To be near God

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. (Psalm 73:25)

What a great verse! And one we are probably too quick to quote and sing, without carefully thinking through what it says. Do we really mean these words when we say them?

The first part is relatively easy, or so we imagine. But am I eager for heaven because I long to be with Christ? Or because I long to be with mom and dad? Do I really have no other longing for heaven than to be with God?

Don’t misunderstand me. We will be reunited with other believers who have passed on before, and Paul tells us that because of that hope our grieving is different from how an unbeliever grieves for a departed loved one. The question is though, what is my motivation, or underlying desire, in desiring heaven? Is it my loved ones I’m treasuring? Or am I treasuring Christ above all?

The second sentence in the verse is more difficult, I think. Is there really nothing I desire on earth besides God? Nothing? Not success? Prosperity?

In context, this psalm is written as the psalmist’s faith ‘nearly slipped’ because he was envious of the prosperity, and apparent peace, of the wicked. This suggests he was not so prosperous. So this psalm was written from a place of lack, or at least a place of ‘less than’. It wasn’t until he spent time with the church, that his gaze was lifted beyond material, external, temporal things, to eternity. Then he began to see God as the ultimate treasure.

He goes on to say that if it continues to go badly for him in this life, he will still cling to God as his treasure. And he ends the song with this statement,

But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works. (Psalm 73:28)

To be near God is the greatest pleasure imaginable. The material prosperity of this world is worthless by comparison. It is as nothing, of no consequence, and not to be desired, compared to the joy of knowing God, and being close to Him!

Nearer, my God to Thee, nearer to Thee
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me

Still all my song shall be nearer, my God to thee
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee

Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down
Darkness be over me, my rest a stone

Yet in my dreams I’ll be, nearer my God to Thee
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee

Or if on joyful wing, cleaving the sky
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I fly

Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee

– Sarah Flower Adams, 1841


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