“Nevertheless I am continually with Thee: Thou hast holden me by my right hand.” (Psalms 73:23)
In this psalm, Asaph writes how he envied the wicked until he went before the Lord in prayer and saw their destruction. He realized how foolish and without understanding he’d been. He goes on to write that regardless of his foolish heart he continues in God’s presence. “The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.” (Psalms 145:18) God has always been faithful to come to those who seek Him. The moment a sinner recognizes Him, He is there. “Then shall ye call upon Me, and ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:12-13)
The Holy Spirit had not been given to men in Asaph’s time. God’s presence was not always with man in the Old Testament as He is in the New Testament. God’s continual presence is the Good News that came with the birth of the Messiah, Jesus, God with Us. After Jesus ascended to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit. “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever;” (Joh 14:16) And Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. “And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” (Acts 1:4-5) The Holy Spirit indwells those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus so that God is always with man, the born-again of God man.
Asaph doesn’t write that God is with him, but rather that he is with God. He writes that although his heart is wayward and in foolishness, desiring the wealth and prestige of the wicked, he understands after prayer and time spent time in the sanctuary (Psalm 73:17) their final end and with that understanding continues with the Lord. He recognizes that it’s God Who is showing him the right way to continue. He writes that he is led by God who holds his hand, holding him up so that he doesn’t fall into deception.
God continues to hold us by our right hand. We have more help than Asaph had. We have the written Word of God. We have the Holy Spirit indwelling. But we still fight the natural man that continually fights against God. It’s called the flesh. It has not been redeemed so it rears up. Our decision to surrender our lives to the Lord gave authority to the Holy Spirit to indwell. He is in constant union with the Father, Jesus and our born-again human spirit. Our human spirit communicates God’s will for us. But like Asaph, our flesh wants the comfort, the ease, the glitter and the glamor. So, there is that constant struggle that Paul wrote about. “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 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 find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” (Romans 7:15-23) It might be confusing, but what Paul is saying is that there is a struggle between his unredeemed flesh and born-again spirit, between sin and righteousness and between ease and comfort and obedience to God. But each time that flesh rears up, our responsibility is to recognize it for what it is. It’s sin wanting to manifest in us. We need to repent and surrender to God. God has always been there and continues to be with us holding us up by our right hand to prevent us from falling into the pit of deception.
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