So, I turn my ears away from you,
and soon forget you will. ? Whose broad stripes and bright
stars through the perilous fight ? ? O'er the ramparts we watched
were so gallantly streaming? ? ? Lord, I need you ? ? Lord, I
need you ? ? Lord, help me to be with you ? ? I'm weak, but you are strong ? ? I cannot be
without you ? ? You are my sun ? ? All alone,
my one true love ? Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave Turn back with me this morning
to the psalm that we read. Psalm 73. This is a psalm of a man by the
name of Asaph. He was a Lebite. He was a singer and a musician. The Bible says that he played
the cymbals. And he was appointed by David to this task. He wrote something like 11 of
the Psalms. And we read about him in a number
of places, but in Chronicles it says that he appointed certain
of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord and to record
and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel. And Asaph was the chief. He made him the chief of these
musicians to praise the Lord. And he's used of God to write
this psalm and other psalms, but this particular
psalm I feel like that Asaph was used
to express the natural feelings of many of the Lord's people. In verse 3, he says, for I was
envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." He looked all around him at the
wicked generation in which he lived, and all of them seemed
to fare well. They seemed to prosper. They
seemed to not have problems and troubles and all the other things
like that. He was envious for a moment at
the wicked. And I'm afraid that we oftentimes,
as the Lord's people, we look all around us, we see no trouble,
we see no pain, we see no afflictions in all the world around us, but
that's not how we find our case. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous. That's what David said. And so in verse 12 he says, Behold,
these are the ungodly who prosper in the world, they increase in
riches. They get more and more. They have no problems. They have
sufficient everything. He said, I was envious. Verse 17, until I went into the
sanctuary of God, then understood I their end. They think that this is the way
it will be for them forever, but they are wrong. And the only place, the only
way that we understand the reality of the situations of all men
and their end is when we come to where the word of God is proclaimed
until we read the Word of God. And this man confesses these
things just like we all must confess, but then he says this
in verse 26, and my heart faileth. But God is the strength of my
heart and my portion forever. You see, he admits what most
will not. He admits what only the true
children of God will admit. He says, my heart and my flesh
fail. They always fail. That is a reality. That is what
always happens. We in our natural hearts and
our flesh always fail. We always fail to see things
as they are. And that is backed up by scripture,
which says, by Paul in Romans 7, he says, for I know that in
me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me,
but how to perform that which is good I found not. I find not. In my flesh dwelleth no good
creature. thing, no ability, no natural
sight of things as the way that they really are. And then Jeremiah
says of the heart this, the heart is deceitful above all things
and desperately wicked. Who can know it? So if we're honest, If we confess
our real feelings, our real viewing of things, which I've always
been glad that the Lord enables the psalmist to say what I really
feel and to say things as they really are. God's people know this and they
feel this. and they confess this and they
despair that this is the way that they are. We look all around
us and we see the prosperity of the wicked, those who do not
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, those who do not care a thing
in the world for the truth, Those that are filled with pride and
all these other things. And we have a certain envy for
them. Certain momentary envy for them. But thankfully, the psalmist
does not stop with that. He does not end with that. Because he says that our condition
is not our state. We may be in this condition at
times, but this condition is not our state. Grace has put
us in Christ. Grace has redeemed us to God. God is our strength. He's the only strength that we
have. And He has placed us, by His
grace, in an unchangeable state of favor. He has justified us. And so the psalmist writes here,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
Hold your place and look over at Psalm 142. Because the psalmist and not
only Asaph, but also David says much the same thing in verse
5 of Psalm 142. I cried unto thee, O Lord. I said, thou art my refuge and
my portion in the land of the living. Now the flesh And our natural hearts of unbelief oftentimes makes a mistake in
the accounting. And by that, I mean we look at
things as if we're looking at a profit and loss statement. And it seems like naturally to
us, we have the loss of a great deal. Because in the other column,
in the profit column, we find one thing. we find one name,
and it is the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember the disciples mistakenly
said, we've left everything to follow you. But if we think for just a minute
what they really left then they were just in that moment not
making a right accounting of them because they had left nothing
and gained everything. Because he says here, the Lord
is my portion. In other words, God has given
to his people himself. He has given to us the Lord Jesus
Christ who is God manifest in the flesh. He is God, all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. And so he says here rightly,
and all these other places, the Lord, the Lord himself is our
portion. What is a portion? Well, a portion is simply an
individual's part or share in something. It is his lot. It is what he has by inheritance,
what he has been given. And so we look at our lives,
and we may have small portions, it seems like, when it comes
to this life. We may have a small portion when
it comes to this world. It may be that we have a meager
portion of this world's goods or this world's money. We may
have a small and meager portion of health. We may have a small
portion of happiness or honors or all the things that this world
has to offer. We may have and do have small
portions. And one reason is that because
though we look at all the things of this world, We are not of
this world. The reason that we don't have
all these things, God says, is because we are not of the world. These things are the world's
portion. It's all they'll ever have. Things are on this earth. just
like they will always be. In other words, those of this
world have the very best they'll ever have. But the Lord's people, this world
is the worst that they'll ever have. And the difference is because
of portions. The difference is because what
God in Christ, who is the heir of all things, has given to us
as the gift of His grace. He has not given us less. He has given us everything. You see, the things that men
clamor about and want in this world, the thing that they desire
and fight for and labor for and seek to have above all the things
of this life and get more of them, they are really nothing. Nothing. One illustration in the Bible
of this is the rich man in Lazarus. And this life for the rich man
was that he got more and more and he built bigger barns to
store more than he ever could use. And Lazarus sat at the gate
begging. But what was the end result?
The Bible says that the rich man died and in hell he lifted
up his eyes. He lifted up his eyes in that
awful place and had nothing but wrath and judgment, world without
end. But the Bible says it said of Lazarus
that he was comforted. He was in the presence of God.
He was enjoying his portion, which was the portion of grace. James said it like this, Harken,
my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world,
rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised
to them that loved him? They might be poor. But they're
rich in faith. Because faith lays hold to more
than the hand ever can. All the senses of this flesh
reach out, they reach out and demand to be satisfied, but they
are never satisfied. The hand of faith that God gives
reaches out and lays hold of everything. everything. You see, while we may have little
of all these worldly things, in reality we have everything
because the Lord is our portion. The Lord is our portion. In other words, God Himself,
with all His perfections, with all His glory, with all His power,
with all His riches, if we have Him, we have it all. In Colossians, we read about
the Lord Jesus Christ, and He says this, In him is neither
Greek, nor Jew, nor circumcision, nor uncircumcision, barbarian,
Scythian, bond, or free, but Christ is all. Christ is all. And I'm amazed at how people
hate or seem to love universalism until they come to the true universalism
that Christ is all. That means if we have the Lord
Jesus Christ as our portion, we have it all. That's what the Bride says in
the Song of Solomon, speaking of the bridegroom, she says,
I am my beloved's and he is mine. He's mine. In reality, We actually have
all that is in the world because He has all things. It all belongs to Him anyway. People talk about giving something
to God. He said, if I needed something,
I wouldn't ask you because I already own everything. The cattle of
a thousand hills, as the fellow said, the hills themselves and
what grows underneath the hills. He owns it all. And as his beloved people, He knows also what we need, and
He gives us what we need. Whether it be affliction, whether
it be meager means, whether it be pain, whether it be trouble,
whether it be trial, whether it be persecution, He gives us
what we need. He gives us what is good for
us, what works for good for us, Because all things belong to
Him. The greatest picture of this,
I think, is in the man Joseph. Because it says Joseph was made
by Pharaoh to be over all the houses and all the storehouses
that were built up in the time of plenty. And it says, if you
wanted anything, you had to go to Joseph. But it says, Joseph, open the
storehouses. Not only naturally did God's
people, like the rest of the descendants of Jacob and all
like them, not only did they have what they needed physically, but they really had it all because
Joseph was it all. The Lord says concerning this, and all the things of this life,
the things that we need for food and raiment and such as that,
all the niceties of life, he says, for all these things do
the nations of the world seek after. And your father knoweth
that you have need of these things. They're clamor nephrum. Our Father
knows what we have need of. He provides what we have need
of, but He goes far beyond that. He gives us Himself. The Lord is our portion. In Philippians, Paul writes,
but I have all and abound, I am full, having received of Epaphroditus
the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet spell,
a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God. But my God shall supply
all your need according to the riches of his glory by Jesus
Christ." He's in a prison when he says
that. I have all and I abound. I don't need anything. If I needed
anything, my heavenly father would have already given it to
me or will give it to me. But in everything, it is what
he wills and what he does and in grace, He's given me all. And He says it like this, Therefore
let no man glory in man, for all things are yours. What did you say? I don't feel like it is when
I come to pay my bills, or I don't feel like it is when I'm in this
matter of health or family or whatever the situation is. But that's God's Word. For all
things are yours. Why? Because they're His. But more than this, He is our
portion spiritually and eternally. He is our portion in things pertaining
to God, in things pertaining to our souls. in things that will not rust
away, or the thief steal, or it won't rot away and decay. The inheritance God's people
have is an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, reserved in heaven
that fadeth not away. Listen to this. I want you to
listen to the language of it. In Ephesians 2 and verse 7, he says that in the ages to come,
he might show the exceeding riches of his grace. You know anything about the riches
of His grace? Do you have any idea the true
wealth that is bound up in those words, the riches of His grace? That in the ages to come, He
might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness
toward us through Jesus Christ. What do we have in Christ? We have everything that is really
anything. We have the riches of His grace. That makes everybody outside
of Christ, everybody who is not resting and trusting in Christ,
though they have everything in this world, they have nothing. And they're always trying to
get nothing. And they always think that if
they could just get nothing, it would satisfy them. But nothing
won't do that. Again in Ephesians 1, blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. That's why it's so foolish to
think about rewards. That's why it's so foolish to
think about any kind of salvation dependent on any works. If God
has blessed his people with all spiritual blessings in Christ
Jesus, in the heavenlies, there's nothing to be worked
for. There's nothing to be rewarded for. Because everything has been
given as a gift, because the Lord is our portion. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, and look
at what it says in verse 26. Now Paul is particularly talking
about those God chooses to preach the gospel. But what is true
of each one of them is also true of all the Lord's people. He
says, For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise
men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty. And base things of the world
and things which are despised hath God chosen. you, yea, and
things which are not, to bring to naught things that are, that
no flesh should glory in his presence. But listen to the next verse. But of him, of God, of grace,
are you in Christ Jesus? You've been given, you've been
put in, you've been chosen in, you've been redeemed by Christ
Jesus, who is made of God, who of God
is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. What are those things? They're
everything. If we have been given Christ,
we have been given faith to believe in Christ, to rest in Christ,
and to find in Christ all things. Wisdom. Is that worldly wisdom
he's talking about? Christ is made unto us wisdom,
the very wisdom of God, he's called, the wisdom by which God
can be just and justify a sinner like us. The wisdom of his grace
in giving Christ to die in our place and satisfy the justice
that's against us. Righteousness. He's made unto us righteousness.
The imputed righteousness of Christ becomes our righteousness. It's called the gift of righteousness
in Romans 5. In other words, He has given
us all things. He has given us all righteousness. He is the wisdom of God. He is
our sanctification. You can call growing in grace
sanctification if you want to. I don't think that's what it
is in the Bible. In other words, all holiness,
all righteousness, all separation in the God, we find it in Christ. And redemption. Now, it would seem like that
if things were done in order here, that redemption wouldn't
be the last thing. But here, the redemption is a
full and final redemption of the body. We're redeemed in all parts and
the redemption of our body will show forth in the day that God
changes us and glorifies us and makes us to stand in his presence.
In other words, it's A to Z. He's Alpha and Omega. He's the
Lord, our portion. So there is nothing in relationship
to God and our standing before God and our acceptance before
God that depends on anything else but Him. And He's our portion. They may get to be millionaires
and billionaires, and we're working on trillionaires now. They may
have fine health and live long lives. Their children may prosper. Their families may not know anything
about death. Their health might be budding
and vital all the time. They may have everything and
the world's honor and glory, but we have the Lord as our portion. And one day, It's going to be
manifest. When Christ, by grace, He gives
us everything necessary to save us and to present us faultly
before God, He makes us the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. And if I have Christ, I have
all the righteousness there is in one man. in just one man. He said, Seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you. All these things that you need
to be sustained in this life, all the help you need, all the
wealth you need, all the things you need. He knows what you have
need of. They'll be added to you, but
seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. In Romans 8, Paul writes, He
that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Now, we honor God. We worship God. We talk about all the various
gifts that we have in Him. But the reason that we have all
the gifts in Him and from Him is because we have Him. The head of the body sustains
the body. I hear people say sometimes,
and I'm afraid I might have also said this, I don't have a life. I don't have a life. If you have Christ, you have
the only life that there is. He said, I am the way, the truth,
the life. He said, writing through Paul,
when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also
appear with him in glory. By God placing us, by grace,
in union with Christ, That's life. That's everything God has to
give in grace. It won't be surpassed. He that
believeth on him will not be ashamed, will not be disappointed. Because the Lord is all these
things. And because he has made unto
us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
because he's been given to us by the Father to die in our room
instead, because he's given us all covenant blessings in our
head, the Lord also proves to be the source of all true happiness,
all true joy, and all true peace. I'm telling you this, if Christ is all, and that's what the Bible says, and He is all, how foolish it is to look for anything in anyone
or anything else. One reason why we're so dissatisfied
with each other is because we don't know Him
that is all and everything. When we are satisfied truly in
the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, when we find everything
in Him, especially perfection, we'll stop looking for it in
anywhere else or anybody else. Psalm 16, the Lord is the portion
of mine inheritance and of my cup, thou maintainest my lot. He's my lot and he's going to
maintain. Psalm 119, thou art my portion,
O Lord, I have said that I would keep thy words. You remember Jeremiah? He's called
the weeping prophet. Spent all that time in the damp
dungeon. Wrote the book of Lamentations,
which are the lamentations of Jeremiah. He lamented over the
condition, the state of the people, and his own situation, all these
things around him. But they're in the midst of all
that lamenting over things. In Lamentations 3 and verse 24,
he says, the Lord is my portion, saith my soul. And I don't always
say it on my lips. I'm oftentimes murmuring. oftentimes
complaining, oftentimes in despair. The Lord is my portion, saith
my soul. Therefore will I hope in him. You know you just can't live
without hope. This is a hopeless world. This is a hopeless generation. Hope means Something which is
expected based on truth. It's not just wishing for things. So in that dungeon, Jeremiah
had hope. He had prospect. He looked forward
to something. How could a sinner in such a
state look for something better? Because the Lord is his portion. Therefore, I will have hope. If you turn over to Hebrews 11,
listen to this about Moses. Moses in Hebrews 11 verse 24,
it says, by faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to
suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season. What pleasure sin has, it's just
for a season, it's temporary. Verse 26, esteeming, valuing,
counting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures
in Egypt. For he had respect unto the recompense
of the reward." God had given him a right accounting of things. He believed God. By faith, Moses had this accounting. He saw that compared to Christ,
all the riches of Egypt, and there were certainly riches,
all of them were nothing compared to the riches of God's grace
in Jesus Christ. Because He's everything. He's everything. Turn back in Psalm 73. Look back at that 26th verse
again and the last word of it. Forever. Forever. My portion's not gonna end, it's
not gonna devalue, it's not gonna die, it's not gonna decrease,
it's not gonna lose its value, because the Lord is my portion
forever. The rich man is going to die
like the rich man in Luke 16. The riches and the rust of this
world is going to corrode and just look at all the metal coins
that are of no value now because you can't even see the inscription
on them or the country that they represented was long gone in
bankruptcy. That's not going to happen with
the Lord's people because the Lord himself, the Lord Jesus Christ is our
portion forever. That's a long time. I can't even
think about it. The word eternal, God has given
to us, this is the record, God has given us eternal life, and
this life is in His Son. So if you die without Christ,
you die with nothing. You die in Christ, you die with
everything. May God help us to rightly view
what we have. And when we get these times,
like Asaph was talking about, we envy the prosperity of the
wicked. We see that nothing bad ever
happens to them. They don't have any troubles. They'll be envious. Because the
Lord is our portion. Our Father, we thank you for
Christ. We thank you for your goodness
and your grace to us. We thank you that you've given us everything. You've made yourself
our portion. And you've freely given us all
things. all spiritual blessings, all
that is of any lasting value. And we thank you. We thank you in the Lord Jesus
Christ and we pray in his name. Amen.