God is ALL I want - He is ALL I Need

The commercial said - “let’s face it none of us has ever wanted our gift to be smaller”.  I know that advertising is designed to create desire or even a desperate sense that you must have this thing.  But this commercial was so blatant that is sickened me.  Most stores at this time of the year are being set up in such a way that when you walk in the door you will see the latest the newest the fastest whatever... on display.  And of course they are ALL marked down or on special today.  The reality is that in our culture we are bombarded daily with message: you need this, you will feel better if you own this, you cannot live without this.  That is why this verse from Psalm 73 is such a challenge.
Psalm 73:25  (NLT) Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth.  

Psalm 73:25-26 (HCS) Who do I have in heaven but You? And I desire nothing on earth but You.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever.

If you take time to read the whole of Psalm 73 you will find that the Psalmist starts out lamenting the fact that the wicked seem to get whatever they want while the godly do not.  This of course makes him wonder if it is worth it all.  In vs. 16-17 the author confesses that the whole thing was very depressing until he went into God’s presence.  God gave him insight into the realities that the wicked will ultimately face.  At that point there is repentance on the part of the Psalmist which leads him to proclaim the truth he expresses in vs. 25.  Lord God You are ALL I want in life.  I do not want anything else on earth more than YOU.  Powerful words coming from someone who had been envious of the wealth and prosperity of the wicked.  Can we say that?  Can we say I desire NOTHING on earth but a deeper walk with Jesus?  In a very real sense the Psalmist has come to the end and faces the fact that without God there is NO HOPE for today or for eternity.  The psalmist goes on to say that his strength can come only from God.  God is his portion which refers to the land assigned to each Israelite family when they came into the promised land.  So the Psalmist using that imagery says GOD is better than the best portion of land in all of Israel. In a sense he was saying: “God is all I have, but He is also ALL I need.  He sustains me here, and afterward He will receive me into Heaven.” (Boice)   May we learn to say, even in our hectic me first society, God is ALL I want or NEED.

PRAYER: Lord God in my heart I long to be able to say that You and You ALONE are ALL that I WANT or need.  Please Lord Jesus help me to Look to You for Strength and help.  Please Lord help me to Desire NOTHING and NO ON more than YOU!