Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Sin That Brings No Pleasure | The Writings | Psalm 73

Episode Date: June 25, 2024

There is one sin that offers no happiness, no pleasure, no instant gratification - envy. What are you envious of? Have you ever tried to fight it? In today's episode, Tanya shares how Psalm 73 gives us practical wisdom for how to trade the vice of envy for the virtue of gratitude. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Psalm 73

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmuth. I can think of one sin that offers no happiness, no pleasure, not even instant gratification. Now, most things we do outside of God's will give us some kind of rush in the moment, right? Like gossip, for instance. It's as if you can feel your endorphins hatching just as you release the information, even though they crash as soon as it's out of your mouth.

but this one, the one we're talking about today, not even an ounce of pleasure. I would title Psalm 73, The Distortion of Envy. Envy. It's like a parasite. It takes and gives nothing in return. It robs us of our perspective and our gratitude. We look around to what others have to keep score, and that is the feeling this Psalm is describing. Listen to how it begins. 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.

See, this psalm starts out with the writer recognizing the goodness of God. This is something we know with our heads. The Bible reinforces it. But even though we know it, we don't always feel that it's true. We don't always believe it. There's one thing that keeps us, actually prevents us from experiencing the peace and joy that come from believing God is good. And that thing is envy. It's something we literally invite into our lives.

It's like we're sitting down to dinner and there's one guest that's going to ruin the whole thing. And even though that one guest has a million other invitations, we say, hey, envy, come sit with me. I'm inviting you into my thoughts right now. Let's talk about the definition of envy. As a noun, it's described as a feeling of discontented, restful longing, aroused by someone else's possessions, someone else's qualities, their luck. As a verb, it's the desire to have equality or a possession or other attribute belonging to someone else. As a spiritual matter, it's focusing more on what others have than what God has

graciously given. It causes us to want it, to wish they didn't have it, and to question the goodness of God. We can look around and invite envy in by focusing on what kinds of things people have, or we can focus on what they're doing, like working more or less than we are, or traveling when we're at home. Spending more time with their kids while we're having to work. Spending less time with their kids because they get to work. Getting more attention from someone important. Having more fun. What do you think social media does to our tendencies toward envy? Do you think about the ways it makes the struggle more persistent and makes us much less aware? Envy is the great distortor of vision. Like these verses from our psalm. It says, for they have no pangs until death,

their bodies are fat and sleek. They're not in trouble as others are. They're not stricken like the rest of mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace. Violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes swell out through fatness, their hearts overflow with follies, they scoff, they speak with malice, loftily they threaten oppression. They set their mouths against the heavens, their tongue struts through the earth. Therefore, his people turn back to them. They find no fault in them. See, the writers describing the way envy focuses more on what others have than what God is graciously doing. And it makes us want what they have more than we want God. Envy is always going to be able to help you find someone in your life who's doing better than you are.

Envy will tell you that what you have will never be enough. It will tell you that what you accomplish is never good enough. It will tell you that when you get it, you need to get back on the hamster wheel for more before you've even digested what's happened. It makes you question if God is really good. If God is worth following with your whole life, comparing yourself will prevent you from understanding

and enjoying God's grace and God's presence. I know this for a fact. I feel it myself. The psalmist says envy leads to an embittered heart, one that makes us act brutish, and ignorance. And in the psalmist's words, like a beast toward God. So basically, if you're going to keep envy as a part of your life, not do anything about it and take a road trip with it, just say, hey, envy, come along in the passenger seat for the rest of my life. Your rest stops along life

will be bitterness, and your final destination is anger. According to this Psalm, is that the path we really want to take? Do we want to become more bitter, more ungrateful, more angry people? Now, just before the turning point in this Psalm, Asaph is ready to throw in the towel. He wonders if it's better to just live for the moment than live for God. I mean, looking around, it certainly looks like a better lifestyle. God's kingdom and eternity. Those promises come with sacrifice and obedience and faith in something bigger than ourselves. Is God really good? Are his promises trustworthy? Then Asaph realizes these doubts have been fostered and fed by envy. Because when he enters the sanctuary of God, he has discernment.

He's able to see more clearly. He says, but when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task. Well, we can relate, right? Until I went into the sanctuary of God. Then I discerned their end. According to the Psalm, there is a way to combat envy, and that is knowledge of the holy. When he comes into the presence of the Lord, Asaph can see that, everyone will die, that God is the only way to have true life.

Psalm 73 is Asaph realizing that everything, no matter how amazing it is, would be stale without God, and realizing, as Hermann Bavink said, so succinctly, that when the saint, quote, lives in communion with God, he cares for nothing on earth, for the love of God far transcends all other goods. How much are you currently caring about the things on earth? Can you relate to Asaph in this Psalm, where you're spending more time building knowledge and caring about what other people have than debating your knowledge of the Holy One?

Can we have a reset button too? The answer is yes. Christ came so we may know God. God's goodness, His mercy, his love, his holiness. As we draw near to Christ, our perspective shifts. Jesus said in John 1010, I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Now, even though the people around Asaph in this Psalm are seemingly better off, he's able to recognize the abundance of life in God. He's able to say, Whom have I in heaven but you? There's nothing on earth that I desire beside you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart

in my portion forever. I wonder, how is envy impacting your life? How is it affecting your view of God's goodness? What are you willing to do to break the habit of envy? Maybe it's avoiding social media. Maybe it's starting a list of gratitude each day or ending your day with one. Maybe it's memorizing a few verses from this Psalm when you're tempted with envy. You can use them.

I don't know what it is for. for you, but these are just practical solutions. They could be important. But the good news is that we have an eternal solution in Jesus. We have a rescuer. We have a Savior that loves us and wants to be with us where we are to bring us out of our struggles and into his light. As we draw near to him, we know more and more the goodness of God and his promises. And one day we will see fully all his glory. Thank you.