Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:25-26)
As we approach the end of this psalm, Asaph has come full circle. He began the psalm with the statement, “Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart,” and then proceeded to reveal his internal struggle regarding what he, at one point, considered to be injustice in the world. Now, having reset his focus and faculties upon God’s goodness and righteousness, he concludes with the acknowledgement that no one or no thing is to be desired outside of God. As He said, “God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
It is unfortunate that we must often go through undesirable circumstances — some inflicted upon us by others and some self-inflicted — to realize that nothing else matters. Others may choose to pursue and revere other things, whether the false gods of antiquity or the neo-gods of our day and time — celebrities, technologies etc. But for those who are awakened to the reality that these pursuits are fleeting and, eventually deadly, nothing can replace the peace and contentment that comes with knowing the One true God.
Though we may temporarily wander from the narrow path and be tempted by the attractions of this world, the goodness of our God will always reach out to us to pull us closer to Him. And that part of us that was touched in times past by His guiding Hand will be quickened and provoked to draw nearer to Him, hopefully more so than ever before. As Asaph concludes, “It is good for me to draw near to God” (73:28). It is good indeed.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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