I want to close out this series by looking at a passage of Scripture that has really taken on a lot of meaning for me in the last few weeks.

Psalm 73:1-3

Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

This Psalm was written by Asaph, one of the worship leaders at the sanctuary in Jerusalem. It’s not surprising that the worship leader begins by writing about the heart. Soren Kierkegaard famously said that purity of heart is to will one thing. This is worship language. We tend to think that the opposite of a pure heart is a dirty heart, but that’s not the case. The opposite of a pure heart is a divided heart, a heart that holds too many commitments at once. Think of what Jesus says about worshiping God and Mammon; you can’t do it. The heart was designed for singular focus, yet the evil one continually attempts to divide it. Asaph affirms that God is good to the pure in heart.

But Asaph quickly pivots to register a complaint: the wicked are prospering. If Job asked about bad things happening to good people, Asaph inverts the question: “Why do good things happen to bad people?” Asaph confesses that he nearly stumbled when he witnessed this. The unspoken accusation is, “Where are you, Lord? Why are you allowing this to happen?”

Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever seen people get ahead by breaking the rules? They lie or cheat or steal — and it doesn’t seem like they suffer any consequences. They get away with it! Asaph sees this and he acknowledges that he envies their wealth and success.

He goes on to describe a certain arrogance that accompanies these actions:

Psalm 73:11-13

And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.

Asaph says that these wicked people mock God by saying, “Is there knowledge in the Most High?” They think God doesn’t really see what they’re doing. And so they increase in their riches. Asaph cries out, “Why am I over here playing by the rules? I have kept my heart clean in vain!” Have you ever felt this way toward God?

Playing off our previous discussion of rest, Asaph is experiencing the restlessness that comes from life in the flesh. He’s experiencing something that is common to every person who has ever tried to live a Kingdom life in a fallen world. When we see the wicked prosper, it creates a restlessness in us. Yet we should remember what God says in Galatians 6:9, Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Asaph confesses that he was beginning to envy the lives the wicked people were living. But something happens to change his perspective.

Psalm 73:16-17

But when I thought of how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.

Asaph enters into the sanctuary of the Lord — and he sees clearly once more. He comes to his senses as he communes with God in the sanctuary. He sees the wicked for what they are and he doubles down on faithfulness to the Lord. This is the transformative moment for Asaph…and it is the transformative moment for us as well.

It seems there are two aspects to this time in the sanctuary:

• There is communal time with the saints in the sanctuary as we gather in physical space to worship the Lord together. We commune with one another and we invite the Lord to inhabit the praise of His people. There can be no doubt that this is on Asaph’s mind when he speaks of the sanctuary.
• But there is also the one-on-one time of entering into the sanctuary to be with God on our own. There is a sanctuary in every human heart — a sacred place where we can take off our masks, a place where I can meet with God any time and for any reason. The enemy will try like crazy to infiltrate that sanctuary of the heart, to profane it by placing other things — even good things — upon the altar of my heart. But this space is intended for God and God alone.

Whenever we practice the spiritual disciplines, we are meeting with God in the sanctuary. We come into His presence as He teaches us to fast, to pray, to study, and to rest. And this time in the sanctuary changes our hearts, just as it changed Asaph’s heart. Time in the sanctuary will transform our desires because time in the sanctuary purifies the heart. Asaph acknowledged that he was weary — restless with all of this worry — until he entered the sanctuary. This is where everything changed for him.

Psalm 73:23-28

Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you …. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish …. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuse, that I may tell of all your works.

Look at how Asaph’s desires have changed! Before he entered the sanctuary, he was envious of the wicked and all of their prosperity. He might have even been tempted to follow in their ways. But after he spends time in the sanctuary with the Lord, he is able to say to the Lord, there is nothing on earth I desire besides you.

This is perhaps the most important point to make in our series on the spiritual disciplines:

Time in the sanctuary with the Lord will change your desires.

The more time we spend in communion with God, the more He changes our desires. We begin to want the things God wants. We pursue His purposes. We begin to take on the mind of Christ. Christlikeness occurs in the sanctuary. This is the Spirit’s work of sanctification, which leads Asaph to say, It is good for me to be near God. The closer we are to God, the more He can grow our souls.

And this is the point of the spiritual disciplines. It is to grow me to the point that I can join with Asaph in saying there is nothing on earth I desire besides you, O Lord.

Hear, o pilgrim, the gentle invitation to enter into the sanctuary of the heart.