Those who are pure in heart (1)
[Psalms 73]
I bought a new car in last year October and told my kids not to eat in the back seat to keep the care clean. So, for a year, I was able to keep the car clean and well maintained without any problems. But about three weeks ago, my first son vomited in the back seat of my car. From the night before that day, my son couldn't sleep because he was feeling sick, and eventually vomited in my car. At that time, my first daughter said that the smell was terrible, and she closed her nose with her hand. And the youngest daughter also spoke her unpleasant feelings. Haha. Thankfully there was a gas station nearby, so I went there and cleaned up all the smelly food from my son’s stomach and wiped it with wet towels. After this, I had conversation with my children to teach them the word of Jesus that I remembered: “But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean' ”(Mt. 15:18-20). It taught them that when food enters us, the food itself is not dirty, but what comes out of the inside smells like this and is dirty. Therefore, I tried to teach my children what to protect our hearts from bad thoughts, lies, jealousy and envy, and sinful things.
We must guard our hearts, which is the wellspring of life (Prov. 4:23). We must guard our hearts from the sinful things of this world. There are so many sinful things around us that are trying to pollute our hearts. There are so many sinful things around us that we see, hear, smell and so on that try to deceive and defile our hearts. Living in this sinful world, we must strive to keep our hearts pure. Jesus said in Matthew 5:8 – “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” We must be blessed people with pure heart that sees God.
In Psalms 73, the psalmist Asaph says that God does good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart (Ps. 73:1). However, Asaph confesses that his feet came close to stumbling (v. 2). Why did he almost stumble? In other words, during the test that comes to us who try to keep the purity of our hearts, what is the factor that stumbles us? There are three things we can think of.
First, Asaph almost stumbled because he saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Look at Psalms 73:3 – “For I was envious of the arrogant As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” The psalmist Asaph was envious of the arrogant when he saw the prosperity of the wicked. I think we can understand Asaph’s envy. One day somebody asked me this question: ‘Why are those who believe in Jesus poor and have to live a hard life, and those who don’t believe in Jesus have a lot of money and are living well without suffering?' Perhaps the old saint who asked me this question was having a lot of thought about his. However, I think that not only this old saint has this kind of thought but also many of us often think of this too. Then Satan creates jealousy or envy in our hearts. Then, what is “the prosperity of the wicked” here? It is that the wicked have no trouble and no pains unlike the righteous (v. 5). Also, the wicked are in good health (vv. 4-5). And the wicked are always at peace and increases in wealth (v. 12). How much do we not envy the wicked? Surely we can ask ourselves the question, ’Why is my body declining as I always go through such hard pains and hardships, even though those who don’t believe in Jesus are living well and healthy without pains and suffering?’
Second, Asaph almost stumbled because of the pride of the wicked.
Look at Psalms 73:6a – “Therefore pride is their necklace ….” Asaph not only saw the prosperity of the wicked, but also witnessed their pride. Their pride can be thought of in three ways.
(1) It is the pride of action.
This refers to the violence of the wicked. In verse 6b, Asaph said, “… The garment of violence covers them.” This means that all their actions and expressions are violence only that oppresses and exploits others (Park).
(2) It is the pride of heart.
This indicates that the eyes of the wicked are bulged from fatness. Look at verse 7: “Their eye bulges from fatness; The imaginations of their heart run riot.” What happens when we are full? The eyes are bound to be lifted up. In other words, there is no limit to the imagination in the heart, so they accumulate wealth in the midst of greed. Therefore, they will also generate more income than their budget because they take away other people’s wealth (Park).
(3) It is the pride of lips.
This refers to the sin of the mouth. Look at Psalms 73:8-9: “They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth.” What does it mean? Here, the phrase “They have set their mouth against the heavens” refers to self-esteem as high as heaven. And the phrase “And their tongue parades through the earth” refers to actions that revolve around evil wherever they go.
Third, Asaph almost stumbled because of the people who followed the wicked.
Look at Psalms 73:10-11: “Therefore his people return to this place, And waters of abundance are drunk by them. They say, ‘How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?’” Asaph’s feet came close to stumbling when he saw that the crowd of people who imitated the wicked’s thoughts and follow the wicked increased. Those who imitate the wicked apostated, doubting the providential rule of God they believed in, and thought that God was indifferent to the world. What a tough challenge for Asaph? When he saw God's apostate people following the wicked, Asaph must have shaken his heart a little. At this time, this was Asaph's conclusion about the wicked: “Behold, these are the wicked; And always at ease, they have increased in wealth” (v. 12).
How will you react when you see this wicked prosperity, that is, always at ease and increase in weatlh? Will you lose strength? Will you be angry? Will you curse them? How did Asaph react when he saw the prosperity of the wicked?
(1) He thought that it was surely in vain that he had kept his heart pure.
Look at Psalms 73:13 – “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure And washed my hands in innocence.”
(2) He lamented his hard life.
Look at Psalms 73:14 – “For I have been stricken all day long And chastened every morning.”
In the end, the factor that caused complaints in the heart of the righteous was that the wicked were prospered, while the righteous themselves were in trouble (Park). How did Asaph, who saw this thought, ‘the prosperity of the wicked’ and ‘the suffering of the righteous’? First he tried to understand this. In other words, he tried to solve the ‘complexity of God’s providence’ with his short knowledge (Park). However, these efforts eventually made Asaph's heart very troublesome (v. 16).