Psalm 73:28

Psalm 73:28

To compensate for the next week when we will be on holiday!

v28a    “But as for me, it is good to be near God” I’m repeating those words because they are a startling reminder of what our journey of faith is all about! Our Creator planted a garden and in it He placed two people who were the zenith of all His creative works. Adam and Eve lived in a paradise world where they were accepted by God, loved by God, given purpose by God, protected by God and at one with God. Daily, they communed with Him in the Garden and they knew no shame in His presence, nothing condemned them, and no evil had entered their world. They were near to Him, not just physically but spiritually too. 

It is the essential “inner me” that God communes with, our souls and our spirits, not just our physical beings. As we know only too well, sin wrecked the relationship between God and Adam and Eve, and they were not only thrown out of the Garden but also out of God’s presence – they were no longer “near Him.” The whole point of conversion and faith is to reignite that relationship. We are new creations, we are redeemed and restored, the door is open for us to approach the Almighty One and to commune with Him just as our original ancestors communed. The Garden beckons, the Lord awaits an audience with us. Let us go to Him today. Let’s enjoy what it is like to be “near God.” 

 

v28b    “I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge.” We have commented, on numerous occasions, on how the Psalms highlight the ways in which the Lord provides refuge for His people. He may be a cliff face or a rocky place of hiding. He may be a high headland or a cave. He might be a strong tower or a mighty fortress castle. Whatever the pressing need of the time, the psalmists were able to record that the Lord God had protected and guarded His people, regardless of the dangers surrounding them. 

Here, Asaph records that he has learned enough from his own experience and from the witness of others, to deliberately make the Lord his refuge. He is almost saying, “I have built myself a castle and no matter what my enemies throw at me, I will run to my refuge and know that they cannot harm me. My castle is impregnable and within its walls I am safe.”

May the Holy Spirit help us to educate our minds to see our God that way. When the enemy onslaught is intense and cracks are beginning to appear, when the ammunition is running low and our bodies are weary, when the numbers against us are growing and the battle is turning in their favour; those are the times to run to our refuge and hide. Shut them out. Sit down and eat at the table of the Lord. Stop fighting and start resting, for He is our refuge. Hallelujah!

 

v28c    It’s good to remind ourselves at times, of the only reason that the church of Jesus Christ has been left here on earth. It is not to debate and preserve theology. It is not to build elaborate temples and buildings and infrastructures that compete with the world’s other religions. It is not to provide a creative alternative to contemporary art and music. It is not to act as gurus to the wealthy, the wicked or even politicians and law makers. The commission of Jesus Christ was plain and simple, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And certainly, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Matthew 28:18-20. 

Mark 16:15 adds, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” 

Preach the Gospel. Make disciples. Baptize them. Teach them. That is it in a nutshell. That is our mandate, neatly summed up in Psalm 73’s last words, “I will tell of all your deeds.”

What a Psalm this has been! What a journey Asaph has taken us on. Thank You Lord. Hallelujah!

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