Read: Psalm 73 NLT – BOOK THREE (Psalms 73–89) -Psalm 73 – Bible Gateway
“Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.” Psalm 73:25-26 NLT
A fellow elder shared with us after our weekly prayer session this morning how encouraging Psalm 73 is. Our church is currently going through selected passages of Psalms for a summer Bible reading program. Seeing his comments I thought it best to review the Psalm and see what I might have missed. Yes, it is encouraging.
A psalm of Asaph that begins Book 3 in the Psalter is a reflection of what most Christians experience in certain seasons of life. During the downtimes in life, and there are many, we tend to look back at better days or to those who do not seem to have it so bad. We envy them who seem to have it all together. They may not be living for the Lord, but they have no worries, they are healthy, financially set, no internal family struggles, life is good, and like Asaph writes, “These fat cats have everything their hearts could ever wish for!” (Ps.73:7 nlt) And we surmise that we do not. But we are wrong, troubles and downtimes included.
The psalmist had reached the point where he questioned whether his obedience to God was for nothing. I’m afraid many Christians have found themselves asking the same question. The turning point for the psalmist was when he went into the sanctuary. “Then I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked.” (Ps.73:17 nlt) Worshiping God opened the psalmist’s eyes to God’s justice. The bottom line is the wicked does not get away with anything.
Well now, what about us with our struggles and the downtimes in life? Follow the lead of Asaph as he confessed his sin of assessing life from a secular worldview. (Ps.73:21-24) He had come to realize that nothing is better or more desirable than God. May we come to the same conclusion!
Word for the Soul 