Ps. 73.26 (Temple: already-but-not-yet)

My flesh / and heart / were spent
but my strength / and portion / is God forever. 

What at first glance seems to be a very generic statement is, in the context of this psalm, full of deeper significance: “my flesh and heart were spent…”. Initially, we must situate this verse in its immediate context. We have traced how the psalmist has come to see his present situation, prior to God’s ‘arousal’, as one of “counseling” and “hand-holding” (vs. 23-24). It is the time of the (localized) Temple and is, in this way, the ‘time of the wicked’ (or, the time of vanity). This will, however, come to an end when God ‘arises” at which time the present evil will (astonishingly and immediately) dissipate like a forgotten dream. At that time, the psalmist will be “received in glory”. That which was localized will become total. Creation will become Temple; or, Temple will become Creation. Until that time, in the present, the heart is the battleground of the covenant. And, more importantly for our psalmist as a levitical priest, the heart of the priest is the stage upon which God will administer himself to his people. That heart, in so far as it stands outside of God’s presence in the Temple, will be drained of vitality (and will, then, potentially be a source of ‘turning’ for the people vs. 15-16). When it turns, through coveting and envy of the wicked, it will break away from the life of the covenant and, more importantly, it will become alienated from the Temple (only one with a ‘pure heart’ can enter the Temple). Alienation from the Temple is alienation from the “goodness of God to Israel” (vs. 1). The heart will enter into the twilight of vanity. Within this twilight and realm of vanity, the heart and strength can do nothing but be poured out and spent. It will tend to see itself as a ‘nothing’ (vs. 13). This is the first half of the verse. The second half, however, contrasts this state with the psalmist in the presence of God: “but my strength and my portion is God forever”. Here, we see the psalmist within the Temple, the dwelling of God and the “goodness of God to Israel”. Unlike the wicked, whose strength is their own, the psalmist comes to see his strength as one that is rooted in the presence of God. Likewise, as a levitical priest whose ‘portion’ and ‘possession’ is God alone, the psalmist’s desire for prosperity is here to be grounded in the abiding presence of God in the Temple. The “flesh” is here met by “strength” while the “heart” is met by his “portion” which is God. We see here a priest who perfectly mirrors the covenantal fidelity of God’s partner as he is filled, completely, with the presence of God in the Temple. And, finally, within this sphere of communal exchange, the psalmist is introduced into the ‘time of God’, into ‘forever’. This is the experience of the Temple, as contrasted to the time of vanity. The time of vanity will end, and it will end suddenly (vs. 19). When it ends the “heaven and earth” of the wicked will likewise end suddenly (vs. 9). The time of the Temple, however, is the time of God’s covenantal presence (Torah; “counsel” (vs. 24)). It is “forever-time”. Just as creation is made into Temple, so time is made into forever within the presence of God. This is the localized glory that will be total once God ‘rouses himself’ (vs. 20, 24) and, likewise, this glory will remake all of time into the forever of God’s presence. This real presence is both a present reality (the localized Temple) and a seal, promise or oath, of the future absolute and total reality (Creation as Temple). It is already-but-not-yet. “Forever” is present (in Temple and Torah) and will be complete.