Psalms 73:17-28: a reflection

17until I entered God’s sanctuary, and considered their latter end. 18Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction. 19How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors. 20As a dream when one wakes up, so, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their fantasies. 21For my soul was grieved. I was embittered in my heart. 22I was so senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you. 23Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You have held my right hand. 24You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. 25Whom do I have in heaven? There is no one on earth whom I desire besides you. 26My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27For, behold, those who are far from you shall perish. You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to you. 28But it is good for me to come close to God. I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

The psalmist Asaph had been troubled almost to bitterness, envying the prosperity of the wicked, until, he says, I entered God's sanctuary, and considered their latter end. There his perspective was set right; he saw the fleeting nature of what he had envied, and found what truly lasts. And he comes to a settled conviction about where his real treasure lies: Whom do I have in heaven but you? There is no one on earth whom I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. God himself, he realizes, is his true and lasting portion, greater than all he had envied.

Notice what Asaph found: God himself as his portion, greater than all he had envied. He had envied the wealth and ease of the wicked, until he saw how fleeting it was, and saw what truly lasts: God himself, his portion forever. Whom did he have in heaven but God? What on earth did he desire besides him? Though his flesh and heart might fail, God was the strength of his heart and his portion forever. He found that God himself was his true treasure, more than all the prosperity he had envied, a portion that would not fade. The cure for his envy was finding God enough.

That is worth resting in, for God himself is our true and lasting portion, greater than all we might envy. We can envy what others have, their wealth, their ease, their success, feeling it more desirable than what we have; but Asaph found, in God's presence, that God himself was his portion, greater than all he had envied, a treasure that would not fade when everything else did. God himself is our true and lasting portion. When you are tempted to envy what others have, remember that God himself is your portion, greater than all you might envy, and lasting when all else fades. Find your treasure in God himself, your portion forever, greater than all you might envy, as Asaph found in the sanctuary that God was the strength of his heart and his portion; for God himself is our true and lasting portion, and the one who has him has a treasure greater than all the prosperity the world can envy, a portion that does not fade when flesh and heart fail.

Lord, the psalmist Asaph had been troubled almost to bitterness, envying the prosperity of the wicked, until, he says, I entered God's sanctuary, and considered their latter end. There his perspective was set right; he saw the fleeting nature of what he had envied, and found what truly lasts. And he comes to a settled conviction about where his real treasure lies: whom do I have in heaven but you? There is no one on earth whom I desire besides you; my flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. You yourself, he realizes, are his true and lasting portion. Show me what Asaph found: you yourself as his portion, greater than all he had envied. He had envied the wealth and ease of the wicked, until he saw how fleeting it was, and saw what truly lasts: you yourself, his portion forever. Whom did he have in heaven but you? Though his flesh and heart might fail, you were the strength of his heart and his portion forever. The cure for his envy was finding you enough. Let me rest in that, for you yourself are my true and lasting portion, greater than all I might envy. I can envy what others have, their wealth, their ease, their success, feeling it more desirable than what I have; but Asaph found, in your presence, that you yourself were his portion, a treasure that would not fade when everything else did. When I am tempted to envy what others have, help me remember that you yourself are my portion, greater than all I might envy, Lord. Help me find my treasure in you yourself, my portion forever, as Asaph found in the sanctuary that you were the strength of his heart and his portion.