Who Indeed
“Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.” Psalm 73:25
It’s beautiful to meet someone who can say,
"It doesn't matter to what, or with what I compare Him; there is no comparison to His matchless worth. Here is my verdict “There is none that I desire beside Thee."
John Bunyan writes that when Christian and Faithful came unto the Enchanted Ground, Christian said,
"Now then, to prevent drowsiness in this place, let us fall into good discourse." "With all my heart!" said Hopeful. "Where shall we begin?" asked Christian. Hopeful replies, "Where God began with us."
What a place for us all to start! You have seen that old painting of the map of Pilgrim's Progress. Could you draw such a map of your life till now? Could you show the beginning of His mercy? Where was that? When was that?
Oh, the Only Begotten of the Father was surrendered for me long before I was born. Before time began, that’s where my mercy started, and yours. And Christ covenanted my cup of shame as His own, ages before He was born in Bethlehem and died on Golgotha. He was a Lamb slain before the foundations of the earth. That’s where mercy began,
in the heart of the Father,
with the purpose of the Son,
by the care of the Holy Spirit,
in eternity past.
Can you even trace how much He’s accomplished for you? Oh, the depths of the riches of Christ, His ways are unsearchable! (Rom. 11:33) But if I scribble a little map of my pilgrim road, I see that Christ has been both the power of God and the wisdom of God, to me. If I look closely, I see that I, too, actually had none in heaven or earth like Him at every stage. As I experienced life in all its fallen glitter (and have the scars to prove it), it was Jesus that kept me. Time and again, He showed me the end of my self-willed road and the heinousness of my corruption. How? By showing me His scars. Oh, the law drives me to my knees, but my sins to his Hands and Feet.
It is He Who, through His merit, silenced all my accusers in heaven and earth, and pardoned and justified my guilty soul. By His indwelling Spirit, it is He who conforms me to His image, deepens my longing for purity, and makes me ready for the inheritance of the saints in light. I then realize afresh that I am in the presence of a boundless, shoreless, and endless strength when I am with my Lord and Savior. No wonder David asks, “Who can compare to Him?”
Only by understanding this can I see the blessedness He brings me, even by the chastening of His rod. Sometimes I drink the wine of astonishment; I am tempted on every side; I bear about in my body the dying of my Master. But I am instructed, cleansed, by the path I walk and the trials He sends. Because while I walk this dusty plain, “For Thou art with me.”
Union with Christ gives this text textured and personal meaning to each child of God. Who else can compare to Him?
“[A]nd there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.”
Tell me, dear soul, would heaven still be heaven if Jesus were not there? We hear people talk about heaven like some sort of extended family reunion vacation, with the who, what, and where of it all. But no, Jesus. Our souls could never be happy or holy unless He were. And the child of God knows this, “To them that believe, He is precious.” There is a continual need for Christ, as the Head of His church on earth, of course, to supply us grace. And there will be an everlasting need for Christ in heaven too. Now think, dear one, how eternally and unchangeably precious Jesus must be, for earth and heaven to become the perennial and overflowing fountain of life, light, peace, and glory to His people, both now and forevermore.