Psalm 73:21- 22 When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,
I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.
Sometimes there’s nothing like using an old Scottish word to express my feelings. Take the word ‘scunnered,’ for example. It conveys everything about today’s verse from the Psalm 73. In some households, including my own when I was a child, it was so severe a word that it was treated as being vulgar and coarse. If I dared to use the words “scunner” or “scunnered” in the presence of my parents, I was sent to my room. Of course, that only made me feel more scunnered!
Psalm 73 is one of my favorite psalms because it deals with the age-old problem of why do good people suffer and bad people become successful? The psalmist is bitter and angry with God because he has done all the right religious things and gets nowhere fast, whereas the wicked keep piling up their riches, esteem, and power. Life seems so unfair to the writer and, to coin the Scottish phrase again, he is absolutely scunnered with the injustice of the situation.
Towards the end of the psalm, he undergoes an emotional change. He realizes that the success of the wicked is only fleeting. When death comes, they will have nothing to take with them, whereas he will still have his eternal relationship with God. As Jesus Himself said, centuries later: “they will have had their reward in full.” (Matthew 6 v 16)
‘Assurance’ is a much, much better word and greater feeling than ‘scunnered,’ because it conveys a positive confidence in the blessings and promises of God. And for Christians, it takes on an even better meaning because it denotes our absolute belief that Christ died for our sins and has restored us to God forever! Hallelujah!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for the promises You have fulfilled and the blessings that You bestow upon those who truly believe in You. At the end of our lives, when we cannot take anything with us beyond the threshold of death, Your relationship and hold of us will remain steadfast and sure. Thank You for this wonderful, everlasting gift. In Your Holy Name, we joyfully pray. Amen.
John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.
Today’s image is the latest drawing from John’s Appalachian series called “Smoky mountain Mill.” You can view a larger version at the following link: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/4832636533_78b724526e_b.jpg
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