Lead Us and Deliver Us

The Prayer of Prayers PART VII
Dr. Timothy Keller
09 November 2014

Psalm 73:1-3, 13-26
1Surely 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

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 sactuary of God;
than 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.

THE PROBLEM (v2-3; 13-14)
--Leading good and moral life, but everything is still going wrong.
--More common battleground of spiraling down by envy.
--v16-17 is the turning point--entering the sanctuary and places God in front of him.
--God is referred in the first person.

PRAY YOUR WORRIES AND DOUBTS
--Admit the worst about yourself.
--v.13-Self centered thinking.
--Seeing the whole and grasping God's grace to reorder our lives.
--Not loving God, but using God.

SEEING THE WHOLE
--v.24-Getting perspective.
--Realizing the doctrine of God's sovereignty.
--Nothing in this live is permanent, so why envy.

REALIZING GOD'S GRACE
--V.21-24 Being brutish, but God still leads you by the hand.
--Come to the sanctuary of Jesus's body and sacrifice.
--v.25 - Reorder your life.