In my first cycle through the Psalter, I preached on this whole psalm as one sermon under the title: In the Light of Eternity. This time, we have considered three portions of the same psalm according to the natural divisions within its structure. The first twelve verses contained the saintly Asaph's worldly concerns and the second section through verse twenty exposes the worldings final end. In this last section from verses twenty-one through twenty-eight we see what it meant to Asaph to be close to the Creator, Father God and in comprehending his closeness, may we learn the contentment of that precious relationship as well.

The blessedness of this worldly life is only temporary and our own fervent desires to be just as worldly as those around us must be turned over to God as we seek God's understanding of all things. It is God's own revelation and purpose that gives our life in Him meaning. Pity, the poor wretched wicked. They have but one life to live in pleasure with their pathetic material playthings. Asaph's God given understanding allows him to see the danger of acquiring all the vain things that would charm life the most. See the danger there described in verses eighteen to twenty? He sees that the prosperity of this life is not totally a blessing. That prosperity can in fact be a deadly curse. The psalmist in an earlier verse had almost slipped into the dilemma of the wicked. And he sees here how ruinous will be their destruction because they have not God!

The lifestyles of the foolish and prosperous is all but a dream. We are encouraged to let them flaunt their vanities, let them act out their temporary dreams. When this age comes to an end and the Almighty God of creation judges in righteousness, of what heavenly good will the foolish wealth and prosperity of the wicked by? O Lord our God, let us not stumble into the madness of coveting the object of Asaph's desires. Instead teach us your wisdom. Teach us the wisdom revealed to Asaph's heart as we like him realize our own ignorance.

Asaph grieves in his heart and mind that he could have been so worldly stupid to not appreciate the eternity in God's mind when all of mankind is judged in the balance of His perfect holiness and righteousness. See Asaph's description of the worldly wise there in verses twenty-one to twenty-two? Keil & Delitzsch here describe the foolish and ignorant beast as the water-ox, or as we know it, the hippopotamus - "a plump colossus of flesh .. an emblem of colossal stupidity." Were we to doubt God we would be "like the most stupid animal, which stands before God incapable of such knowledge as He willingly imparts to earnestly inquiring man."

Now do not think that the lowly hippopotamus is not dangerous. Recently, I heard a quiz show question that asked which African wild animal caused more human deaths. I supposed it was the crocodile, but the correct observation was this self same harmless looking, clumsy hippopotamus which is just as capable of killing humans as the apparently more dangerous crocodile.

How often have we all acted as such brute beasts like him? How often have we let our own hearts be grieved and our own spirits embittered with the desires of our flesh? We may easily think that our thoughts and desires are not at all dangerous, but indeed the attitude of the heart is just as wretched as the actions of the most vile sinner. When our hearts and minds are focused on the world, we do not see the dangers involved in the worldly venue. Too often we have gotten pulled into the worldly agenda and agreed with public propositions and legal niceties that all to easily harm the proper advancement of the Kingdom of the Spirit. Like the hippopotamus, we have loved a worldly wallow in one sense or another. And like the wicked who Asaph observed struggling against a slippery slope, it is only the hand of Christ that in reaching down lifted us up out of the mud onto higher, firmer ground.

May we today have the blessings of God described in the next two verses. Here we see that Asaph did not give up the faith, but he remembered who was with him and who it was who held his hand. In those three lines from twenty-three b through verse twenty-four, there is listed the Almighty's grand plan of salvation. His strong arm and hand lifts us up, by listening to the biblical counsel we are sanctified and at the proper time, we will be received into glory!

What a grand and glorious treasure there is for us in those words: "You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory." Thus are we continually with Him because He first loved us and rescued us from the slimy pit where in we could well be content had we been left there. As we like Asaph turn away from the fascinating glitter of temporary wealth and the appearance of power we gain a greater appreciation for the true treasure of our own God.

"Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You." is Asaph's prayer. No longer will Asaph's wishes ramble, no other object will tempt him, henceforth the Everlasting God will be his portion and his eternal home. "No Other Reward" is Beisner's title for meditating on this psalm. Luther observes: "The whole wide world delights me not, For heaven and earth, Lord, care I not, If I may but have Thee." Have we all a ways to go to better echo these heavenly delights? Which will it be the mud slide of the hippo or the heavenly delight in the Father God of heaven. Or course you say, there is absolutely no comparison and any human in their right mind - given the choice would have to echo Asaph's fondest wish to be with the Lord.

"My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

In those words of verse twenty-six Asaph acknowledges the eternity of God as he realizes the temporary nature of his earthly life. He observes in the next verse the way of all the wicked. Their lot is destruction because they do not have the Lord our God. how tragic that will be, but they have their wealth, such as it is. They are even held responsible for their desertion as we see in the second half of verse twenty-seven. "Those who remove themselves far from the primary fountain of life fall a prey to ruin; those who faithlessly abandon God, and choose the world with its idols rather than His love, fall a prey to destruction", is the evangelical observation of Keil & Delitzsch.

It is evident from Asaph's experience in seeing god's revelation that to have knowledge of our Holy God is life, life eternal, to not have that knowledge and assurance leads to death. Can you pray with Asaph this last verse today? "But it is good for me to draw near to ' God. I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Your works."

For this purpose Asaph shares the struggles of his heart. For this purpose he details his tendency towards sin. For this purpose he affirms the sovereignty of God in the life of man both good and foolish. For this purpose of witness Asaph tells us what we need to know about our own relationship with the Almighty and Holy God we worship and are now learning to serve. May He be our Refuge, our Strength, our Savior and our Lord each and every day forever. Amen.