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 for ever. (v.25-26)
Psalm 73 as a whole expresses the journey of Asaph, the psalmist, from a place of almost losing his faith (v.2) to a point of finding his hope, fulfilment and confidence in God (v.23-28). Each season in his spiritual journey is marked and characterised by the attitude of his heart. This in turn is evidenced by the personal pronouns that dominate each section on the Psalm.
As the Psalm begins (v.1-12) his eyes are fixed on the seeming success and flourishing of the wicked. They get away with murder and prosper despite their evil and rejection of God. The dominant pronoun is “they”, because this is where his eyes are fixed.
His despair deepens (v.13-17) as he contemplates these realities and then compares his own experience of life, his own struggles and afflictions despite his best efforts to keep himself pure. Here, as his spiritual life spirals downward, the dominant pronoun is “I”. Fixing his eyes on others is bad. Looking within himself for solutions is worse.
Then at last, in v.17, he describes how he entered the sanctuary, the place of worship, and suddenly everything came into perspective. In the place of worship his eyes finally rested on the One who is Eternal and who alone holds life in the palm of His hand. The LORD! From v.18-22 the dominant pronoun is “You” because his eyes are fixed on the LORD at last.
And then, as the Psalm reaches its peak, the pronouns mix in a dance between “You” and “I”. Asaph’s heart is lifted to heights of glory and wonder as he realises: “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 for ever. ” (v.25-26). The LORD is everything he desires and everything he needs. So the prosperity of the wicked is actually no prosperity at all. The flourishing and seeming victories of the wicked are an empty chasing after the wind that will end at death and be no more. But for those who find their life in the LORD, he confidently declares: “I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterwards you will take me into glory.”
No matter how evil and broken the world around us has become. No matter the levels of corruption and the seeming impunity of crooked politicians and their cronies. No matter how dark the ‘loadshedding’ crisis, how confused and immoral the world and its people are … life is to be found in the LORD and in Him alone. And worship is the activity that lifts our eyes off the wicked, off ourselves, and onto the Lord in a life-giving and life-transforming encounter.
May your personal worship and our corporate worship have such a level of spiritual reality, authenticity and truthfulness that it sets the One True God before our eyes and awakens in us a passionate love and desire for God that outweighs every other worldly love and sets our lives on a course of deep personal fellowship with God every moment of every day, now and forever. Amen.
Dave's Diary 
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