Unmasked | Fortress of Solitude | Sanctuary of God

When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God…  Psalm 73:16-17

Psalm 73 is a Go-To chapter for anyone who is overwhelmed by questions. Why do wicked people prosper? Why do righteous people suffer? Is striving to please the Lord all for nothing? Why do people mock God and seem to get away with it? A man named Asaph had the same questions thousands of years ago and God inspired him to write about it. He expressed the same frustrations we feel, but he also wrote about the solution he found: entering the sanctuary of God.

A sanctuary is a place of refuge or safety. Sometimes it is a building, but it can also be a state of mind. The sanctuary Asaph found was a state of spiritual rest. The world can be a scary place and deep questions, hard questions, pelt us like arrows. “Why, God?” we cry, but we rarely get an answer we understand. That doesn’t mean there are no answers. Asaph learned that he could bring all his questions into God’s presence and leave them there. Instead of becoming bitter or speaking against the Lord, he ran to God’s sanctuary—a place of trust.

Psalm 131 describes this sanctuary as the state of being “like a weaned child against its mother.” A weaned child is not demanding anything; he is content just to be with his mother. In God’s sanctuary, we humbly admit that we are not God and His answers don’t have to make sense to us. He is righteous, He is just, and He knows all and it will make sense someday. God will always do what is right, so we will trust Him.

Final Thought:  When you are overwhelmed with questions too big to understand, enter the sanctuary of God.
Prayer: Father, I let questions overwhelm me and sometimes I get angry when I don’t have answers. Teach me how to enter your sanctuary and leave my questions there. You are not overwhelmed by them. You want me to trust you, so I will. Amen.