Here are some questions based on last Sunday’s sermon text (Psalm 73), in case they’re helpful to you for personal growth or group discussion…

• [1-11] Can you think of a time when you have envied those who have prospered in their commitment to selfish pursuits? Which part(s) of their lives did you envy? Was it their wealth? Their stuff? The ease of their lives? Their positions? The apparent fact that self-centeredness and sin pay off without consequence? The fact that they seem never to struggle in their consciences?

• [12-14] Which part(s) of your life did you resent? Was it the difficulty of devotion without apparent payoff? The suffering? God’s rebuke or correction of you? Do you understand why you felt this way—envious and/or resentful—with regard ultimately to your relationship with God?

• [15-17] God’s people are rescued before committing themselves utterly to selfish pursuits. What is it about going to church that makes it the only place where we can get real help in our struggle against self-centeredness like this?

• [18-22] The Psalmist confesses how foolish he was to envy those whose end is destruction—even if their lives are free of pain right up until that end. Do you find that thoughts about the end (trajectory, destiny) of life give you clarity about your life today? If so, how? If not, why not?
• [23-28] What is the real contrast the Psalmist sees between himself and those whom he had previously envied? Do you understand yourself to be aligned with the Psalmist? Do you feel yourself to be aligned with the Psalmist, finding real contentedness and strength in God in your life today? Why or why not?