Even so, I love sharing things with all of you, so I figured I would share a Psalm that a friend showed me a few weeks ago. It's choice, and I definitely had it apply to me a couple of times since then. I am so glad God knows what I'm going to need and prepares it for me. It's like He loves me more than I can ever imagine. Oh wait, He DOES love me truly unconditionally. He's awesome!
With that, here is what I want to share with you. Psalm 73. Boom.
Be sure to take note of verses 1-3, 13-14, and then 21-28. Ahh so good. Maybe I'll write about it a little later.
Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.
3 For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong.
5 They are free from the burdens common to man;
they are not plagued by human ills.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
they clothe themselves with violence.
7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity;
the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.
8 They scoff, and speak with malice;
in their arrogance they threaten oppression.
9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
and their tongues take possession of the earth.
10 Therefore their people turn to them
and drink up waters in abundance.
11 They say, "How can God know?
Does the Most High have knowledge?"
12 This is what the wicked are like—
always carefree, they increase in wealth.
13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure;
in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.
14 All day long I have been plagued;
I have been punished every morning.
15 If I had said, "I will speak thus,"
I would have betrayed your children.
16 When I tried to understand all this,
it was oppressive to me
17 till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.
18 Surely you place them on slippery ground;
you cast them down to ruin.
19 How suddenly are they destroyed,
completely swept away by terrors!
20 As a dream when one awakes,
so when you arise, O Lord,
you will despise them as fantasies.
21 When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,
22 I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you.
23 Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
27 Those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
28 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.
Ok I can't help it, I want to talk about this.
First, in verses 1-3, Asaph (the writer I assume) talks about nearly falling to envy of the wicked. I totally know that feeling. It's difficult sometimes seeing people who are clearly not following Christ being so prosperous and successful. It makes we want to ask God "Why do you let them become successful but you ask me to give up everything to You and potentially lose my life in a jungle in Africa?" This doesn't seem like a good trade-off.
Then he goes through and lists how arrogant the wicked are, and how they seemingly get away with anything they want.
13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure;
in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.
14 All day long I have been plagued;
I have been punished every morning.
I'll be honest, there have been times in my life where I feel like I'm doing this "God thing" in vain. But (this may get controversial) God isn't proclaiming a prosperity gospel. He's preaching a gospel of "give me your entire self and you're life will be better than anything you could imagine." Maybe not better in the world's standard, but in light of eternity, you know, the part that matters, it is way better. That's what the problem is. Once we become Christians and dedicate our lives to the Lord, we are still stuck in this world until we go to heaven. And the problem with that is this world and the eternal/spiritual world cannot be compared. One is full of sin and destruction and one is perfect. I need to stop comparing my life with God with the lives of people who are not with God. I need to focus on my life and walk with the Lord.
Now that doesn't mean that I shouldn't actively pursue the lives of others and share the good news with them. Instead, I shouldn't get jealous of what other people are experiencing but find joy in the Lord.
Then comes verse 17. wow. It's the epiphany verse. Verse 16 puts it in context.
16 When I tried to understand all this,
it was oppressive to me
17 till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.
Once I put this life in context of being with God, everything makes sense. He is my portion and my pride. Everything I count as loss. It's like God is saying "once you really turn to me, all that other stuff that was making you jealous is nothing compared to my glory." God is good. He is better than anything and everything this world has to offer, which is all stuff God created and we ruined.
Like verses 23 and 24 say, God is always with us, right at our side, giving us counsel, waiting to take us into His glory.
Seriously verses 25-26 are just so perfect, and reading them makes me believe them even more and get excited about God. This is random, but don't you just love when God gives you that inexpressible joy that you know comes from nothing but Him. Yeah, definitely experiencing that right now and it's great.
I feel like all of the being "off" I experienced the last couple of days has evaporated, just going through this psalm slowly. He is my portion forever. Earth has nothing I desire besides Him. Praise the Lord!
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Thanks for reading these posts and encouraging me to keep writing. You are all such a blessing to me and I am so thankful for having all of you in my life. A lot of my spiritual growth this summer stemmed from this blog, and conversations around these topics. Thank you.
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