May 31, 2026

IS YOUR FAITH FLEXIBLE OR RIGID?

By Darrien DeFederico

Psalms 73:1-16 (NASB95)

1 Surely God is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart! 2 But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, My steps had almost slipped. 3 For I was envious of the arrogant As I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For there are no pains in their death, And their body is fat. 5 They are not in trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued like mankind. 6 Therefore pride is their necklace; The garment of violence covers them. 7 Their eye bulges from fatness; The imaginations of their heart run riot. 8 They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak from on high. 9 They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth. 10 Therefore his people return to this place, And waters of abundance are drunk by them. 11 They say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?” 12 Behold, these are the wicked; And always at ease, they have increased in wealth. 13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure And washed my hands in innocence; 14 For I have been stricken all day long And chastened every morning. 15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,” Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children. 16 When I pondered to understand this, It was troublesome in my sight.

There is an old adage that says "When man plans, God laughs". It is believable because living for any lengthy period of time reveals that plans do not always come to fruition, and only God sees the end of that planning. Sometimes those plans succeed, other times they fail miserably. We know how great it feels for a plan to go right, but we all dread when it does not work out. And when it doesn't, we can feel lost and hopeless.

This feeling really hit home for Asaph, the writer of Psalm 73. But who was this man? Interestingly, he was one of the Levites appointed by David to lead in worship, meaning he lived around 1000 B.C..¹ Asaph clearly saw some crazy events in his time, such as David running away from Saul, and David becoming King of Israel. Asaph was part of the procession to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. Along with Heman and Ethan, also mentioned in the Psalter, he was appointed by the Levites to the bronze cymbals (1 Chronicles 15:19). He served further under Solomon at the dedication of the temple (2 Chronicles 5:11–14). The descendants of Asaph continued these duties after the exile (Ezra 2:41; 3:10; Nehemiah 11:22; 12:46). Twelve psalms are associated with Asaph (Psalms 50; 73–83).²

Despite Asaph seeing God step in and bring justice to David concerning his situation with Saul, Asaph still struggled with doubt at times. Who wouldn't doubt God when they see the wicked prospering? 

We are no stranger to these feelings. Sometimes we can lament like Asaph when things don't go our way. Usually we feel this way because we think God should step in at that moment, or that God shouldn't have let things get to the point it has. However, such faith is rigid, and not flexible. When our thinking is rigid, and we can't see things any other way, our beliefs are more liable to snap. When that happens, you can find yourself in a crisis of faith where you start to doubt anything and everything.

However, this is not the type of faith that Scripture describes. Our faith is not rigid that falls apart under any scrutiny. Our faith is flexible, and can explain difficult questions and situations. While many Psalms and Proverbs (such as Psalm 1) explain that God may bless the righteous person, other chapters such as Ecclesiastes 4 explain the opposite. Namely, that sometimes the wicked are allowed to be wicked and do not receive immediate justice.

Asaph recognized how rigid his thinking has become. The second he entered into the Temple, he immediately saw the errors of his ways. And so, the rest of the Psalm explains how it is only an illusion that the wicked are prospering.

Psalms 73:17-28 (NASB95)

17 Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end. 18 Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. 19 How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors! 20 Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form. 21 When my heart was embittered And I was pierced within, 22 Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You. 23 Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. 24 With Your counsel You will guide me, And afterward receive me to glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. 28 But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.

The same is true for us. It is only temporary that the wicked are in control. Their time of glory is short, and fizzles out. It is unstable, unable to endure for very long. While we may suffer for a little while, God is working in the background. God does love His children, and will give justice speedily to them (Luke 18:8). It is important to not develop rigid faith, but to nurture faith that is able to cope with unexpected situations. When the unexpected comes our way, we should know that God has an ending in mind that is better than our worldly minds can comprehend.

Prayer

Father, we repent for times when we have doubted you were right there with us. There were many times where we have felt like Asaph, where we thought you were slow in delivering justice. Please help us to develop strong faith that can withstand unexpected situations. Help us Lord to see you are not a mathematical formula and that we cannot always figure out the future. Help us to develop stable and flexible faith that can endure forever. Amen.

Bibliography

1. Tremper Longman III, Peter Enns, and Mark Strauss, eds., in The Baker Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013), 124.

2. Ibid.