Off the Charts Success – Why Perspective Matters (Psalm 73)
When we hear the word success, our minds usually go straight to the high-flyers. The innovators. The people whose achievements dominate headlines and LinkedIn feeds. Names like Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk immediately come to mind. In the arts, someone like Andrew Lloyd Webber represents the pinnacle of achievement — so much so that in 2023 he was commissioned by royal appointment to compose the anthem for the coronation of King Charles III. For a composer, it simply doesn’t get higher than that.
But success has always had this effect on us. Long before modern media amplified it, people were comparing, measuring and quietly questioning their own lives against the achievements of others. Psalm 73 gives us a raw and honest window into this struggle.
The author, Asaph, was no underachiever. He was the chief musician to King David, a prophet, a worship leader, and a composer whose influence lasted generations. In today’s language, he was the Andrew Lloyd Webber of ancient Israel. He operated in royal circles, surrounded by power, wealth and influence. And yet, despite his own extraordinary success, he began to wobble.
“I almost stumbled,” he admits. “My steps nearly slipped.”
Why? Because he lost perspective.
Asaph began to view his own achievements through the lens of other people’s success. He fixated on the prosperity of the arrogant — their health, their vitality, their apparent ease of life. Sound familiar? We do the same. We scroll, we compare, we quietly diminish what God has entrusted to us because someone else seems to be doing “better”.
The Apostle Paul warns against this very trap. Writing to the Corinthians, he says, “When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.” Comparison distorts reality. It blinds us to our own calling and convinces us that success must look a certain way to be valid.
Jesus addressed this too. “Do not worry about what you will eat or drink or wear,” he said. These are the things the pagans run after. In other words: don’t lose perspective. Don’t let surface-level success define your sense of worth.
Our culture thrives on selling us insecurity — the perfect body, the perfect lifestyle, the perfect version of success — all carefully curated to make us feel lacking so we’ll buy the solution. Asaph felt this pressure in the corridors of power. Despite having the most prestigious musical role in the nation, he began to doubt its value.
But perspective changes everything.
As Asaph looks more closely, he begins to see the cracks beneath the polish: pride, oppression, violence and shallow ambition. Success without God, however impressive it looks, is built on unstable foundations.
Off the charts success doesn’t begin with comparison. It begins with perspective — seeing clearly, honestly and through the lens of God’s purposes rather than cultural noise.
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