The G3 conference, I don't know if you know much about it, John MacArthur was preaching there and Paul Washer and a few people like that. And I think it was Friday night, they had a bomb scare at the, where were they, the big civic center something in Atlanta. I think they have about 8,000, 9,000 people there, and they had to disperse. They caught the fellow who made the threat, but I saw a video Friday night of a bunch of the guys and gals together in one of the lobbies of the hotel they were staying at, and they were singing, Great is Thy Faithfulness. What a joy. The conference was on the sovereignty of God. And even that bomb threat had part of the sovereignty of God. He was in control. He was in charge. I'm going to ask you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Psalms, chapter 73. Psalm 73. I'm going to be preaching on some of my favorite verses from the Psalms today, the latter part of chapter 73. I would entitle the message, All That We Need. Or if I took this passage and put Christ in it, which we certainly can, because He's in all of the scriptures, I would say, Christ is all that I need. Verses 25 and 26. Do you know these verses? Psalm 73 verse 25, Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. The remedy for all ills in life that we face is to find our all in all to be God, the triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. looking away from ourselves, looking away from the circumstances that surround us, and looking unto Him who is the author and finisher of our faith. That gives us greater joy, peace, and contentment that we can know in any other way. Psalm 73 is a chapter in the Bible that helps us do that very thing. The author of the Psalm is Asaph. Have you heard that name before? You see it there at the heading, A Psalm of Asaph. Asaph was a Levite. He was appointed by David as one of the chief musicians. You read that in First Chronicles, chapters 15 and 16. So he was a gifted singer and musician, but he was also one of the holy men of old who penned Holy Scripture under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Twelve Psalms are attributed to Asaph. Psalm 50 and then Psalm 73 through 83. Now when we read this psalm, we discover that Asaph was struggling with a problem. As he looked about, he saw the wicked prospering and the righteous languishing. The ungodly seemed to him to be the very picture of serenity, good health, and happiness. But when he looked among the godly, he found Great struggles. He even envied the wicked. And then he realized when he went into the sanctuary of God what their final destiny was. And you'll see that in this psalm if you read it. So he began to reflect on the goodness of God to his children. And according to verses 23 to 28, he envied them no more. And in the midst of that inward struggle, He made this outstanding confession, Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is not upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. When He looked into heaven and when He looked on earth, He found that his greatest desire was for God Himself. He had found true satisfaction and contentment in the Lord. And friends, that ought to be true of us. John Newton's hymns, as you may well know, were written when reflecting on various scriptures. And this is what John Newton wrote when he thought of Psalm 73, verse 25. How tedious and tasteless the hours when Jesus no longer I see. Sweet prospects, sweet birds, and sweet flowers have lost all their sweetness with me. The midsummer sun shines but dim. The fields strive in vain to look gay. But when I am happy in Him, December is as pleasant as May." Well, I think John Newton caught the essence of this scripture. So let's examine these inspired words that come from Asaph this morning. And they may help us to see that the triune God is all that we need. We began with the question that the psalmist asked, and it's a question he already knew the answer to. The question is, whom have I in heaven but thee? Now, it's a rhetorical question, but we know the answer, don't we? Whom have I in heaven but thee? The answer is no one. Our hope, our refuge, our help. In fact, our only hope, our only refuge, our only help is in the triune God. There's no one else to help in all of heaven. We have no one to help us, to represent us, to love us, to save us, save than the triune God. But we have no need for anyone else to help us save Him. So think of this question, whom have I in heaven but thee? There are others in heaven. I've got a mother and a father and a brother. That's in heaven. I preached all three of their funerals. And they knew and loved the Lord. And preaching a funeral for a loved one who you know is going to be with the Lord takes a lot of the sting out of it. But we have loved ones in heaven. We know that angels are in heaven, right? We know the names of two of them. Gabriel and Michael. The redeemed of all the ages are there. Abraham's there. Mary is there. But they are not there for us. They have nothing to render us. They cannot help us. So we don't pray to the angels, do we? We don't pray to the saints. We don't cry out to Michael, the archangel, to ask him for assistance. We don't pray to Mary to find grace and help in our time of need. We have none but God in heaven to whom we can turn. And we pray to God through His Son, Jesus Christ, by the aid and help of the Holy Spirit. There is no other person, there's no other place. We look to heaven because God is there. And we look to God alone as our refuge and strength. So, He is there. And if God be for us, who can be against us? And there's no need to look anywhere else. No one else can help us. The Lord God is sufficient. And if God is sufficient, then we should be satisfied in Him. But that's the root of many of our problems. We're not satisfied with God. We try to find comfort in other things, other objects. We find contentment in other places. But these are things that draw us away from the real source of comfort and strength. Yet nothing can satisfy our thirst, save Jesus Christ. Nothing can satisfy the spiritual hunger of our souls, save the bread of life, Jesus Christ, our Lord. And we know that, and yet we still like our substitutes. You know, we live in a world with lots of substitutes, sugar substitutes. I don't know how my wife would get along without Splenda. And I've told her, don't use that stuff. But she does it anyway. But we've got all kind of substitutes, don't we? Virtual reality. Kids are happy to put them funny looking goggles on their face and have virtual reality experience rather than getting out in the world and having real experiences. We've got our smartphones. We've got our social network. And we're looking in all the wrong places. And that is certainly true of people who do not know God. They're looking everywhere but heavenward. They're looking in all the wrong places. They're hoping in all the wrong people. And when that happens, God doesn't get the glory He deserves. He doesn't get the praise. He has given life to us. He has saved us. He's lifted us out of the miry clay and set us on a rock, put a new song in our heart. And we ought to acknowledge that and worship Him and glorify Him, find our joy in Him, find our comfort in Him. Let me ask you a question. What are you looking for in heaven? Why do you want to go to heaven? Have you ever pondered that? Do you want to be in heaven in order to be free from all your burdens? And we do have that in us. Or do we want to be in heaven because God's there? Do you want to be in heaven in order to experience freedom from your trials? Or do you want to be in heaven because there you will see Jesus face to face? Do you know this hymn? Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart, not be all else to me, save that thou art. Thou my best thought, by day or by night, waking or sleeping, thy presence is light. The consuming desire of the Apostle Paul was to be with Christ. I made reference to Philippians chapter 1 in the Sunday school lesson this morning. Life was for him Christ. For me to live is Christ. And to die is gain. So what was Paul focusing on? Streets of gold in heaven? No. Was he focusing on living in a sinless environment in heaven? No. Heaven meant being with Christ. And that's why He desired, My desire is to depart and be with Christ. For that is far better. But the point is, Christ is in Heaven for us. He's at the right hand of God. And we pray to Him because He ever lives to make intercession for us. We pray to God through Jesus Christ. Everything else pales in comparison to Him. And that's why we are exhorted by Paul in his letter to the Colossians to set our affections on the One who is above. and not on things on the earth. Christ is our life. We are dead to sin and our lives are hidden in Him. Dear friends, without Christ there would be no heaven for us. William Plummer said, all the saints and angels, all the martyrs, prophets and apostles, though making a goodly company, could not make a heaven. Isaac Watts penned these words when he contemplated Psalm 73 verse 25. Were I in heaven without my God, it would be no joy to me. And whilst this earth is my abode, I long for none but Thee. The throne of God and the Lamb is in heaven and that's all that should matter to us. and the redeemed of the Lord will serve and worship Him there alone." Keep this thought in mind. Heaven is not in itself a joy. God's presence and fellowship with Him is what makes it a joy. Heaven's just the place where God eternally resides. And to be in heaven is to be in the presence of God. Spurgeon's catechism did the same as the Westminster Shorter catechism. He began with the question, what is the chief end of man? I've always thought it'd be interesting to read the contemplations of the Puritan pastors who wrote that catechism and how they labored to come up with the first question of the catechism. But I thought they did well by asking, what is the chief end of man? And this is how they answered. Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." Glorify God, enjoy Him forever. First part of that answer comes from 1st Corinthians 10 31, whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. And the biblical foundation for the second part are these verses here in Psalm 73. We are to enjoy God forever. We're to find our solace, our comfort, our joy, our strength, our pleasure in God. Not a self-centered pleasure. but a God-centered pleasure. We're to enjoy God, enjoy His power, His authority, His power, His presence. That's to be our delight, because there's no one else who can fully satisfy, no other person, no other object that meets our deepest needs. Now, we know that to be true, don't we? Nobody in here questioning what I've said about this, are you? We're convinced of this in our souls, but do we live by it? So let's consider this question afresh today. Whom have I in heaven but thee? Is God enough for us? Are we satisfied in Him? Well, following the question, Whom have I in heaven but Thee? The psalmist makes a resounding affirmation, And there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. It isn't in heaven alone that we find solace and comfort in God. It's also on earth. And so what a grand statement this is. Nothing on earth that we desire besides God. And the psalmist here is speaking with a voice of experience. He'd look to other places to find pleasure. He'd look for joy in other people. He'd look for comfort and possessions, but he found none. They didn't meet the needs of the deepest longings of his heart. When I was a young Boy, there was a rock group that used to sing a song. I think some of these guys are old and still alive. I can't get no satisfaction. Oh, shame on y'all. Some of y'all had the same growing up that I had. Y'all listened to bad music too sometimes. Well, I'm glad I got away from that, but you remember that. I can't get no satisfaction. And then what'd they say? Cause I try and I try and I try. And I can't get no satisfaction. I often wonder, did any of those members of the Rolling Stones band ever get satisfaction finding Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord? I don't think they did. And the ones that are living are probably still trying to find satisfaction in the things of the world. But there is none. The world can supply us with temporary gratification, but nothing of eternal lasting value. The world will give us sinful pleasure, but that has nothing to do with everlasting joy. Perhaps you've been down that road. You've tried everything the world has to offer. You've experimented with this and dabbled in that, and it didn't bring you peace. It didn't give you everlasting joy. It can't. It never will. And that's because the chief end of man is to glorify God. and to enjoy Him forever. Those who come to know God through Christ have found the ultimate. They have found salvation from sin, forgiveness. They've been reconciled to God, delivered from the power of sin, full satisfaction in Jesus. And all the glitter and glamour that the world once dazzled before us has lost its charms. That's why we sing, O Christ, in thee my soul hath found, and found in thee alone the peace, the joy I sought so long, the bliss till now unknown. Now none but Christ can satisfy, none other name for me. There's love and life and lasting joy, Lord Jesus, found in thee. Let's tell the world that searching for purpose on earth cannot be found outside of Christ. Let's tell them, go where you will, do what you will, see what you will, but none of that's going to give you everlasting joy and peace. That can only be found in Christ. True satisfaction is found in God alone. But let me be quick to add, that this satisfaction is found in God himself and not simply in what God gives. And we often confuse those two. We're thankful for the blessings that God bestows upon us. We realize, as Paul said to Timothy, God gives us richly all things to enjoy. But our primary joy must be found first and foremost in God, not in the things He gives to us and not in the things He does for us. Thankful we are for those, but our joy is to be found in Him. And yet there are so many people who enjoy God's blessings, but they don't enjoy God Himself. And the psalmist states quite clearly here that his great desire was for God. That he desired nothing on earth more than he did for God. You know there are Christians that are more interested in the gifts of the Spirit than they are the Spirit. There are Christians who are more interested in the joy of the Lord than they are in the Lord. So we must be careful lest we value more highly the things that God gives us more than God Himself. God must be loved for who He is, not as a means to gain something. And you know, that's the big fault of the prosperity gospel. Oh, they love God because they're looking for God to give them something. a Cadillac or a bunch of money in the bank. Oh, they want to know God because they want what God will give to them. That's the prosperity gospel and it's wrong, it's false. Listen to what A. W. Tozer said, whoever seeks God as a means toward desired ends will not find God. The mighty God, the maker of heaven and earth, will not be one of many treasures, not even the chief of all treasures. He will be all in all, or He will be nothing. God will not be used. His mercy and grace are infinite, and His patient understanding is beyond measure. But He will not aid men in their selfish striving after personal gain. He will not help men to attain ends which, when attained, usurp the place He, by every right, should hold in their interests and affections." And yet I say to you that nothing is more common in the Christian community than that. John Calvin said, how small is the number of those who keep their affections fixed on God alone? Now I know what it's like to fix my affections on things that can take the place of God. If you're into any kind of sport, you can tell how much you're in it when you go around. Well, I used to play golf, and you know, golfers are going around like this all the time, you know, practicing. It's on your mind. I've got a son-in-law that's, well, he'd be like a triple-A baseball player in bowling. He's a really good bowler, works for a bowling company. And he got me into bowling. I used to go around the house all the time doing that, trying to perfect that form. Gets on your mind, you're doing that all the time. I'm into something and I enjoy it very much. It's called cowboy action shooting now. Instead of like swinging a golf club, throwing a gumball, I'm going around going. I enjoy it. And I always have to fight. Do I love that more than I love God? Could I get along without that? I hadn't played golf since 2016 because of problems with my shoulders. And I missed it for a while. But God used that to work in my life, to take something away from me that I enjoyed more than I should. This verse speaks to that, doesn't it? What would happen to you if everything in life was taken from you? I mean everything, your home, your health, your job, your family. Would Christ be sufficient? Would you find joy in Him? Could you say, hey, you've sung that song before, haven't you? Christ is all I need. Christ is all I need. All, all I need. God wants our whole heart. And sometimes He deems to take everything away from us to bring us close to Him. He wants us to be strong in Him, confident in Him. And the psalmist is writing here with a voice of experience. And in the end of all the struggles and trials and troubles he faced, he found in the end that all he really needed was from God. And so he says that all he desires is the Lord. There's none upon earth. You could translate that nothing. There's nothing on earth that I desire besides him. God was the all-consuming desire of his heart. And that's what I want my all-consuming desire to be, to gaze on Him, to glory in Him, to rejoice in Him. And however unpromising our situation might be on earth, He's truly all we need. He's all we need in heaven. With the second part of this, verse 25, He's all we need on earth. And if you look at the verses before this, verse 23, He holds us. Verse 24, He guides us. He receives us while we have in Him all we need. And so my prayer is that our joy will be in Christ Himself, that our delight will be in the Lord Jesus Christ, not just in the things He gives us or the things He does for us. Well, we've looked at the question and the affirmation. There's one more thing. There's a statement, and that is found in verse 26. My flesh and my heart faileth but God. I love those two words when they're put together, but God. You got a real important one in Ephesians 2, chapter 4. Paul, in the first three verses of Ephesians 2, talking about how sinful we are. And then he said, but God. And then he started talking about the love of God, the grace of God, the kindness of God in Jesus Christ in saving us. But God. And we have one of those here. But God. But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Now we need that because of our flesh and our heart. My flesh and my heart fails. That signifies weakness, feebleness. Job had it right, didn't he, when he said man who is born a woman is a few days and full of trouble. But what does a person do when weak in body, fragile of heart? Well, those who know the Lord lean on Him. And there they find strength for the journey. They find all they need. In the crises of failing mortal body, and I know what that's like. Heart problems, brain bleed in 2016, treatment for cancer really. I know how some of that is. We lean on Him. Failing body, downcast heart, we turn to the Lord. And so discouragement, despondency, finds aid by fleeing to the Lord for refuge. And what does the Lord give to us? Well, He says at the end of this verse, He's the strength of my heart and my portion forever. the strength of my heart. That word strength could be translated rock. In fact, Martin Lloyd-Jones preached 11 sermons from Psalm 73 in the year 1965, and his sermon on this passage of Scripture was called Rock of Ages. And rightly so. God is our rock. Lloyd-Jones said that when God declared that God was the strength of His heart, He was saying something like this, I know that I am in such a position that I can rest quietly and confidently in Him. I know that I can say, even though a day may come when I shall feel the foundations of life shaking beneath me, God will be a rock. And that will hold me forever. He cannot move, be moved. He cannot be shaken. He is the rock of ages. And wherever I am and whatever may be happening, however my physical frame is behaving, and even when things of the earth are passing away, God the rock will sustain me. And I shall never be moved. Oh, it's a wonderful thing to say, God is the strength, the rock of my heart. But not only that, the psalm has said, and he's my portion forever. Now, here's an interesting connection with the man who wrote this psalm, Asaph, a Levite, and this word portion. He is using priestly language here when he speaks of God as his portion forever. You remember that when the 12 tribes crossed the Jordan, came into the Promised Land, the land was divided up among the 12 tribes. 11 of the tribes received a specific piece of property. Benjamin, Judah, send in all the different tribes. But what about the Levites? They received no portion in the land, did they? Why? Because their inheritance was the Lord himself. You read that in Deuteronomy 10 and Joshua chapter 18. The priesthood was their heritage. Well, in a sense, that's true of us. God hadn't promised us peace of property, has he? No, but He's our portion. He's our treasure. And there's no more important portion than that. Nothing can rob us of God, not even failing flesh and discouraged heart. Death can't rob us of God, who is our portion. Note the words, forever. He's not my portion now for a few years. He's our portion forever. And no one, not even the devil, can take that portion away from us. What can we desire more than this? What is better than this? Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. When ill health comes, we can say it's okay. When old age comes, we can say it's all right. When death comes, we can sing, it is well with my soul. My wife knows at my funeral, if I outlive her, if they don't sing, it is well with my soul at my funeral, I'm going to come up out of that casket and give her a piece of my mind. What greater testimony. It is well with my soul. That's what I want people to know about me. It is well with my soul. When everything in our earthly life slips away and we're translated to glory, oh, it is well. Hallelujah. We're safe in Christ. He's our rock and shield. He is our portion. He's the strength of our hearts, our portion forever. What else do we need? Now you can know how Christians have regarded these two verses as so vitally important because so many hymns have been written in regards to them. And I've given you some of those already. Well, here's another one. On his deathbed, Charles Wesley, one of the most prolific hymn writers, composed a hymn based on this passage. And here's what he dictated to his wife on his deathbed. In age and feebleness extreme, what shall a sinful worm redeem? Jesus, my only hope thou art, strength of my failing flesh and heart. Oh, could I catch a smile from thee and drop into eternity. Does that ring true in your heart? I want to say that with Wesley. Jesus, my only hope thou art. strength of my failing flesh and heart. Is Christ enough for you? Is he enough for me? Someone has said you don't realize that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have. Don't wait till you're on your deathbed to find that out. On a day when many deserted Jesus because of some hard things He taught, John chapter 6, Jesus asked His disciples, do you want to go away as well? I don't know how many people were following but He had just fed 5,000 and there were crowds and He said some hard things. And they turned and walked away, except for that handful of disciples. And Jesus looked at them and says, do you want to go away as well? And this is where I appreciate Simon Peter, the impulsive Peter who always sticking his foot in his mouth. Boy, he said a lot of wrong things, but boy, he got it right here. He said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Do you want to go away also? Lord, to whom shall we go? Peter was in complete agreement with Asaph. There's no other one to whom we can go. We have no one in heaven. or no one on earth to whom we can go. Jesus has the words of eternal life and none else. There is salvation in no one else for there's none other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. There's none besides Jesus to whom we can turn. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is none on earth that I desire besides you. Jesus once asked a group, what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? That's something we need to consider. Would you rather be rich in the world and not know Christ, or would you rather be poor and know Christ? Oh, we can be poor because it's enough to know Jesus because he satisfies the deepest longings of our heart. And to know him is to have joy. To know him is to have peace. To know him is to have eternal life. We're going to heaven. So why set affections on things of the earth? that our affections on things above. Because we have none but God in heaven, and there's nothing on earth that our souls desire. And He is the strength of our hearts. Father, thank you for your goodness to us. Thank you, Blessed Spirit, for inspiring this writer, a man we know little about, Asaph. to write these precious words. We pray that they will find a lodging place in our hearts, that we will have no desire for anyone other than Thee. Thank you for these dear people here. There are many needs that they have, people struggling with good health, people having other difficulties perhaps. Grant them grace and help and may they find in you satisfaction for their soul's needs. I've been on the other end in a doctor's office and received bad news. News I didn't want to hear. But we thank you that you are the God who takes care of us, even when we receive bad news. So may we look to you, to heaven, for that's where you are. And by your spirit who rests within our hearts, oh, we come, oh God, unto thee, lay all of our burdens down, and ask you to help us to find all that we need in you. And we pray these things in Jesus' precious name, Amen.