All That Glitters is Not Gold!

“For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:3).

Asaph had it all. And he nearly threw it all away.

Asaph is anything but a household name. But he boasted quite an impressive résumé: as David’s handpicked choir director, first in the Tabernacle and eventually in the Temple; as a prolific songwriter (twelve of his psalms are included in the Old Testament Psalter); as a prophet; and as a good role model (evidenced by the fact Asaph’s sons followed in their father’s footsteps and became Temple choir singers).

Yet, like so many of us, Asaph seemed blind to all that he did have and focused on what he did not have.

Somewhere along his spiritual journey, Asaph fell prey to a sickness of the soul that infects many people of faith. At some point in his ministry, for reasons clearly spelled out in Psalm 73, Asaph became jealous of wicked people – a hideously dark disease that, if the truth be told, has affected me as well.

Has it ever affected you? Let’s find out. Check out Asaph’s astonishing admission to see if you can relate. Asaph honestly concluded his own spiritual assessment by admitting, “I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone.” Give him credit; he knew that he was in deep spiritual decline. But why? What threw him into such a spiritually treacherous tailspin? Keep reading.

“For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness.” There it is. The heart of the matter. Asaph compared his life of strict spiritual discipline to the wanton pleasures that the unspiritual, undisciplined wicked enjoy. And this side-by-side comparison led to only one conclusion: Asaph got the short end of life’s stick.

He continued, “(The wicked) seem to live such painless lives; their bodies are so healthy and strong. They don’t have troubles like other people; they’re not plagued with problems like everyone else. They wear pride like a jeweled necklace and clothe themselves with cruelty. These fat cats have everything their hearts could ever wish for! They scoff and speak only evil; in their pride they seek to crush others. They boast against the very heavens, and their words strut throughout the earth…Look at these wicked people – enjoying a life of ease while their riches multiply.”

OK, so I’ll grant that unlike “the wicked,” Asaph’s life wasn’t the bed of roses he might have hoped for. He lamented (a polite word for whined), “Did I keep my heart pure for nothing? Did I keep myself innocent for no reason? I get nothing but trouble all day long; every morning brings me pain.” Sound like anyone you know?

Fact is, life is tough. Very tough. Tough for the righteous and tough for the wicked, no matter how hardy they might party in order to dull their pain with their pursuit of pleasure. But in the end it’s all just a mirage. Asaph’s view of “the wicked” was skewed from the start, something he thankfully came to realize before it was too late. Upon sober reflection, Asaph arrived at four insightful conclusions:

(1) Had Asaph given in to his envy of the wicked, and flushed his faith in the process, he would have let a lot of people down. People were watching him, just like people are watching us. That may not be fair, but that’s the deal. If we crash and burn, we don’t go down alone. We take a lot of people with us – people who trust us, look up to us, respect us. Especially those closest to us. That was a price Asaph was not willing to pay, no matter how much personal pleasure he might have gotten as a part of that bargain.

(2) Payday will come some day. Sure, “the wicked” might be having the time of their lives now, for a little while. But the “passing pleasures of sin” do pass. And that’s the point. And when they do, the wicked are left holding a handful of nothing, except for their sordid memories and the crushing consequences of their foolish choices.

(3) The wicked live like beasts, governed only by their carnal cravings and animal appetites. Their glands become their gods; their selfish desires their deities. Gone is their dignity, sacrificed on the altars of their depravity. Lost is their self-respect, forfeited by their disrespect of the God who created them.

(4) Asaph came close, alarmingly close, to failing the one, the only one who never would and never could fail him. No amount of perverted pleasure was worth the indignity of letting down his God who would never would and never could let him down.

No doubt about it. As Asaph so correctly concluded, “It is good for me to draw near to God.” Know what? It is good for us to do the same.