Enter God’s Sanctuary

Psalms: 73:1-26

Here in this passage, the psalmist is faced with a dilemma we have all felt at one time or another: feeling resentment as we see evil people cheat and sin who seem to thrive without consequence. We have been taught that, if we live faithfully obeying all God’s commandments, we will be blessed and challenges we face will be resolved. If we sin, we expect that we will receive discipline to correct our way. Yet, we see that it does not work like this in the world. When we try to ignore God’s commandments, our conscience gets in the way or, if we do sin, we are punished. We face hardships and need to overcome challenges that non-believers do not face. It just does not seem to be fair when we compare ourselves with those who seem unburdened by faith.

Indeed, it was “troublesome in my sight,” and the psalmist is concerned that these thoughts may cause him to stumble in his faith. But this all changes in verse 17: “Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end.” The psalmist awakes from his slumber and sees the real situation of those who sin without consequence: “You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction.” These sinners are set on a “slippery surface” where they are not given the opportunity to realize the error of their ways and repent. On the contrary, they feel like they are being rewarded for their evil behavior and continue to sin. We did not know this secret until we awoke from our ignorance.

By working to make ourselves cleaner in God’s view, repenting and removing sin, we also can enter “the sanctuary of God” and gain this new level of understanding. We awake from our dream to further realize the reality that God will come and judge us. In verse 20: “Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.” Ultimately, we – and they – will all come before God and be judged for how we lived on this earth when it will be determined if we go on to eternal life in heaven or not.

Our time here is but a short part of an eternal timeline where we must practice and prepare for the next world. Remember the rich man and Lazarus? In the world, the rich man had everything but, after dying, he ends up burning in fire and terror unable to even warn his descendants of the error of their ways. We must understand that we can take none of our worldly riches, glory, and social position with us when we die. These sinners, who placed all their effort towards things of no value and committed sins, foolishly feel proud and arrogant. Until we entered the sanctuary, we did not fully comprehend the reality that God destroys the sinner and throws them away in the end.

Because we did not see this, we mistakenly believed our conscience, which held us back from lying, cheating, and stealing, was blocking us from moving ahead in this evil world. In verse 23: “Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand.” Despite our complaining and feeling resentment in the seeming unfairness, God holds out his loving hand to try to guide us, grabbing us as we try to run away to bring us back to him. How? God takes our “right hand” through our conscience and the hardships we face which help to grow our faith. This is our loving God giving us special treatment to guide us through this life so we can build our salvation. God keeps us from slipping down that slippery slope of sin. Imagine what a terrible fate it would be to sin and be oblivious to what end it will bring us. When they meet judgment, they will be naked and without anything but their sins for which to answer.

Those who persevere, stay true to their conscience, and obey God enter heaven with so many things of value. When we obey, “we are received in glory.” Today, there are still many people who do not understand this and have yet to repent. They do not recognize the consequence of living a sinful life. Remember this whenever obeying God seems unfair, when others prosper who take the easier path of sinning. Enter God’s sanctuary to see clearly the truth of what is going on, to recognize God’s love, and to resist the evil trying to block our path to salvation.

Click for Korean sermon https://soundcloud.com/yhpaik/1980-10-1-mixdown