ASAPH IN THE SANCTUARY

Asaph came “into the sanctuary of God,” and there he gained understanding and knowledge he was able to “perceive the end of the matter” (verse 17). How could the sanctuary give him answers? Why couldn’t he go to the wise men or somewhere else? In the sanctuary is where God is found and dwells. Wisdom is found in the house of God, and in His word flows the joy, peace and delight.

In the sanctuary, Asaph began to see the glory of God, not the alleged prosperity of the wicked. There he learned the secret and consequences that awaits the wicked. Now Asaph viewed the prosperity of the wicked in the light of eternity rather than simply from the vantage point of time. Then and only then do the flaws of the wicked become obvious. Those who seemed to be doing so well in their wickedness are now seen in great to Asaph. Their feet were on a slippery place. In but a short time, they would face the judgment of God. Their payday for sin might not come in this life, but it would surely come in eternity.

Could it be that king Solomon might have had learned from Asaph the truth he proclaims in Ecclesiastes 8:12-13? “Though a sinner does evil an hundred times, and his day prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them who fear God, which fear before Him. But it shall not be well with the wicked; neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he fears not before God.

Asaph came to understand that the sinner, put in the best of his position cannot begin to compare with the well-being of those who fear the Lord. Although the days of the wicked can be prolonged, there will come a day when they will come to an end. Deffinbaugh writes, “How foolish, even beastly, Asaph had been to think the wicked would get away with their sin, and there would be no day of reckoning. How foolish to conclude God was punishing him for avoiding the sinful ways of the wicked.”

Asaph now sees his relationship with God in its true light. Eternity holds for him the bright hope of God’s glorious presence. .He is comforted by the never failing promises of the sovereign God revealed later by prophet Isaiah, “Say you to the righteous that it shall be well with him; for they shall eat the fruits of their doing. Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.” Isaiah 3:10-11. Asaph realized the contrast between the righteous and the wicked. No matter how long He tarries, God will reward the righteous while bringing judgment upon the wicked.

This portrays that the Lord requires obedience for blessings, and disobedience provokes God to wrath and judgment. Above all, in addition to this future blessing, Asaph has the pleasure of God’s presence in this life as he explains in verses 23-26 of this psalm. He now realizes that God will not cast us off when we begin to go astray, but rather He deals with us, speak to us, He would pull us back to Him, unless we so not desire to listen. He now understands that anything and everything he needs can be provided by the Lord.

Asaph now knows the end of the wicked. He sees the wicked in their prosperity as those who have hardened their hearts toward God. They have become proud, arrogant, and independent of God. Asaph now sees his “affliction,” whatever that might be, as a source of great blessing. His suffering and agony drew him closer to God; the prosperity of the wicked drew them away from God.

His trials were indeed a gift from God for Asaph’s good. His struggles had led him into a deeper intimacy with God and were thus worth all the agony and distress of soul. Trusting God and living a holy life are not just the means to eternal blessings; they are the way to great temporal blessings as well.

Now Asaph understands the “blessings” of God in a different way. He has a new definition for “blessings.” In verse 1, Asaph defined ‘blessings’ as the absence of pain, difficulty, trouble, sorrow, ill health, or poverty. In verse 28, “blessings” means something far better than physical prosperity. It means the nearness of God into his life. It means making the Lord GOD one’s refuge, and telling of all God’s works. The blessings of the Lord mean nearness to God, intimate fellowship with God. 

In conclusion of the description of goodness of God in his book, Robert Deffinbaugh writes, “Nearness to God—intimate fellowship with God—is our highest good. We may say then that whatever interferes with our nearness to God, our fellowship with Him, is actually evil. And whatever draws us into a deeper fellowship with God is actually “good.” When God brings suffering and adversity into our lives, our confidence in His goodness should not be undermined. Instead, we should be reassured of His goodness to us”.  He also refers to the case of Job’s suffering as having brought him nearer to God in the end; thus it was good, and God was good in afflicting him (more on this is discussed in the latter chapters.). Paul’s suffering brought him nearer to God, and he saw it as a blessing (Philippians 3:10).