Our Lord will always be with us, to reveal to us, HIS plan for us.

Grace Bible Church
Pastor teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Tree of Life
Weekly Review
100718
Our Lord will always be with us, to reveal to us, HIS plan for us.

PSA 73 which is a long PSAlm that deals with HOW and WHY the wicked prosper and how easy it is for us as believers to simply adjust to the spiritual life .

PSA 73 describes as some of the frustrations that believers have as they seek to fulfill the PPOG and their very own Personal Sense of Destiny.

Look at PSA 33:10 which says, The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The writer of PSA 33 is unknown even though there are many commentators who have studied this PSA from the Septuagint (the OT translation of the Bible written in the Koine or common Greek) who believe that David is the author.

PSA 73:1 starts out with the phrase, “Surely God is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart!”

We noted that when you're going through adversity or in time or disaster, remember, even if you don't understand what you're going through, God understands the fact that God is good to His people. And you must always remind yourself of something that the apostle Peter says to us about winning souls, for the Lord Jesus Christ.

2PE 3:9, The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

Now, if you are going to continue with your relationship with the Lord, then that will be revealed by how you handle adversity and prosperity or promotion verses demotion. And then, the apostle Peter tells us exactly what we need to handle promotion and prosperity and that it is found in 1PE 5 which says;

1PE 5:7-11, casting all your anxiety or worries upon Him, because He cares for each one of you. Be of sober {spirit,} be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

But resist him, firm in {your} faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen {and} establish you. To Him {be} dominion forever and ever. Amen.

The point is that none of us have ever or could ever say we are going through things and situations that no other believers have ever gone through, or for that matter, will ever go through.

Why?

Because we have a divine purpose that gives us all of the opportunity and purpose that we all need. The purpose is that our Lord would will always be with us to reveal to us, His plan for us. His plan serves as a divine solution which is ready and waiting for us to apply it to our spiritual life as we worship and honor our Lord Jesus Christ; JOH 5:18.

So, in JOH 5:18-29, For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. Jesus therefore answered and was saying to them,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless {it is} something He sees the Father doing; for whatever {the Father} does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and greater works than these will He show Him, that you may marvel.

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, in order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear shall live.

For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is {the} Son of Man.

Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; those who did the good {deeds} to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil {deeds} to a resurrection of judgment.”

This means that we can handle any problem that comes our way with the divine provisions that the Lord has provided” for us” who truly believe what the Bible has to say, especially the verses that say such things as MAT 6:33-34.

MAT 6:33-34, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. {Each} day has enough trouble of its own.”

Now, who and what is our Lord referring to? He is referring to the fact that we have no need to worry about anything because Divine Provisions are available and we are ready for whatever our Lord desires.

And always remember that one verse that literally describes what our Lord desires for us all; 2PE 3:9, The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

PSA 73:2, “But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling; My steps had almost slipped.”

Why?

He almost fell and slipped because he had become jealous and envied the prosperity of the wicked. He says in effect, “I was envious or jealous of the arrogant, as I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”

He was looking too much at one thing; The blessings and prosperity that the unbelievers had or the blessings and

prosperity that even the carnal wicked can have and then the blessings and prosperity that even the carnal believer can have. This is what the apostle Paul taught in the early church.

The writer and the musician of PSA 73, saw the present condition of the wicked who were prospering in their midst, right in front of them with opened eyes.

PSA 23:2-6, He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.

Thou dost prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; Thou hast anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.

Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

There are so many doctrinal interpretations of this passage that I love to call PSA 23 “The Great Shepherd's Song”  because it reminds me of the fact that TLJC is the King of kings and Lord of lords of ALL. Now, What do you see?

Are we going to learn about the divine provisions that our Lord has provided personally for each and every one of us? Or, are you thinking in the realm of human viewpoint which really has no solution to your problems; Again, what is it that you see? He saw what the wicked had as far as blessings but he forgot their future. And, he's going to learn that lesson.

He saw what God had given them by means of His faithfulness and His love and therefore every one of them had been blessed by the God of all grace in the realm of giving and receiving.

He saw their outward display of prosperity as well as the fact that He saw what they had. Some believers do just that. They see what people have.

A New car, new home, better job, fine clothing, no problems with the finances, everything is going right. You look at what they have but you only see their outward display not the inner changes. And so, what we see may not be real or at all.

Why?

Because we do not see the discomfort and lack of contentment in the wicked soul.

Therefore, in 2CO 4:15-18, For all things {are} for your sakes, that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Notice once again that our battles are not against people but our spiritual warfare which is really invisible, EPH 6:12; 2CO 4:17-18. You don't see when they go to sleep at night that they have all these riches and all these things and all this form of prosperity, but there's something missing in their soul.

What is missing? It is the fact that no matter what the Lord says or does, you and I have been blessed by Him who can and who desires for all of us to be blessed and to give and share with one another. The wicked don't have that peace that goes beyond understanding as PHI 4:6 and JOH 14 teach us.

In PHI 4:6, Be anxious for nothing or stop being fearful or worried but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

That's why I said to you that you would be shocked if you could trade places with a millionaire, or a person who has everything going for them but they still lack contentment as well as inner peace. You would be shocked at how fast you would say, “I want to come back to my life, I don't want to trade places with them.”