to
music, and the music
writer thinking to
himself, I wonder what
sort of music I should
set this to.
How do you express
musically I regret being
a Christian?
Do the drums come in at
that point?
But as well as
acknowledging difficulty,
this psalm also shows
the way out.
It reminds us that the
fear of the Lord continues
to be the beginning of
all wisdom.
It points the way back
to God without being
trite.
It might be that you're
one of those people
not experiencing any
problems at the
moment, and that's
fantastic.
Rejoice in the
experiences of people
like this psalmist,
who have turnarounds
in faith.
These things happen all
the time in the
Christian life.
Do not have an
over-rosy expectation
of the Christian
life.
For even the most
godly person, like
the psalmist here,
will have times when
he regrets being a
believer.
It could be that
you're about halfway
through this psalm,
and currently you do
regret being a
Christian, and you
feel like that those
people on the outside
who have no regard for
God whatsoever, are
frankly doing better
than you, by a long
way.
Well, in verse 2, the
psalmist writes this,
but as for me, my
feet had almost
slipped.
I had nearly lost my
foothold.
Well, don't let that
almost and nearly
turn into a
completely.
Let this psalm from
God remind you that
God understands the
evil in this world,
and he calls you out
of it.
Be patient.
Keep on coming to
church, meeting with
other Christians.
It's during that time
the psalmist said that
he came to a fresh
understanding of God.
He says it was when he
came into the sanctuary
of God, where there
would be the reading of
God's word and the
reminders of the life
of wisdom in the fear
of the Lord.
God's word.
So be patient if that's
you.
Churches need to speak
about the real world,
not just success stories.
A healthy church can
cope with real life.
You know, even in an
unhealthy church, it's
possible for the believer
so to trust God that he's
not worried really by the
silly things that other
people sometimes think,
simplistic views of
success and so on.
God is bigger and
kinder than all that.
I don't know whether the
psalmist felt embarrassed
to write this psalm or
whether he felt that he
was breaking new ground in
the church by including a
song like this.
It must have taken a great
deal of confidence to
candidly tell everybody at
church or the temple at
that time that he had
regretted being a believer.
It must have been his great
confidence in God that in
the end it was God's
opinion of him that
mattered more than
anything else.
I think you can see that
in the memory verse that
we had earlier.
My flesh and my heart may
fail, but God is the
strength of my heart and
my portion forever.
Amen.