Dear Readers,
Psalm 73 is dear to heart because of the following verses:
23 But I am always with you.
You hold my hand.
24 You lead me and give me good advice,
and later you will lead me to glory. [c]
25 In heaven, God, I have only you.
And if I am with you, what on earth could I want?
26 Maybe my mind [d] and body will become weak,
but God is my source of strength. [e]
He is mine forever!
When I read this, I think about how wonderful God is. Verse 23 says that He holds our hands. We can’t see Him doing this. It’s more figurative than literal. We have to read between the lines; it means that He is with us all of the time! It goes on to say that He leads us and gives us good advice, while we are living on earth, but the good stuff doesn’t stop there.
What excites me most about this is that it says that “later, You will lead me to glory.” I trust you may have lost a loved one at sometime in your life and the promise of heaven and eternal life gives us such hope. We know then that we will see them one day again. It brings me such comfort when I read this verse because one day I will see my mom in heaven.
Psalm 73- Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Book 3-Asaph’s song of praise.
73 God is so good to Israel,
to those whose hearts are pure.
2 But I almost slipped and lost my balance.
to those whose hearts are pure.
2 But I almost slipped and lost my balance.
I almost fell into sin.
3 I saw that wicked people were successful,
and I became jealous of those proud people.
4 They are healthy.
They don’t have to struggle to survive. [a]
5 They don’t suffer like the rest of us.
They don’t have troubles like other people.
6 So they are proud and hateful.
This is as easy to see as the jewels and fancy clothes they wear.
7 If they see something they like, they go and take it.
They do whatever they want.
8 They make fun of others and say cruel things about them.
In their pride they make plans to hurt people.
9 They think they are gods!
They think they are the rulers of the earth.
10 [b] Even God’s people turn to them
and do what they say.
11 Those evil people say, “God does not know what we are doing!
God Most High does not know!”
12 Those proud people are wicked,
but they are rich and getting richer.
13 Clearly, then, I gain nothing by keeping my thoughts pure!
but they are rich and getting richer.
13 Clearly, then, I gain nothing by keeping my thoughts pure!
What good is it to keep myself from sin?
14 God, I suffer all day long,
and you punish me every morning.
15 I wanted to tell others these things,
but that would have made me a traitor to your people.
16 I tried hard to understand all this,
but that would have made me a traitor to your people.
16 I tried hard to understand all this,
but it was too hard for me.
17 But then, God, I went to your Temple,
and I understood what will happen to the wicked.
18 Clearly, you have put them in danger.
You make it easy for them to fall and be destroyed.
19 Trouble can come suddenly,
and they will be ruined.
Terrible things can happen to them,
and they will be finished.
20 Then they will be like a dream
that we forget when we wake up.
You will make them disappear
like the monsters in our dreams.
I thought about such people and became upset.
God, I was upset and angry with you!
I acted like a senseless animal.
23 But I am always with you.
You hold my hand.
24 You lead me and give me good advice,
and later you will lead me to glory. [c]
25 In heaven, God, I have only you.
And if I am with you, what on earth could I want?
26 Maybe my mind [d] and body will become weak,
but God is my source of strength. [e]
He is mine forever!
27 God, people who leave you will be lost.
You will destroy all who are not faithful to you.
28 As for me, all I need is to be close to God.
I have made the Lord GOD my place of safety.
And, God, I will tell about all that you have done.
Please take time to reflect about this Psalm. What is God speaking to you? Feel free to email me @ illyguana@hotmail.com with any questions or concerns. You can also send me a message in FB to Illy Reich (Frontline-student Ministries)!
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