https://esv.literalword.com/?q=Psalm+73%3B+Deuteronomy+33
Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Sunday, 25 May 2025:
Psalm 73:1 – “Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.”
Asaph begins with a confession of faith in God’s goodness. It’s a truth that anchors his soul, even though the rest of the psalm wrestles with doubt and confusion. Faith begins with truth, not feelings. The foundation of our faith, the anchor of our soul, the fundamental truth which must serve as the lens through which we view everything else is God’s goodness. Only from the perspective of God’s sovereign goodness and perfect love can we begin the receive all of our circumstances with thanksgiving as our gift from God, given specifically to us for His purpose of conforming us to His character that we would be increasingly one with Him, experiencing the fullness of joy which comes from being exactly what we were always designed to be, His children and image bearers. Pride, fear, and subsequent sins, begin with a misrepresentation of God’s goodness, and a misrepresentation of ours. When we doubt God’s goodness, we put our trust in ourselves and attempt to take matters into our own hands; and since, deep down inside, we know the tremendous limits of our goodness (both our ability to be good and to be good at what we seek to accomplish), we operate from a position of selfishness, defensiveness, and futility as we live in rebellion against the God who remains good and must hate all that is not good (all that is destructive to those He loves).
Asaph begins with a confession of faith in God’s goodness because he is struggling not to lose perspective when he can’t “feel” God’s perfect goodness. We all face the struggle of dealing with God’s perfect provision of circumstances which have been ordained for us out of perfect love in order to make us like Jesus and draw us closer to God, because no one ever asks to take up a cross daily to become what we ultimately want to be but don’t want to cultivate the only way possible – through suffering.
- Matthew 5:8 – “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
- Romans 8:28-29 – And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
- Luke 9:23 — And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Psalm 73:2-3 – “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled… For I was envious of the arrogant.”
Honest prayer always included honest confession. Again, we must reorient our thinking to the truth of God’s goodness but also the truth of our sinfulness and complete dependence on God who is wholly dependable. Envy nearly derailed Asaph’s faith because envy is a judgment against God’s goodness which ruins our perception and response to everything else.
Envy appears to be directed toward other people—resenting their success, possessions, relationships, or circumstances—but at its core, envy is a spiritual issue. It’s not just dissatisfaction with what others have; it’s a subtle accusation against God Himself. Envy says, “God is not fair. He gave them something better. He withheld from me what I deserved. He blessed them more than He blessed me.” In this way, envy dishonors God’s wisdom, questions His justice, and doubts His goodness. It assumes that what God has given you is not His best, and what He hasn’t given you is a withheld blessing rather than a wise and loving protection. This mindset challenges God’s perfect love and sovereignty and fosters a spirit of victimization, bitterness, anger, defensiveness, and subsequently destructiveness. But Scripture teaches a radically different response: gratitude and trust.
- James 1:17 – “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…”
- Psalm 84:11 – “No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”
- Romans 8:32 – “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
- Philippians 4:11–13 – Paul learned to be content in all circumstances, trusting that Christ is enough.
- 1 Corinthians 4:7 – “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”
When we believe God is truly good, we can rejoice in what others receive without feeling threatened or diminished. We can also accept our own portion with peace, trusting it is not just enough—it’s perfectly tailored for our eternal good. Instead of comparing or coveting, we can say with Asaph: “God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26)
- James 3:16 – “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder…”
- Hebrews 12:1–2 – “Let us run with endurance… looking to Jesus.”
Psalm 73:16-17 – “But when I thought how to understand this… until I went into the sanctuary of God.”
Clarity came in God’s presence. Worship reorients our vision. Perspective changes when we behold God’s holiness. We must learn increasingly to “abide” in the sanctuary of God, 24/7, 365. We must learn to keep our eyes affixed on Jesus every moment that we can rightly interpret and respond to what is happening in our lives, understanding that “it isn’t happening ‘to’ us, it is happening ‘for’ us.” This is why we are encouraged by God’s word to rejoice always, to pray continually, and to meditate upon God’s word day and night, being careful to practice all that it says, remembering that God is with us always. This is also why God encourages us to remain in continual fellowship with fellow believers so we can constantly remind each other of the continual goodness and presence of God.
- Isaiah 6:1–5 – The vision of God in the temple.
- Colossians 3:2 – “Set your minds on things that are above…”
Psalm 73:25-28 — Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever…. 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.
The psalmist’s envy melts into worship. Nothing and no one compares to God. Even in weakness, God is our strength.
- Philippians 3:8 – “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus.”
- 2 Corinthians 12:9 – “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
What is your goal in life? How do you measure your success, and where do you want to be when it is all said and done?
Today Asaph says, “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.” We are in danger of stumbling too if we begin measuring success the way the world does, if earthly accomplishments and prosperity become our markers. Likewise, we risk maligning God if we start judging His love, justice, mercy, and grace from our earthly perspectives of our afflictions – “How could God let this happen?” If our life goals are prosperity-based, and if we see God as a means to our ends, we will find ourselves trapped in the spirit of the disgruntled psalmist, “All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.” (Psalm 73:13) The key to life is to make your life goal the same as God’s goal for your life, and His goal for your life is Him:
- John 17:3, 15-19, 21-23 — And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent…. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth…. that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
Success is unity with Him, knowing Him more and more every day, and making Him known more and more each day, and God will use seemingly ‘good’ and ‘bad’ circumstances to accomplish that goal in your life – “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:28, 29) As the latter verse states, not all things (people and circumstances) are good, but God works all things together for His good and perfect purpose, which is not just to give you a comfortable life until you die, but rather to conform you to the image of His Son, so that you would like Jesus. Our goal through good times and bad should be to rejoice knowing that God is Sovereign and is using every circumstance to grow us up in Christ, and our measure of success through it all should be that we are closer to Jesus than we have ever been before.
If Moses’ success depended on his life-long endeavor of leading the Israelites into the Promised Land, his whole life would have been viewed a complete failure since Moses was not permitted to cross the Jordan River due to his sin at Meribah (Numbers 20); but God’s goal for Moses was something much greater than achieving a temporal outcome – it was bringing Moses to Himself. “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33) In fact, Moses did make it to the Promised Land, but in a far more glorious way than he could have ever imagined – “And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.” (Matthew 17:1-3)
How much different would your life be if you sought the Lord as one searches for a great treasure? With the goal of increasingly knowing Him and making Him known each day, endeavor for your last day on earth to be your best day on earth.
- Matthew 6:21 — For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
- Matthew 13:44 — “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
- Hebrews 11:24-26 — By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
- Ephesians 3:8 — To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
Deuteronomy 33:1-3 – “This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death… Yes, he loved his people.”
Moses, in his final words, speaks blessing—not complaint. He highlights God’s love for His people and their calling to receive His law. Our legacy should echo with God’s faithfulness, not our failures.
- John 13:1 – “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”
- 1 John 4:19 – “We love because he first loved us.”
Deuteronomy 33:12 – “Of Benjamin he said, ‘The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety. The High God surrounds him all day long…'”
God’s protection is constant. To be beloved of God is to be surrounded, shielded, and secure—regardless of what we see.
- Psalm 34:7 – “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him…”
- Romans 8:38-39 – “Nothing… will be able to separate us from the love of God.”
Deuteronomy 33:26-27 – “There is none like God… The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”
Moses concludes with the unmatched greatness and comfort of God. He is transcendent and tender—our refuge and our strength.
- Hebrews 13:5 – “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
- John 14:2-3 – “I go to prepare a place for you…”
Listen to this sermon by the late Pastor Chuck Smith on Deuteronomy 33:27 and the Eternal God — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB2kVs0DuJc
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 25 May 2025: Deuteronomy 33:27 – “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.”
Reflect: Have you been envious like Asaph or discouraged like Israel? Write out one way you’ve doubted God’s goodness lately.
Reorient: Re-read Psalm 73:25–26 and Deuteronomy 33:27 aloud. Repeat them slowly, letting the truth sink in.
Rest: Spend 5–10 minutes in quiet worship—no words, just presence. Let God be your refuge.
Remember: Write down 3 specific ways God has shown Himself faithful to you in the past year.
Reach Out: Text or call someone and share one of today’s verses to encourage them in God’s faithfulness.
Pray: Eternal God, You are my dwelling place. Forgive me for looking at the world with envy and forgetting the riches I have in You. Re-center my heart on You. May I live today in the safety of Your everlasting arms. Amen.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 