The Psalms: Book 3 - A Prayer of Doubt
Opening Prayer:
Lord God,
Renew my hope when I feel lost.
In my moments of doubt, give me the strength to approach You honestly and openly.
Draw near to me that I may draw near to You and know again Your faithfulness and Your love.
You are always with me, even in my moments of wavering.
Your faithfulness is my lodestar and my comfort.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Key Scriptures:
A psalm of Asaph.
1 Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.
3 For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong.
5 They are free from common human burdens;
they are not plagued by human ills.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
they clothe themselves with violence.
7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity;
their evil imaginations have no limits.
8 They scoff, and speak with malice;
with arrogance they threaten oppression.
9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
and their tongues take possession of the earth.
10 Therefore their people turn to them
and drink up waters in abundance.
11 They say, “How would God know?
Does the Most High know anything?”
12 This is what the wicked are like—
always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.
13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
and have washed my hands in innocence.
14 All day long I have been afflicted,
and every morning brings new punishments.
15 If I had spoken out like that,
I would have betrayed your children.
16 When I tried to understand all this,
it troubled me deeply
17 till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.
18 Surely you place them on slippery ground;
you cast them down to ruin.
19 How suddenly are they destroyed,
completely swept away by terrors!
20 They are like a dream when one awakes;
when you arise, Lord,
you will despise them as fantasies.
21 When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,
22 I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you.
23 Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
27 Those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
28 But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds.
Psalm 73
Sermon Summary
This week we continue our series on the book of Psalms. Below is a summary of this week’s sermon on Psalm 73 from Sam Young:
God is good. But there are times when it seems hard to believe it. In this psalm, the psalmist is reflecting on a moment of doubt. He paints a picture of his doubt, of how his faith, which he was so sure of and that seemed so sound, is suddenly not so secure. He didn’t fall, but he came close. Through the words of this psalm, these words of doubt, God can speak to us and address our doubt. The source of the psalmist’s doubt was seeing the powerful and rich in the world, those who were ignoring God’s word and exploiting the poor and vulnerable, prospering and enjoying a life of ease.
Faith is a relational thing; it is not purely intellectual. Doubt is the same; it is never purely mental. Doubt often stems from something we have witnessed, something that we have experienced, that does not match up with what we know of God, that contradicts what we believe about God. The psalmist doesn’t doubt God’s existence, but rather God’s goodness. Can he trust that God is good? Is it true that God is a good God? Can I continue to put my trust in God if He is not good? Is God – and what God says – trustworthy?
In this Psalm we witness how the psalmist processes his doubt with God, and therefore how we might do the same. We need to identify the root cause of our doubt. For the psalmist, his doubt was rooted in jealousy of others; in the fact that to his mind others were ignoring God and exploiting people, and it seemed, getting away with it. Then, once we have done this we come to God, into the temple as the psalmist tells it, to bring our sorrows and complaints, but also to remind ourselves of God’s past faithfulness to us and to His people. We remind ourselves of the story of God’s goodness, and especially the faithfulness He showed to His creation in the coming of Jesus.
We also do the above together, as God’s people, as a reminder that we are not alone. Not only is God always with us, but He has also put others with us too. Others who can perhaps see more than we can, others who have been through similar experiences, others who can guide us – whose testimony and faith can bring us back to a place of belief. Yes, doubts will still be there. But the witness of the community can bring us back to a place where we can stand and choose to believe again. When we doubt, just as the psalmist did, we must create space to enter the presence of God – through which we encounter God again, to be reminded of who He is, and to process our doubt with Him, and be reminded of who we are in God.
God knows our doubt. God can handle our doubt. And God is with us in our doubt.
Questions to Consider:
What brought the psalmist back to God? What helped him regain his perspective?
How was the psalmist feeling at the start of the psalm compared to the end? What had changed for him?
What did the psalmist identify as the root of his doubt?
Do you identify with the psalmist at all? What is the root of your doubts?
How do we recognise our doubts?
The psalmist chose to work out his doubts with God’s help. How is this possible? How do you do this?
What role does the community play in addressing our doubts?
How has God addressed your doubts in the past?
A Practice to Consider:
A prayer of Examen for doubt:
Review, as far back as you wish, the doubts about God that you have experienced in the past. What became of those doubts? How were they resolved? Use this record of God’s previous answers and faithfulness as a resource in future times of doubt.
Additional Resources:
Find the full sermon recording here
For a printable version of this guide click here
If you are interested in going deeper the bible project have a helpful guide to the Psalms, you can find it here