These words are the testimony of a man who had almost envied the wealthy and powerful, the violent and the wicked, because there seemed to be no justice for them, whereas those who set themselves to live holy lives encountered all sorts of difficulties and afflictions. He couldn’t make sense of it until he drew near to God and saw things from an eternal perspective. No sin goes unpunished by God. No justice will be left unfulfilled at the end of the age, and no-one who has made Him their refuge will be disappointed - He will hold them fast and will never let them go.
He looks back at how foolish he was to have questioned God’s dealings with men, and then he launches into the wonderful conclusion that appears above. In spite of his one-time bitterness toward God, he had now arrived at a place of joy and peace.
He had “found” God when he entered His sanctuary - that is when he understood how unblamable God is - how righteous in all His works. He seems now to never want to be away from God’s presence again, but to be with him “continually” (the word in v 23 is used of the repeated offerings of the Tabernacle/Temple worship - every day without fail - all the time). Although he had behaved very badly toward God, God had not let Him go. Rather, He held onto Him - grasped him - by his right hand. He had counseled him and guided him to a place of greater understanding. Clearly, the psalmist reasons, if that is the strength of the bond God has forged with him, He will never let him go but will bring him without fail to glory (v 24)!
His love in time past forbids me to think
He'll leave me at last in trouble to sink
Each sweet Ebenezer I have in review
confirms his good pleasure to help me quite through.
As He reflects on the love God has shown him, his heart swells with adoration and admiration for God and he engages in true worth-ship - ascribing to God far greater value, honor and glory than anything he could ever possess in this world. In his sense of eternal security and in his wonder for the matchless being and character of God, he surrenders himself afresh to Him and casts himself entirely upon Him to be His eternal strength and inheritance.
There is a lot of spiritual sunshine radiating from these few short verses and it is good to bask in the warmth and the light for a while! Of course, New Testament believers can take exactly these thoughts and words and make them their own - but with even greater grounds for our acts of worship and sacrifice than the Psalmist had. We look back on the demonstration of God’s love at the cross and we understand that our strength and our inheritance were secured irrevocably there. We have the promise and the oath of God to assure us that He will in no way cast out any who have come to Him, turning from their sin - and that He will lose none of those whom He came to save.
Is this your confidence and your assurance? Can you take the words from Psalm 73:23-26 and own them as your own prayer to God as your heavenly Father?
