Psalm 73:23-26
Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
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 forever.
This scripture has been on my mind a lot in recent times. I have often found myself singing a chorus based on it, especially the line, “You are the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Mostly because of problems with my physical heart (now regulated with medication), but oh how my not physical heart has been tested. These unexpected health problems made me stumble on these verses.
Is there truly nothing on earth I desire besides Him? Am I okay with the fact that my flesh and my heart may fail?
Well, the answer to these has not always been yes. I desire to live and raise my children, and the thought of my heart and my flesh failing is a scary one to me. {I realize that these desires are God given and that He doesn’t expect me to enjoy the thought of failing flesh :)}
Yet it does remain, that he is always with me (the reverse implication of verse 23), He holds me by my right hand (I know this is true!). He guides me with His counsel (He is truly my Good Shepherd), and after all is said and done…He will take me into glory!
I can say that by far, His presence with me is the one thing I could not live without. It has been, by far, the most precious thing in my life, and I do desire it above all things, because He is my life.
Yet, as a dear brother who has already been taken into glory admonished us, I don’t want to have “a cozy relationship with this world.” I want to know Him more and more. I want Him to truly be first in my heart day to day. I don’t want to try to live on past experiences or revelations, but to see Him more and more. So often I make the stuff of earth bigger, and lose sight of whose I am.
“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.” (v.28)
Sixty-six books in a year 