 Psalm 73 is a wisdom psalm. The psalmist struggled to understand why the wicked prosper, and he was envious of them (vv. 2-3). They were saying that God didn’t even take knowledge of him; that He didn’t care about him (v. 11). His efforts to live a pure life seemed futile because all the while he himself was suffering (vv. 13-14). It was not until he finally sought God for answers that he came to understand the fearful destiny of the wicked in complete destruction (vv. 17-19). With a convicted and penitent heart, he then realized that he should never have complained and questioned God (vv. 21-22). He knew that God had always been there for him and would ultimately bring him to glory (vv. 23-24).
It is here that the psalmist exclaimed: “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (vv. 25-26).
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 God made us in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27). This does not refer to our body but to our spirit. God is spirit (John 4:24). He has no physical body.
We each have a physical body that came from the earth and will return to the earth (Genesis 2:7; 3:19), but also a spirit that came from God (Hebrews 12:9) and will return to God (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Our physical body is not made in the image of God but in the image of the earthly. When Jesus comes, we will receive a spiritual body made in the image of the heavenly (1 Corinthians 15:42-50).  How do you picture God? An old man with a grey beard holding a lightning bolt in His hand ready to strike you down at your first mistake? Someone too busy to get involved in your life or the affairs of this world?
The Bible reveals a much different picture of God.  Some don’t understand how God could allow the suffering in this world, nor how He could ever send anyone to hell.
Let me say, I don’t understand it all either. No one does. Our finite minds cannot completely comprehend the infinite God! The Bible says, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! ‘For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?’” (Romans 11:33-34).  What do you think about the idea of an eternally powerful divine being who created this universe? The Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).
Some don’t believe there is a God. They have never seen Him, so how can they know there is a God? Paul helps us with this: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:20-21). What he is saying is that the only reasonable, logical explanation for this world is God. If not God, where did the world come from? |
AuthorRobert Dodson is the Preaching Minister for the Northwest Church of Christ. Archives
January 2023
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