August 19, 2020

Praying in the Midst of Spiritual Battles

“And Lead Us Not into Temptation but Deliver Us” Psalm 73:1-3, 13-26



We have been studying the subject of prayer this Winter and into the Spring. Our study has taken us through many parts of Scripture as we have focused on the Lord’s Prayer and discovered that to truly understand this prayer and why the Lord gave us this prayer, we have to look at the doctrine or meaning behind it. That has taken us throughout the Bible in an effort to get the full range meaning of what Jesus was saying. As we have learned, everything the Bible teaches, in essence, is wrapped up in this prayer. Everything we need to know about the purpose, character and desire of God is found here. We have learned how to worship through praise, how to call on the Lord for petition and the critical nature of forgiveness.

In this session, we are on the section of the prayer that speaks of the spiritual battles we face and the power we have to face them. Everyday this is the case. There are battles and temptations we face that are obvious and in our faces. The evil is easy to recognize. There are other battles that are more subtle and harder to deflect. How do you work through those moments when you are under attack?

There are several places we could go to in Scripture but Psalm 73 is a great place to learn a prayer that helps us navigate and find victory in moments of struggle when you don’t know what to do.

Spiritual battles are not always the result of poor choices. Verses 13-14 the writer is saying that he has a clean heart, he’s doing everything as right as he knows how but still things are going wrong. He knows the truth...Psalm 73:1 “Truly God is good in Israel, to those who are pure in heart.” However, things are not going well, things are precarious and in fact, things are going really bad. He is facing struggles that are discouraging him, defeating him and depressing him. Victory seems too far away and unattainable.

BUT, on the other hand, he looks at everybody around him and sees people who are prospering more than he is, succeeding more than he his and sinning more than he is, but his life is the one in turmoil (vv. 4-12). Their life is going great!! What’s up with that?

His problem is that he is slipping (v. 2). He is stumbling! His problem is ENVY (v. 3).

What is envy? Envy is wanting someone else’s life. Envy is dissatisfied with God because you believe that God is not giving you what you think you deserve. This man is about to walk away from God because he is upset about how life is going. He is being tempted to walk away and forsake his faith. He doesn’t see the reason to follow God if God is not going to give him at least what others have. What is the solution?

He has to get the right perspective. How did he do this? Look at verses 16-17 “But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.” That was the key. He did not simply walk into a church building, sit down and contemplate God. He went into the very presence of God. Not through a worship gathering where you think about God or sing about God, but you begin to deal with God. There is a directness with God. You cannot get the right perspective if all you do is read about God or sing about God or talk to others about God. You begin to understand Him when you talk to God, ask God questions and wrestle with the issues of life honestly in a conversation with God.

1. He Admits the Worst (v. 13)

This is shocking language in verse 13. Can you imagine really saying this? The writer is saying that everything he has done for the Lord is in vain. What is he saying? That everything he has done for the Lord is meaningless and a waste of time! WOW! Here is a man who is on the edge of bitterness, despair and admitting that his life is so turned inward on himself that his motivation for serving God, loving others and worshipping is all about his own gain. Someone said about this passage: “It was shockingly shallow.” His admission was so shocking that it literally shocked him into reality.

What he was admitting is what so many people today could admit and that is, the reason they are serving God is for what God can do for them and not what they can do for God. They are more interested in God’s blessings. They are not content unless God is lavishing on them all the things they want or think they deserve. Did you come to faith in Jesus Christ for the things He can give you or did you come to faith in Christ for Him and Him alone? Did you come to God for Him to be your slave? This is the critical admission to understand the battle you are in. The battle is not with people around you. The battle is mainly with you.

2. He Sees the Whole

The Psalmist is saying that he goes in the sanctuary of God (v. 17). He is referring to prayer or coming into the presence of God. What is happening here? The writer, when he comes into the presence of God, gets insight like no other time. He doesn’t just see circumstances in fragments but now he can see things as they truly are - the whole of it. It’s like watching a panoramic 360 degree view. You can YouTube videos where you can see places in the world from every angle. They are virtual tours where you can make the camera go up, down and completely around. That is what the writer is picturing here. He says, “Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end” (v. 17-20).

This only happens when you pray. Prayer gives you a vantage point that allows you to see more tan you are able when you try to reason things out in a normal way. Prayer reorients you. Prayer takes you higher than you can normally be like going to a peak above the trees.

Here’s what he is realizing...

Nothing in life that seems to bring ultimate fulfillment brings fulfillment ultimately. He looks around him and notices that the things people are pursuing to make them happy never last. All the money they earn, all the power they acquire, all the possessions they collect...all of it goes away eventually. In the end, all you are left with is what you brought into the world because you are not going to take it with you, and if you have built your entire world on these things, then you will face the end of your life with brokenness, disillusionment and despair. Your life will be empty and meaningless. For most younger people this is so hard to understand because all of life is in front of them. But the older you get, the more is taken away and the you begin to realize that life is not about the things you possess.

The writer is wondering why he is pitying them. They have nothing. The one thing they need and the one thing he realizes that he has is God! “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you” (25). He realizes the the ultimate longing and meaning of his life is not in what everyone else thinks you have to have. It’s the Lord!

Look at verse 20. He says, “Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.” He is saying that this realization is like when you awake from a dream and realize that all the craziness in your dreams is not real. Do you see what he is really saying? All of the things that cause us worry and anxiety -

Am I making enough money? Why don’t I look better? I wish I had a better career? All the things that tend to make us crazy and cause us to think we are worthless are like phantoms. You see, the only thing that truly matters in life and gives meaning to life is found in God. He alone gives purpose to your life. Only what you do for Him will last for eternity. Where does this perspective come from? The sanctuary! You get it in the sanctuary of God, in His presence...in prayer!

3. He Grasps God’s Grace (vv. 21-24)

In these verses we see the writer coming to terms with who who really was. His soul was embittered. He felt like a brute, like a beast. His description is one of his true self apart from God. That is what the Gospel says about us. Until we comes to terms with that and realize that we are like a brute beast, sinful, awful, exposed, and broken within, we cannot understand the greatness of the love of God toward us. While he sees this, he also sees that there is someone greater who is with him. This is how he says it:

“Nevertheless, I am continually with You; You uphold my right hand” (v. 23).

This is a picture of the Gospel. Every person who realizes that their sin has created them to be a brute beast but God has not forsaken them but upholds them, they are the ones who understand the grace of God. This is what Jesus did when He went to the cross. Jesus took our sin that had made us into a beast and gave us His beauty. From that position the Lord guides us and receives us to glory (24). The grace of God provides the strength we need. He is our portion forever (v. 26).

“Our ability to remain faithful to God, is by itself a miracle. For nothing happens without His Grace that works in us, and His Spirit that perfects us, which urges us to be like Him. For truly ,everything begins with His mercy and ends with His mercy.”

~ Henrietta Newton Martin

The battles we face are from within, but when we enter the sanctuary of God we see who we truly are and realize the greatness of who God truly is! That is when battles are fought and won. That is when the temptations of life are put aside, because you realize that nothing or no one can compare to the treasure of God!

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