What do you expect this Christmas season? Do you have a godly perspective or some unrealistic expectations?
[A 12 min. discussion of Psalm 73 & expectations]
Philippians: Shine Like Stars – DAY 49
Family Discussions for Advent
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DAY 49/TUESDAY
Philippians 2:14-16
What Do You Expect?
“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16as you hold firmly to the word of life.”
Philippians 2:14-16 (NIV)
We’re continuing to follow along with the weekly themes of Christmas Advent — hope, peace, joy, love, & Christ — in light of our Philippians focus verses this month.
May our families shine like stars as we hold firmly to the word of life this Christmas celebration season!
Advent: Expect
This week’s advent focus is hope. As we saw in the DAY 48: Hope in the Word post, “expectation” is part of the definition of hope and “expect” is a synonym of hope (the words have similar meanings).
Let’s read how psalmist Asaph went to God to fix his unrealistic (evil!) expectations.
Psalm 73
“Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.2But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.
3For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.4They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong.
5They are free from common human burdens;
they are not plagued by human ills.
6Therefore pride is their necklace;
they clothe themselves with violence.
7From their callous hearts comes iniquity;
their evil imaginations have no limits.
8They scoff, and speak with malice;
with arrogance they threaten oppression.
9Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
and their tongues take possession of the earth.
10Therefore their people turn to them
and drink up waters in abundance.
11They say, ‘How would God know?
Does the Most High know anything?’12This is what the wicked are like—
always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.13Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
and have washed my hands in innocence.
14All day long I have been afflicted,
and every morning brings new punishments.15If I had spoken out like that,
I would have betrayed Your children.
16When I tried to understand all this,
it troubled me deeply
17till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.18Surely You place them on slippery ground;
You cast them down to ruin.
19How suddenly are they destroyed,
completely swept away by terrors!
20They are like a dream when one awakes;
when You arise, Lord,
You will despise them as fantasies.21When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,
22I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before You.23Yet I am always with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
24You guide me with Your counsel,
and afterward You will take me into glory.
25Whom have I in heaven but You?
And earth has nothing I desire besides You.
26My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.27Those who are far from You will perish;
Psalm 73 (NIV)
You destroy all who are unfaithful to You.
28But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
I will tell of all Your deeds.”
*Click here to see Psalm 73 in the ESV, NLT, & CSB.
In this Psalm, writer Asaph tells of a major attitude adjustment God gave him when he was looking at life from the wrong perspective with unrealistic expectations.
God is good to the pure in heart. Asaph confesses that his heart was not so pure — he had allowed envy to enter in and had almost let his feet slip off the path in his walk with the Lord.
Asaph was a God-fearing man and prophet (I Chronicles 25:2) who served the Lord under King David as the chief tabernacle musician, sounding the cymbals (I Chronicles 6:31-32,39; I Chr. 16:4-6). He had started envying arrogant, wicked people who did not fear God. Why? They had worldly prosperity and Asaph didn’t.
Don’t Let Your Heart Envy
“Do not let your heart envy sinners,
Proverbs 23:17 (NIV)
but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord.”
I am fairly confident every human ever who has been old enough to envy has envied the earthly prosperity of someone else in their lifetime. Does anyone else think the 1st-world ways of celebrating the holiday season make envy an even bigger temptation, even though a renewed focus on Christ & His 1st Coming should have the opposite effect? I would add, “Asking for a friend,” but I’m not going to be dishonest with y’all.
Since my adulthood began, I have struggled to find & keep the right, godly perspective on thankfulness at Thanksgiving & the celebration of Christ that is what Christmas is really about. I used to blame-shift and say, “It’s not my fault – it’s the culture!” or “This is just what’s been passed down to me — tradition. I didn’t start this.”
But like Asaph, my real problem is the one in my own impure heart. Praise the Lord, by His life, death, & resurrection, Jesus saved me from my sin for eternal life with Him, by grace through faith when I was nine years old!!! He has given me a new heart, yet my pesky flesh with it’s sin nature is still hanging around until Jesus’ 2nd Coming. Salvation is “one & done;” sanctification is a lifelong process — emphasis on the loooonnnng part. 😉 In the midst of this process, I find I am too easily distracted by what I see. Asaph also knew this from personal experience.
Read what Paul wrote to the Ephesian Christians about this.
Separated from God
“So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.”
Ephesians 4:17-19 (NIV)
“For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7Therefore do not be partners with them.”
Ephesians 5:5-7 (NIV)
Don’t be envying anyone who does not have a relationship with God through Christ Jesus. They don’t have God as Father; their future (which could begin any day now) includes God’s wrath coming on them. There is nothing to envy about that. They are in the dark, spiritually separated from God; in the future, they will continue to be in the dark, eternally separated from God and all His blessings, including the material ones they currently enjoy. Our job is not to envy them, but to pray for the salvation of their souls!
| Father God, For all of the people in our lives who are lost, spiritually in the dark & separated from You, we pray You will draw them to Yourself and soften their hearts toward You & the words of the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord & Savior, that they, too, may be saved and adopted into Your eternal kingdom — the Kingdom of the light of Your glorious presence. In Jesus’ name, Amen. |
Why Even Try?
“Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
Psalm 73:13-14 (NIV)
and have washed my hands in innocence.
14All day long I have been afflicted,
and every morning brings new punishments.”
This was Asaph’s initial reaction to looking at the wealthy wicked in envy. He was like, “Why have I been trying to do the right thing? What has it gotten me? More suffering! All day, every day!”
I’m going to shift to something I think is a little more practical for those of us who have grown up in the church or have been believers for a long time. Asaph is most definitely talking about people who did not even try to live godly lives. Look at what they said: “How would God know? Does the Most High know anything?” (v. 11). These people had no respect for the Lord and did not pretend to fear Him. I am not as often tempted to envy people like that as I am people in the church who seem to “have it all,” or at least seem to have it better or more “together” than I do.
Like Asaph, I have had impurity in my heart in the form of envy that has nearly caused my feet to slip off the path of godliness. Also like Asaph, I have had the wrong perspective and unrealistic expectations.
Not-Great Expectations
Instead of looking to the Lord and His eternal kingdom, Asaph “saw the prosperity of the wicked” and “envied the arrogant” (v.3). That was his perspective; it also reveals his expectations: He expected some earthly, material, physical blessings in return for keeping his heart pure and washing his hands in innocence (v.13).
I do this, too! It’s ugly, but it’s true. I start expecting the same blessings I see God bestowing on fellow Christians, especially when I think I’ve been more committed to God than they have (yes, it’s getting uglier). And I seem to be more susceptible to this prideful perspective and evil expectation during the holiday season! Comparing & contrasting our lives and our selves with other lives and selves usually leads us right into sin!!!
The only time comparing & contrasting your life with someone else’s might be beneficial is if it can lead you to a healthy perspective and right expectations — as when you compare yourself to Old Testament prophets, or to Paul, Peter… Job… Jesus. The rest of the time you probably need to avoid comparison altogether!
How does Asaph get his perspective and, by extension, his expectations, back on track?
Proper Perspective
“When I tried to understand all this,
it troubled me deeply
17till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.18Surely You place them on slippery ground;
Psalm 73:16-20 (NIV)
You cast them down to ruin.
19How suddenly are they destroyed,
completely swept away by terrors!
20They are like a dream when one awakes;
when You arise, Lord,
You will despise them as fantasies.”
When Asaph enters God’s presence, the Lord blesses him with the truth: the final destiny of the wealthy wicked and the prosperous arrogant is ruin, destruction, terror, and being swept away & despised by God. There is no temporary, earthly suffering as bad as any of that.
Asaph confesses:
“When my heart was grieved
Psalm 73:21-22 (NIV)
and my spirit embittered,
22I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before You.”
Envying wicked, arrogant, lost people certainly is senseless & ignorant of a child of God. It is also beastly of us to envy each other!
“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”
Galatians 5:25-26 (NIV)
Excellent Expectations
“Yet I am always with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
24You guide me with Your counsel,
and afterward You will take me into glory.
25Whom have I in heaven but You?
And earth has nothing I desire besides You.
26My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.27Those who are far from You will perish;
Psalm 73:23-28 (NIV)
You destroy all who are unfaithful to You.
28But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
I will tell of all Your deeds.”
As Christians, we can expect some difficult things to come our way in this world. Jesus Himself said, “In this world, you will have trouble.” He added, “Take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
We can also expect:
- to always be with God;
- that He will hold us by the hand;
- He will guide us with His counsel (by His Word & Holy Spirit);
- after all is said & done, He will take us into glory;
- for Him to be the strength of our hearts;
- God Himself to be our portion, our inheritance.
Hallelujah!
We should not expect to have anything in heaven better than God Himself — HE IS THE BEST THING EVER. (No winking emoji; no sarcasm; just pure truth.)
If we desire to have anything on earth more than we desire God Himself, our expectations are just plain wrong. Neither heaven nor earth have anything better than our Father God. Amen.
It is good, so good, to be near God!
Make Him your refuge this Christmas season.
Tell everyone what He’s done!
Keep your eyes on His Word & let Him set your expectations.
DAY 49/TUESDAY Prayer
Father God,
Thank You for Your Word.
We praise You for always being with us, for holding our hands and guiding us through life, then one day, on to glory!
We agree with Asaph:
“Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from You will perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all Your deeds” (Psalm 73:25-28).
May our family maintain this godly perspective and these eternal expectations throughout the Christmas season and beyond. There is nothing better than You! We love You, Lord.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
DAY 49: Paul expects the Philippian believers to shine like stars as they hold firmly to the word of life.