You

Pause:

Before you start reading this devotional, take a moment to stop what you’re doing, slow down and focus on Jesus. 

Pray and ask him to open your eyes to see as you read the scriptures, and to open your ears to hear as you wait on the leading of the Spirit.

Read:

Psalm 73v25-26:

“Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart
    and my portion forever.”

Going Deeper:

When was the last time you were obsessed with something?

I have friends who are natural salesmen, and can speak with compelling enthusiasm, conviction and knowledge about the latest thing to win their excitement: off-road mountain biking, this new gadget, this new diet, this new Oat Milk, or App, or Book, or person.

I remember when I fell in love with Shell, how much she consumed my mind, and thoughts, and emotions. I did have those sleepless nights where all I could think about was her.

And here in the Psalms, Asaph writes a poem of praise to God, about how he is consumed with him:

“Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

Asaph is consumed with and obsessed with God. Nothing else compares. He is in love. He’s been converted. He’s met the living God, and he is telling everyone else about the latest thing to win his excitement. 

Not just another thing, but the ultimate thing. The final thing. The all-encompassing thing: God himself. The “you” of the passage.

V25 could be translated as: “As long as I have you, I wish for nothing else in heaven or on earth.” Or, “You are enough. You are my everything. Nothing compares to you, and nothing satisfies like knowing you, either in this life on Earth, or anywhere else.”

Asaph has found the treasure of the Universe, and it is good.

He knows that everything else, and everyone else could let him down. Everything else could fail him or disappoint him. But he has found that God is unlike everything else. God is his rock, and he is all in, putting all his chips on God, who is his portion forever.

More than ever, at this moment we are aware of the lack of certainty and control that exists in our lives and world. Things can change quickly, and the things that we have placed our hope and trust in can let us down. Asaph writes that even our own bodies can let us down!

V26: “My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart
    and my portion forever”

So Asaph writes and asks us: In the midst of Global shaking, uncertainty, change, and confusion, have you found the one who satisfies like no other? And who is our sure portion or inheritance both in this life, and the life to come?    

Pray:

Respond to God in prayer by speaking to Him about what stood out to you from this passage this morning.
 
Listen:

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you this morning?
 
Apply:

What are you going to do in response to what God is saying to you from the text and by the Spirit?