Psalm 73

"When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward You.
Nevertheless, I am continually with You;
You hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward You will receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is nothing on earth
that I desire besides You.
My flesh and heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever." -Psalm 73:21-26

This passage has been on my heart lately. I've felt really down and kinda depressed recently- just stupid frustrations that shouldn't affect my attitude have crept into my mind and instead of surrendering them up to God and deciding to live joyfully, I have given myself to these silly disappointments. Which is dumb. And I know this, yet I continually find myself in this unhealthy state. (RelientK's Forward Motion, anyone?)
BUUUUT, God has encouraged me so much through this chapter of Psalms. Though David's frustrations in this passage have mostly to do with the wickedness of the prosperous, (my issues are a great deal more foolish) yet his bitterness and despair resonate within my afflicted heart: "All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For All the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning...when i though how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task (vs.13,14 & 16).

but then David says: "until i went into the sanctuary of God; then i discerned their end" (vs.17). God is faithful to encourage His people and offer us insight just when we need it most. He reveals to David how fleeting the pleasures of the wicked are and restores David's desire for God.

God shows David the fallacies in his logic and brings him to the realization that nothing on this earth matters when our hope is in the Lord. In our weakness (which, let's face it, describes basically EVERYTHING about us!), He is strong and we can depend on Him to see us through. "God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
i want to dwell on that last section. "my portion forever." I didn't know this a week ago, but David didn't just come up with this phrase by himself, but it actually alludes to Deuteronomy when God gives each tribe of Israel their inheritance. To the Levitical Priests, however, God did not give a portion of Israel's inheritance. "They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the Lord is their inheritance (some translations have "portion"), as He promised them...For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for all time"-Deuteronomy 18:2 & 5. The Levites had to rely on the other tribes for food and shelter, they had no security in earthly possessions like land or money, but trusted in God to supply every need.
David, in Psalms, says that like the Levites, he doesn't need anything except God to carry out His plans and purposes.

And I lose sight of that truth so often. I get caught up in what I lack or what I miss out on, that I end up feeling weary and hopeless when I should be rejoicing! I don't need anything except a relationship with God and He has already promised me that very thing. God is my rock and my portion forever! Amen!