oublie
Member
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2008
- Messages
- 29
For years I have told members of my congregation that the little three letter conjunction but has the power to unlock Bible passages and to bless their hearts with simplicity and clarity. Here's a great example.
In Psalm 73, the psalmist begins with the assertion that God is good. Of course he does. The psalmist was Asaph-one of the songwriters and leaders of King David's choir. He couldn't very well have stood up and said, "God is, uh... well... er... yeah... I'm not sure." So the song begins God is good to Israel. Just as quickly as that is out of his mouth, however, we find a most revealing but- but as for me.
Asaph brings honesty to the front of his song. God is good, but... In the words following that but, we see what Asaph knows to be true and what he feels aren't necessarily always the same. He confesses that he had nearly slipped away from understanding God was good. He was confused as he observed those who opposed God. He perceived them as having no struggles, all the while experiencing the difficulty of trying to maintain a godly life himself. By the time we get to verse 13 he has summed up for us the way he felt: Surely I did all this in vain.
I suspect every believer has experienced this. There is a reason that Jesus remarked, "small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life." Our experience has likely, at times, been like Asaph's. That narrow road can feel lonely and discouraging, and lead us to wonder: Has it all been in vain?
Asaph wrote that he had tried to make sense of it all. He couldn't. Until. In verse 17 we find, until I entered the sanctuary of God, and then I understood. The key was his maneuvering himself closer to God, not in a physical sense, but in dependence. He evidently got to a place like Job (of the book of Job) where he cried out, "I must see you!" And it worked.
In verses 21 and 22 Asaph confesses that he had been blinded by his emotions. They had gotten the better of him. The circumstances overwhelmed him to the point that they loomed larger than his God. Until he refocused his gaze. Then he realized: Whom have I in heaven but You?
The really big but of Psalm 73 and Asaph's magnificent song brings us home: My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Believer, there will be days like this. A good many of them. There will be times when you don't feel like screwing a smile on your face and singing *** Ba Yah. Can you appreciate the honesty of a Psalm like this? The big buts made it clear: It's real life. But God!
The song ends with a renewed resolve: But as for me, it's good to be near God.
Give Psalm 73 a read. You'll find four pretty impressive (and personally applicable) buts. Your thoughts?
--Darin Michael Shaw in ezinearticles.
In Psalm 73, the psalmist begins with the assertion that God is good. Of course he does. The psalmist was Asaph-one of the songwriters and leaders of King David's choir. He couldn't very well have stood up and said, "God is, uh... well... er... yeah... I'm not sure." So the song begins God is good to Israel. Just as quickly as that is out of his mouth, however, we find a most revealing but- but as for me.
Asaph brings honesty to the front of his song. God is good, but... In the words following that but, we see what Asaph knows to be true and what he feels aren't necessarily always the same. He confesses that he had nearly slipped away from understanding God was good. He was confused as he observed those who opposed God. He perceived them as having no struggles, all the while experiencing the difficulty of trying to maintain a godly life himself. By the time we get to verse 13 he has summed up for us the way he felt: Surely I did all this in vain.
I suspect every believer has experienced this. There is a reason that Jesus remarked, "small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life." Our experience has likely, at times, been like Asaph's. That narrow road can feel lonely and discouraging, and lead us to wonder: Has it all been in vain?
Asaph wrote that he had tried to make sense of it all. He couldn't. Until. In verse 17 we find, until I entered the sanctuary of God, and then I understood. The key was his maneuvering himself closer to God, not in a physical sense, but in dependence. He evidently got to a place like Job (of the book of Job) where he cried out, "I must see you!" And it worked.
In verses 21 and 22 Asaph confesses that he had been blinded by his emotions. They had gotten the better of him. The circumstances overwhelmed him to the point that they loomed larger than his God. Until he refocused his gaze. Then he realized: Whom have I in heaven but You?
The really big but of Psalm 73 and Asaph's magnificent song brings us home: My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Believer, there will be days like this. A good many of them. There will be times when you don't feel like screwing a smile on your face and singing *** Ba Yah. Can you appreciate the honesty of a Psalm like this? The big buts made it clear: It's real life. But God!
The song ends with a renewed resolve: But as for me, it's good to be near God.
Give Psalm 73 a read. You'll find four pretty impressive (and personally applicable) buts. Your thoughts?
--Darin Michael Shaw in ezinearticles.
