Psalm 73; An Unlikely Math
By: Winlet Vusha
Tags: Faith, Peace, Trusting God, Trust, Hope

I read Psalms 73, and I see myself all over it.

I read an article a while back on Psalms 73 and breathed a sigh of relief. I steeled myself as I read the title, preparing my already bruised heart for a scolding, but what I found there was compassion and “me too.” The Psalmist’s predicament, is not new. I won’t rehash the whole article, but you should definitely read it if you have the time. Here’s the gist: We turn to Psalms 73 and find a man in despair and confusion, unable to make sense of why the wicked are flourishing. It’s 2 + 2 = 5 and the math doesn’t add up, at least not in the simplest mathematical sense that we know (that 5 is correct in another context, is story for another day :) ). He expresses his frustration openly. He is envious, angry, and indignant as he cries out to the Lord. There is a twinge of entitlement and self-pity in this text. Why are the unrighteous experiencing this success? Why are the wicked prospering? Why has all his good work lead to naught?

“All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.” Haven’t we all felt that? Haven’t we said that exact same thing in secret prayers to the Lord in the dark of the night?

I felt the weight of my disappointments sometime this week and was being overwhelmed by them. I wanted to fight, but I was too tired, physically and spiritually, and I didn’t have the energy to combat every thought that forced its way into my sleepy and tired mind. I kept trying to rest in what the Lord has told me. That He sees. That He cares. It is a good resting place. The ache doesn’t leave as I lay in that place licking my wounds, and feeling defeated with sin, but it is a good resting place nonetheless — a safe one — and those are hard to find. I’ve been trying to learn the balance of aching and resting and trusting and worshiping, and how they can all be true and work together at the same time. It’s difficult, and I suspect often that I am doing it wrong, but I have to trust that the Holy Spirit is still completing his good work in me.

The psalmist wrestles, but he doesn’t stop there. After some time of trying in vain to understand, he draws near to the Lord. In verse 17 the psalmist turns and confesses “When I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God…”

With his eyes fixed on the Lord, he could begin to see the folly and the temporary nature of the success of the wicked. He could begin to look in hope to our promised future. The scriptures proclaim it and it has proven to be true. As we seek the Lord, our pain is softened, our hearts are comforted. It may appear that 2+2=5 in the present, but we can see that in eternity, 2+2 still equals 4. Our hope is Christ and He will bring our reward in the total restoration of the world — in eternity, where all sad things come untrue. But I’ve never been very good at abstracts. How do you grab hold of something so ethereal?

The answer is so easy, and so very hard at the same time — He will help us. Verse 23 landed softly on my heart and slowly washed over my despair, leaving behind a better rest that felt more like peace. Maybe it will for you, too.

“When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast towards you.

Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.”

Oh for the grace to trust our good God. A dear friend also shared with me Psalm 61:2, with the accompanying words: “Be encouraged, dear.”

“…from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint.

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I,”

I pray that the comfort I find in Him will satisfy, and that my eyes will ever be fixed on him. Reading that article, and turning to Psalms 73, I resonated with the Psalmist’s closing words:

“For me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.”

I’ve found healing to be a slow, exhausting, painful, infuriating process. But underneath the everlasting arms of the Almighty there is rest, and there is healing, if we would be content to do the work of it.

And in the meantime, He walks with us.