Whitney Houston – I have nothing (nothing, nothing) if I don’t have You

Fandom: Whitney Houston, “I Have Nothing”

Verses: Psalm 73:16-17, 21-26, 28; John 6:37 CSB, Hebrews 13:8 ESV

Nugget: Nothing is more valuable or more essential than the presence and love of God… And nothing is more constant or faithful.

The Horizontal View: An Appeal to Love

Until I heard this song, I only knew Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” which is one of those classic, famous-for-a-reason, Impossible Not to Sing Along to kind of songs. “I Have Nothing shares a similar tone; the singer is addressing a loved one, but instead of expressing her everlasting love fore them, she is begging them not to leave her. A touching almost-breakup song, “I Have Nothing” is very much rooted in human relationships.

The Vertical View: A prayer to the God of life

The chorus of this song to me reflects the struggle to trust and believe a God I can’t see, and to hear His voice among all the others that are constantly competing for my attention. In the past several months, this has been an especially prominent issue for me, as I am trying to figure out what He wants me to do with the next part of my life. Here are the lyrics I’m talking about:

“Don’t make me close one more door; I don’t wanna hurt anymore; stay in my arms if you dare; must I imagine you there? Don’t walk away from me… I have nothing, nothing, nothing if I don’t have You…. *insert masterful vocalizations here*

Whitney Houston, “I Have Nothing”

This entire chorus reflects almost exactly the same ideas as Psalm 73; let’s break it down some.

Don’t make me close one more door… Don’t walk away from me…. – Whitney Houston

The overall tone of this song is one of desperation and longing for a loved one to stay with her. This tone is also present in Psalm 73, in which the writer describes troubled surroundings and a feeling of confusion and desperation. This feeling comes to a boiling point in verse 16-17:

When I tried to understand this, it seemed hopeless (…) until I entered God’s sanctuary. Then I understood their (aforementioned evildoers’) destiny…

Psalm 73:16-17 CSB, commentary mine

I can almost hear the psalmist crying out to God, “Don’t make me do this! I don’t want to stop believing and trusting You, but I feel overwhelmed by my circumstances. Don’t make me close one more door… I don’t wanna hurt anymore…” And as soon as he steps into the sanctuary, where God’s presence was most evident, the psalmist feels encouraged and strengthened. The clouds of confusion and despair are dispersed when we step into the presence of the Lord.

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Love a good sweet romantic song? You’ll 😻 these posts!

• The Gospel According to Taylor Swift: Beautiful Daylight
• Kacey Musgraves’ “Butterflies” and the Freedom of Real Love
• Saturday Shuffle #16: the one where I love sweet innocent romantic songs (and a little salt for good measure)
• The Gospel According to Etta James: “At Last…”

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I have nothing, nothing, nothing, if I don’t have you…..

The most exciting parallel I found in this song/psalm is the last line of Whitney Houston’s chorus, which is almost identical to verse 25 of Psalm 73:

Who do I have in heaven but you? And I desire nothing on earth but you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever.

Psalm 73:25-26 CSB

Both the psalmist and Whitney express the idea that, without the love of their life, nothing else in heaven or on earth is worth having. Even when my brain can’t seem to focus on what it needs to focus on, when my heart doesn’t know what it wants, and when my metaphorical ears can’t seem to discern God’s voice as clearly as I would like, I can trust that He is still there. When I have nothing else, I still have Him, and that is all that I need.

To wrap up this post, here are a couple more Bible verses:

but as for me, God’s presence is my good. I have made the LORD God my refuge, so I can tell about all you do.

Psalm 73:28 CSB

Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out.

John 6:37 CSB

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Hebrews 13:8 ESV

I hope you’ve enjoyed this comparison of Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing” with Psalm 73 and some other verses, and that you were encouraged to trust and believe in the presence and word of God.

Happy fangirling!