SERIES: “Praying the Psalms”
TEXT: Psalm 73:1-3; 12-26
MESSAGE: “Facing Our Doubts Through Prayer”
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QUESTION: How do you deal with your emotions?
“This great psalm is the story of a bitter and despairing search, which has now been rewarded beyond all expectation. It recalls the questions that distracted Job & Jeremiah; but at the end they no longer seem unanswerable…” – Derek Kidner
By…(1. Speaking Honestly 2. Staying Committed 3. Seeing Clearly)
1. Speaking Honestly (v. 1-3; 12-15)
“Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked…Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed the generation of your children.”
“Doubt always masquerades as more intellectual than it is, but doubt is a condition of the soul & the heart.” – Timothy Keller
2. Staying Committed (v. 16-18)
“But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.”
3. Seeing Clearly (v. 21-26)
“When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
TAKEAWAYS: What do we do with our doubts?
1. Expect them
God is his own best apologist.” ― Os Guinness
2. Pray your grumbles
“Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.” James 5:9
3. Ask God to search you
“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!” — Psalm 139:23
4. Discern the end
“Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet” (Psalm 22:16)