Good – Psalm 73:28a
A Feast for Every Beggar
“But as for me, the nearness of God is my good.”
—Psalm 73:28a (NASB)
If you were to make a list of the good things God could give you, what would you put at the very top?
A new job? A little extra cash? (Not enough to be filthy rich or anything so vulgar as that, but enough to be a little more comfortable?) A certain relationship? The healthier body and better looks of your youth? The respect of others?
Often when we read Romans 8:28 — “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” — we flip through our Christmas Wish Book catalog pages, dog-earing and circling from a menu of options like those above, scratching a wish list of the good things God could give us.
But when we look at Romans 8:28 through the lens of Psalm 73:28 — “But as for me, the nearness of God is my good” (NASB) — we see a far better thing altogether. We could say it this way: God will work all things to be near to those who love him and are called according to his purpose.
Can you imagine a better promise than that? Can you imagine a gooder good? The God of the universe, the one who scattered the stars in the sky and the sand along the shore like a boy tossing a pocketful of stones — that God will be near to you. To you!
C.S. Lewis wrote, “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
Are we just fooling about with health and wealth and success and relationships — our material comforts and felt needs — when the nearness of God is offered to us? If so, we are far too easily pleased.
Are you rich? God will be near to you. Are you poor? God will be near to you. Are you in pain or need? God will meet your pain and need not with promises that your pain will be small and your need will be short, but with the better promise and inestimable gift of himself. Are you in comfort and health? God will meet you there, too, with something far greater than anything so fleeting as that. His nearness is your good, even now.
If you are in Christ, God is near to you, and he is working all things in your life to bring you nearer still.
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Very good, Josh. Thanks for making the connection on these two verses. My prayers today will certainly be more humble.
These are great and humbling thoughts my friend. Next time, please pull your punches for the sake of my pride...