Envy

I often start Sunday mornings with a Psalm, and this week it was 73.

Asaph, the author, begins, 'Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.' But then he realises that he's just had a close shave, 'But as for me, my feet had almost slipped... for I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.'

And he goes on to list the ways in which life is easy for the rich - they don't have struggles, they have health & strength. They're free from the burdens of others. They don't worry about what God thinks of them - they're carefree and their wealth just goes on increasing. Asaph wonders if he hasn't kept himself pure for nothing, foregoing the pleasure of wealth for no gain.

But then he entered 'the sanctuary of God'. Then he, 'understood their final destiny'. In God's presence (in the OT, the sanctuary was where you came near to God), his perspective changed. 'Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly they are destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!' The rich are but 'fantasies' (dreams which disappear without trace). The rich cannot prolong life nor escape death and judgement.

But, realises Asaph, 'I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel and afterwards take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven besides you?'

When you're tempted to envy the rich - when they drive past in the Aston Martin DB9, when you see them arriving at the Neville Golf Club, when you can't afford to shop in Fenwicks or Hoopers - when you're tempted to envy, tell yourself, 'I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.'