Friday, January 21

Friday

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.  But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.   – Psalm 73:25-28

If you are just reading today’s blog and you have not read any of the previous devotionals from this week, let me encourage you to go back and read them, or at least to read the entire Psalm up to this point (warning: this will likely take you more than 10 minutes). 

The passage above is the culmination of the Psalmist’s journey through his struggle with doubt.  He began with some serious questions about the goodness and justice of God.  He ends with a glorious affirmation that God is the supreme desire of his heart.  The Psalmist (Asaph) has been thinking that he needed or at least wanted what the arrogant and the wicked had.  He had been deceived into thinking that he needed something more than God to be happy. But now he comes to realize that all he needs is God himself.  If he has God; the love of God, the guidance of God, the comfort of God, and the provision of God, then nothing what else could he possibly need?

Asaph finally realizes that he does not want what the ungodly have, because they do not have anything.  If they do not have God, they do not have anything!  He now sees the utter sufficiency of God.  In every situation or condition of life God is able to meet you and to supply all that you need.  No one else can do this, the Psalmist says. So he cries out, "What I want above all is God himself!"

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.   - Philippians 4:19

Asaph’s words have penetrated my heart time and time again, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (73:25-26) I cannot read those words without feeling a deep conviction that this is what I want too.  Yet, at the same time I must confess that too often I desire things on earth other than God.  I think we are all a little conflicted in this way, we want God, but we want other things too.

I remember when I was dating my wife. I was very much in love with her and we had both talked about the possibility of getting married someday.  However, I also had dreams and plans for my life.  I was nervous about commitment and I wasn’t sure how to reconcile “my plans” and our relationship.  The moment I knew that I was ready to be married was when I realized that if I didn’t have her, then I didn’t want any of my plans anyway.  She was what I really wanted above all of my plans.  She wasn’t meant to fit into my life, we were meant to create a new life together.  I think there is a strong connection between this little example and how God wants us to think about our relationship with him.  After all, Jesus does call us His Bride!

Have you come to the place where you realize that all of your plans and dreams for your life are meaningless if you do not have God?  Have you come to the point where you can say with the Psalmist that God is all you really need or want in life?  When Asaph says that God is his “portion”, he is saying that he is totally satisfied in God, he desires nothing else because he is already filled up with God.  When he says that God is the strength of his heart, he is saying that he can take anything life throws at him because he knows that God is with him.

His conclusion is, God does keep his word. In the words that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow made famous,

Though the mills of God grind slowly,

Yet they grind exceeding small;

Though with patience he stands waiting,

With exactness grinds he all.

 God does exactly what he says he will do. He is good to those who are upright and to those who have found purity of heart in him. He keeps them. Those who are far from Him shall perish; but those who draw near to God are and kept close.  So he resolves, "But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all thy works."

Remember how James puts that same truth, "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you," (James 4:8).  When you begin to search for God, to seek Him in the Scriptures or in the fellowship of other Christians, to expose yourself to the teaching of the word of God, or to pray before God, then you are drawing near to Him.  God promises that if you take one step toward him, he will take a dozen toward you.  Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.  That was the solution to Asaph’s struggle, and that is the ultimate answer to whatever you are facing – draw near to God!


Jeff Frazier