Asaph's response isn't quite what we're used to. Well, sure, he's confident of their final outcome (Psa 73:18-19), but his final answer is not really what you'd expect. Here is the famous, "Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You" (Psa 73:25), but that's not his final answer. He's satisfied that justice will be served (Psa 73:27), but that's not his final answer. Instead, he writes, "For me it is good to be near God." Asaph's answer to the problem that the rich get richer and the wicked seem to prosper while good people suffer is "For me it is good to be near God." It isn't "They'll get theirs" and it isn't "We'll win out in the end" even though both are true. To him, God is enough.
It's the same thing we see from Jeremiah. His hope was gone, his endurance had perished (Lam 3:18), and he was at the end.
“The LORD is my portion, therefore I will hope in Him." (Lam 3:24)Same answer. God is enough. Not revenge, justice, preservation, prosperity. Just God.
You get the same kind of response from those three Jewish boys at the mouth of a hot Babylonian oven. "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up" (Dan 3:17-18). In other words, "God might save us from this, but we don't serve Him because of what He does for us. We worship Him for who He is." Or, "For us, it is good to be near God."
This is, at its core, the fundamental problem with the Prosperity Gospel. "I'm in this for what I can get." At that, it is no gospel, as demonstrated by the fact that not everyone who hangs on that theology prospers. We are saved by declaring Jesus as Lord, not be acquiescing to let Him do nice things for us. In so doing, we obtain the best, but that "best" is Him and Him alone. Can you say that? Can you agree that "for me it is good to be near God," and that's enough? If not, you're missing the best and looking at an idol.
3 comments:
when i was young i ran after the things that i thought would satisfy the longing in my heart.
i was never truly satisfied. every pursuit came to the same disappointing conclusion.
but now i know; that i can rest in quiet assurance that God is with me. thru His word He stills my soul and my heart is now full of his love for me..
Man chases after the wind, foolishly hoping to find and control its power.
but the Child of God can sit quietly in the midst of the storm knowing that His father is
in control.
I have not yet arrived at the place that I consider a relationship with the Almighty "enough" ... to my own shame and embarrassment. But I'm working on it.
You are a child of God over and against what ever estimations you may have of yourself. There is no enough in this case. All that was required has already been provided. Your father loves to spend time with you. I know that he likes me best, but your are already precious in his eyes.
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