If there ever was a Psalm that I have returned to time and time again ever since I became a Christian, it would be Psalm 73. For some reason, this psalm has always captured my heart, and it resonates with me deeply.
Just read the first line of the Psalm, in The Message version… it says, “No doubt about it! God is good,” and I think we’d all have to agree with that. No matter which way I look at it, God has been GOOD to me. There may have been seasons in my life where it felt like the WAYS in which He was choosing to be good to me felt difficult – and not so good! – in the moment, but He truly has been good to me.
I love how honest the Psalmist is in the next four verses of Psalm 73. Verses 1-5 say,
No doubt about it! God is good—
good to good people, good to the good-hearted.
But I nearly missed it,
missed seeing his goodness.
I was looking the other way,
looking up to the people
At the top,
envying the wicked who have it made,
Who have nothing to worry about,
not a care in the whole wide world.
“But I nearly missed it, missed seeing his goodness. I was looking the other way…” these words stood out to me as I read this Psalm today. Does it scare you at all that it is so possible and so easy to miss COMPLETELY the goodness of God because we’re paying more attention to what everyone else around us is doing, thinking, saying, buying… you get the idea? Because this definitely worries me. I began thinking about all the times I’ve wasted mental energy looking the other way and looking at the world instead of my Jesus, and it was a good wake up call for me.
Friends, this is where Matthew 3 comes in. Matthew 3:11-12 (The MSG) says,
“I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama—compared to him I’m a mere stagehand—will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”
It’s a darn good thing that my God is the kind of God who can take that old me and the old life who still resurfaces sometimes. My God promises take the old life – the life where I miss the goodness of Jesus because my eyes are on the world instead – and trade it in for a kingdom life (verse 1). He says He will ignite that kingdom life inside of me, and that He will clean house and change me from the inside out. What sweet news that is!! He even promises to “place everything true in its proper place before God,” and in a season of life that is particularly busy for my husband and I – with not much seeming to be in it’s proper place – this sounds absolutely phenomenal.
Friends, no matter if you’ve been a Christian for 3 months or 30 years, don’t forget that God’s promises are still true. No matter where you are at in your faith walk, Jesus can STILL clean house in your life and change you from the inside out. Don’t miss God’s goodness because your eyes are on the world… let Him ignite that fire within you, and watch your life change DRAMATICALLY as your focus shifts back onto the One who deserves all of you, every day.