The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 73:3,25,
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
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"I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked... Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you."
Asaph expresses two differing views, two outlooks in this psalm. The first was his envy of the wicked because of their prosperity. The second view, a completely different view, was due to another direction Asaph looked. He found the consummation of his desires in the Lord, in his worship of him, without the distraction of the prosperity of others.
Rather than a simple temporal view of those around him and what this limited world has to offer, he gained an eternal view of God: his judgment of the wicked and his blessing of those who are his, "Those who are far from you [God] will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. 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." Verses 27, 28.
What intervened between his two views was his worship of God, "till I entered the sanctuary of God", verse 17. As he focused himself on the Lord in his worship of him, Asaph gained a much broader view of life that included an eternal perspective with the presence of God.
This second view of Asaph reminds me of the view of the great heroes of faith that the writer of Hebrews speaks of, "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." Hebrews 11:13-16.
Isn't it fascinating that when we enjoy ourselves in the Lord through our worship of him, that we gain a much broader and more grand view of our own life in him, finding ourselves in the context of his love of us and his intentions toward us?
Asaph expresses two differing views, two outlooks in this psalm. The first was his envy of the wicked because of their prosperity. The second view, a completely different view, was due to another direction Asaph looked. He found the consummation of his desires in the Lord, in his worship of him, without the distraction of the prosperity of others.
Rather than a simple temporal view of those around him and what this limited world has to offer, he gained an eternal view of God: his judgment of the wicked and his blessing of those who are his, "Those who are far from you [God] will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. 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." Verses 27, 28.
What intervened between his two views was his worship of God, "till I entered the sanctuary of God", verse 17. As he focused himself on the Lord in his worship of him, Asaph gained a much broader view of life that included an eternal perspective with the presence of God.
This second view of Asaph reminds me of the view of the great heroes of faith that the writer of Hebrews speaks of, "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." Hebrews 11:13-16.
Isn't it fascinating that when we enjoy ourselves in the Lord through our worship of him, that we gain a much broader and more grand view of our own life in him, finding ourselves in the context of his love of us and his intentions toward us?
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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