Psalms 73:15

Psalms 73:15 says, If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.  Asaph said that if he voiced the thought that the wicked prospered and the Godly suffered that he would offend a whole generation of God's children.   It is better to keep doubts that we might have about God to our self than to voice them to others and maybe lead them astray as well.  Verse sixteen adds, When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;  Asaph said this idea was too painful to Him, as it should be to us.  Verse seventeen continues, Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.  Asaph said that he continued to be confused until he went into the temple of God.  Matthew Henry says that Asaph went there to study, pray and meditate on the nature of God, and this is what we should do today if we have questions about God as Christians.  Verse eighteen states, Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.  Asaph said he realized that the prosperity of the evil was a temporary thing, no matter how long it lasted.  We need to view life from an everlasting view, because anything less is just temporary.  Verse nineteen adds, How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.  When God's judgment comes, in that minute the wicked, those who do not put their faith in Jesus Christ, will be consumed with terrors.  Verse twenty continues, As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.  Asaph said that when God awoke, or came in judgment, that He would despise the image of those who denied Him.  Though when we see all the evil in the world today we may feel that God is asleep, He never is.  Verse twenty-one declares, Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.  Asaph said his heart was grieved when he realized how wrong his thoughts had been, and so should we be if we start to question God based on material wealth.  Verse twenty-two adds, So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.  Asaph said he was foolish and ignorant before God when he was questioning Him.  We are the same today as Asaph was then when we question God, foolish and ignorant.  Verse twenty-three says, Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.  Asaph said even when he questioned God that he knew that God was still with him and holding him by the hand.  God is even closer to Christians today, because we have the Holy Spirit living in us.  Verse twenty-four adds, Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.  We as followers of Christ like Asaph should acknowledge that God will guide us in this lifetime and the receive us in the glory of heaven when this life is over.  This is all that really matters.  Verse twenty-five asks, Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.  As Asaph asked, Whom do we have in heaven beside God, and since this is true, there should be none on earth that we desire besides God.  Verse twenty-six adds, My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.  As Christians, God should likewise be our strength when our heart and flesh fail.  Verse twenty-seven states, For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.  This will never change.  Those who do not believe in God and put their faith in Jesus Christ will be far from Him spiritually and will perish.  Verse twenty-eight adds, But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.  As Asaph said, it is good for us as Christians to draw near to God and to proclaim all His work in the world, no matter how much the wicked may seem to prosper.