Psalm 73:26

AMP – My flesh and my heart may fail, – But God is the rock and strength of my heart and my portion forever.

NRSVUE – My flesh and my heart my fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

VOICE – I admit how broken I am, in body and spirit, but God is my strength, and He will be mine forever.

God Overcomes our Humanity

In biblical context, “flesh” suggests the physical body while “heart” suggests the inner self, like our emotions and will. The psalmist recognizes that physical strength and emotional resilience are limited resources on earth. To acknowledge the failing flesh and heart is something that we can all connect with, for we often look to something greater than ourselves to help us overcome the shortcomings of our physical, mental, and emotional beings.

“Strength” suggests a source of power and stability that goes beyond our human abilities. This leads us to a personal relationship with God, where He is not just some distant being that we worship, but is an intimate source of inner fortitude. “Portion” suggests inheritance or a share of something valuable. In ancient Israel, land was divided among the tribes and families, and one’s portion was a major part of their identity and security. For the psalmist to declare God as his portion, the psalmist found ultimate inheritance and a source of satisfaction, better than any earthly possession. “Forever” describes the eternal nature of our relationship with God. This connects to the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament, that offers eternal life and an unending relationship with God. (see John 10:28).

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: The understanding of “portion” stood out to me. How is God valuable for your life?

Plans for the Future

When we start to understand and accept that God is our ultimate inheritance and satisfaction. The things of this earth are temporary, such as our earthly possessions and achievements. It’s a difficult transition to shift our focus on the eternal perspective. All throughout our earthly lives, we are taught that we should achieve the most things possession and that we should possess the best things available. Consumer capitalism corrupts our thinking in that sense. From Apple vs. Android, XBox vs. Playstation, and more – the competition to join an elite club creates our social identity. Some people don’t view it that way, but there are some that takes these culture wars to an extreme. The fact that we allow these temporary products to create our identity is a sign that we need to realign our perspectives.

Our focus needs to stay focused on the eternal perspective. Our focus should be on how we can reflect God’s will and plan for the world towards each other. To share how we can share God’s love, justice, mercy, and compassion to each other. Our focus with our career, relationships, and more need to be focused on how we can continue God’s will through our time, talents, and treasures. Even our achievements, we need to make sure that we focus our goals and aspirations on God. We need to plant seeds for the future generations. To be able to create just systems, have accessible to paths to necessary resources, and to ensure equal rights for all the marginalized. We may never see the results of the seeds that we plant, but that’s okay. Our focus isn’t on the things of the world, but on God’s eternal plan for us.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: What is one thing that you can do today for the benefit of all future generations?