Psalm 73

Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
  You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
  Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
  My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
  But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.
 (Psalm 73:23-28 ESV)

For more context, read all of Psalm 73...I just pasted the last part of it.  How beautiful is this picture?!  He guides us with His counsel and holds our right hand.  I love the picture of our Father in heaven holding our right hand like a Dad holds his 3 year old's little hand.  The child has no idea where the Father is leading him, but he doesn't really care, does he?  What he cares about is the fact that he's being held by his Dad.  There's a sense of overwhelming security in that sentence.  He holds our right hand...He's leading us.  And we rarely trust Him with that...doesn't that sound so strange?  It's as if the 3 year old pulls his hand away and says, "Dad, are you SURE you want to go that way?  Because I've been thinking about it, and this way seems more enjoyable."  Paul uses a Greek word in Ephesians that means "poem" to describe who we are to God.  We are his poem...so, once again, it'd be like a poem saying to its author, "I'm not sure you know what you're doing...Are you SURE that line is in Iambic Pentameter?"  Or something like that.

"There is nothing on earth that I desire besides you."  Nothing compares to Him.  Most of us have probably said/sung something like that before.  If you like David Crowder even a little bit, you've probably sung it many times..."There is no one like you, there has never ever been anyone like you."  But what does that look like in our lives?  If nothing compares to Him, then why do we idolize things?  Why do I look in the mirror more times than I pray in a day?  Why do I worry more than ask Him to grow me in faith (Phil. 4:6-7)?  Why do I choose to watch an episode of How I Met Your Mother over reading about Him?  It's because I can sing the words all I want but still not be changed.  The truth is that we desire a LOT more things than God most of the time.  But God has the power and the patience to help us change that little by little (and it doesn't happen overnight).  Sanctification, homies!  Tough word to understand...tough process to go through.

The sentence that gets me the most is this, "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."  We all fail...none of us is perfect.  I may try REALLY hard to make you think I'm perfect, but I'm the farthest thing from it.  I'm a whitewashed tomb full of unclean things (Matt. 23:27).  But though I fall short, God is my strength.  I think it's cool that the psalm writer says it this way.  He says his flesh fails, but God is his portion.  His heart fails, but God is the strength of his heart.  God takes care of both of those shortcomings!  He fills us to the point where we overflow!  He is truly all we need.

Wow, God is good.  My prayer is that God is speaking (now and continually) through His word straight to your heart these days.  This passage really hit me yesterday, and I love those moments when all you can say is, "Wow."  Being speechless isn't a bad thing...it's a good thing, actually.  We talk too much (kind of like what I'm doing right now!).  Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God."  Give Him a chance to speak to you.  God is faithful.

Is there something in the above passage that speaks to you?