“Whom Have I In Heaven But Thee?”

Such was the question Asaph, the melancholy musician asked in Psalm 73:25a after coming to grips with his perplexity.

And, in reality, when we (like him) find everything we need in Christ, his words of Praise will also become our own.

Yes, Asaph, who wrote 12 psalms (50; 73-83), was clearly battling perplexity that was leading him to despair when he penned Ps. 73.  And, thankfully, in vv.2-15 he identified the reasons he felt that way: because of his “envy of the foolish and prosperity of the wicked” (v.3).

He said “They don’t have problems like everyone else.  They wear pride around their neck like a gold chain and treat everyone horribly.  Their eyes bulge out with fatness and they have more than their hearts can desire.

“They also mock God and shake their fist at Him, but nothing bad happens to them. But, that’s not the case with me and other believers: because we do our best to faithfully serve God and everything falls apart!  It seems to me that we’ve cleansed our hearts in vain by trying to live a holy life before God and others because it seems we’re being plagued and chastened every morning” (vv.4-14).

Yes, Asaph had reached the place where he was fed up and ready to give up!  But, thankfully, he instead got alone with God and received new perspectives on others, himself and even God Himself (vv.16-24).

After his getting alone with God, he suddenly realized the “rich-and-famous in the world were the ones on slipper slopes,” not him (vv.2, 18).  God showed him that the wicked—who had no time for him in life—would later realize that their “dream world” was, in reality, a living nightmare (vv.19-20).

Then, God gave Asaph a new perspective on himself and Who He was/is as God (vv.20-24).  Suddenly, Asaph realized that he’d been acting like a stupid, stubborn, braying burro by the way he’d thinking and talking; yet, even then, God showed him that “He was still there with him, holding him by His right Hand would later receive him to Glory.”

Wow!  What a powerful wake-up call!!

No wonder Jeremiah wrote, “This I recall and, therefore, I have Hope: it’s because of Your Mercies that I’m not consumed, i.e., don’t get what I deserve.  Your Compassions fail not; in fact, they’re new every morning!  Great is Thy Faithfulness!!” (Lamentations 3:21-23).

Wow again!  Truly, as someone said, “God’s Grace is receiving what we don’t deserve—while His Mercy is not getting what we do deserve!!”

And, that’s why Asaph’s perplexity turned to Praise: because he knew there was “no one in Heaven or on earth that he longed for more than the One Who created him, loved him and always gave him what he needed when he needed it.”

Powerful reminders and promises, aren’t they??

Most assuredly.

That’s why in this getting-crazier-by-the-minute, growing-more evil-by-the-second world of ours, that we need to “keep our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith" 

(Hebrews 12:2).  Truly, He’s the ONLY “sure-and-steadfast Anchor of the soul” and the ONLY One Who’ll “never leave us or forsake us” (Heb. 6:18-20; 13:5).

So, look to Him now and always: for HE (Jesus) is that always-there, faithful “Friend Who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24).  He knows us from “the womb-to-the-tomb” and “thinks we’re to die for” (Ps. 139:1-18; John 3:16; Romans 5:6-11).

The question, then, is “Have you placed your Faith/Trust in Him?  Have you asked Him into your heart as your Savior and know you’ll go to be with Him when you die?”

If so, rejoice and give thanks; but, if not yet, right now’s the best time to do so: because He said He’d hear you when you cry out to you and give you everlasting Life (Rom. 10:9-10, 13; II Cor. 6:2).  Amen and amen.  Thank You, Jesus.

          (NOTE:  If you’d like to contact Bro. Tom or receive his daily devotional, entitled “Morning Manna,” you can e-mail him at pressingon@hotmail.com).