But as for me.

This phrase jumped out and hit me over the head the other day. I was reading through Psalm 71, a psalm that really emphasises God's work throughout the whole of the Psalmist's life, right through from being a baby in the womb to his old age and grey hairs. It's a Psalm I often flick through to remind me that God is the story of my life, that He has been at work and He will continue to be at work. A Psalm that leads me through my childhood, my teenage years and beyond, reminding me of the constant presence of God weaving His faithfulness around my days here. The plea is for God to carry on doing his work, the circumstances around the Psalmist seem hopeless, people are laughing at him, taunting him with tales of God's abandoning of him. And yet in the middle of the Psalm come these four words, "But as for me...". The strong desire to continue despite the circumstances around him, the clinging to trust in God rather than unbelief, the deep cry of the soul. But as for me...

So anyway I looked around a bit and found some other places where this phrase is repeated in the Bible and again found the verses that leave me wrecked every time I read them. The end of John 6, people abandoning Jesus all over the place, and I can almost feel the piercing gaze of Jesus into my soul as he asks. "You do not want to leave too do you?". The answer, that sometimes is almost too hard to gasp out, is no. No I do not want to leave. There is no where else to run, you have the words of eternal life, you went through Gethsemane for me, you rose from the dead and smashed all the barriers between me and you, you hold me, you comfort me, you challenge and confront me, you hide me, you are the story of my life, you are my Lord, my Friend, my Shepherd.

“From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." (John 6)

*But as for me*

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
Joshua 24:14-16

But you, O God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of corruption; bloodthirsty and deceitful men will not live out half their days. But as for me, I trust in you.
Psalm 55:22-24

But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.
Psalm 71:13-15

But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.
Psalm 73:27-29

But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 7:6-8