The Right Focus (continued)

In our last lesson we looked at the first of three possible places to focus. The Psalmist focused on the wellbeing of the wicked Psa. 73:4-12

The second focus is on the futility of faith

In verse 13 he focuses on himself, his faith, its reward. He says in vain have I kept my heart pure. It is as if he says, what’s the use? Vain means useless, fruitless, unrewarding, unproductive. He spent a lifetime of effort staying pure. He denied self all kinds of opportunities and pleasures because they were not godly. And in verse 14 he says he is stricken all day long. Life had been pretty hard for him. He is at the bottom of the barrel, he managed to stay clean, but at what cost.  He focuses on others, then himself. His faith has been useless. Why shouldn’t he be able to get some perks the wicked get?

So, the Psalmist tries to understand, make sense of it all. To make sense of it all, he is going to have to change his focus. So now the third focus is on…

The goodness of God verse 16

Only when he changed his focus did things start to make sense. The turning point was when he went to the sanctuary of God, he saw that the wicked were all on a sinking ship. The Psalmist realizes that the greatest good is God. God was his strength and his potion. The only way to gain peace is with God. Christians central focus is on Christ, Phil. 4:8-9

Focus on God through reading the Bible, through prayer, through mutual encouragement with brother or sister.

Keep the right focus.