The Lord Our Portion

In July of last year, I spoke at a bridal shower in Mississippi. Therefore, many of you have heard this already... but it was on my mind a lot today. I thought it would be a good blog post.

Psalm 16:5 reads, “O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot.” God himself is our portion in every aspect of life. Oh, what an excellent portion!

In this passage David is alluding to the division and distribution of the land of Canaan to the different tribes of Israel. Each of the twelve tribes inherited a segment of land, except for the Levites. They had no land inheritance. In Numbers chapter eighteen God says to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.” The Levites were the appointed priests, and the sacrifices offered to the Lord were appointed for their support. God himself was their inheritance.

David was from the tribe of Judah. Thus, his declaration of God as his portion was meant spiritually rather than literally. It is the same for us today through the New Covenant. All who are in Christ may claim God as their portion. Charles Simeon says,

This is not the privilege of Prophets and Apostles only, but of every the weakest believer in the Church of God; for we are expressly told, that “to as many as received him Jesus gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on his name.” The very instant they believed in Christ, the relation between God and them was formed, and God became their Father, their Friend, their Portion, “their eternal great Reward.”

To David this great Reward was something to be praised. He says, “Yes, I have a good inheritance.” Are you in agreement with him? Have you reflected on the attributes of this abundant portion? What can be said of God as our Portion?

First, He is an ever-present portion. You may have wonderful friends, a compassionate family, an endearing and thoughtful spouse, but what do these compare with a Heavenly Father who is always with you? Your friends may at some point be unreachable. Your family members might be far away. And what if even the endearing, thoughtful spouse does not have all the responses that satisfy? God our Portion is ever-present, and there is no power that can intercept His gracious communications. We must agree with David that we have a good inheritance. The very best portion. The only one that can satisfy.

Second, God is an all-sufficient portion. I must quote Charles Simeon again:

A man may enjoy all which this world can bestow, but what can it avail him while racked with excruciating pains? What relief can it afford him under the agonies of a guilty conscience? Or what can it do to appease the fears of death? But there is no situation wherein God is not a suitable portion. In the possession of earthly blessings, his presence will greatly enhance our enjoyment of them. In the absence of all temporal comforts, with Him we can feel no want. A view of him as our friend will allay every fear, and assuage every pain; nor, having Him, can we want any other thing that is good.

Third, He is an eternal and everlasting portion. There are many things on earth that can provide a temporary sense of satisfaction. I’m not telling any of you anything new here. We have all experienced this temporary feeling of fullness. And haven’t we all felt the inward pangs of a desire left unfulfilled when these long-anticipated things have failed to truly satisfy? I’ll give a somewhat trivial, though applicable, example: a suspenseful book. You can’t wait to get to the end. The anticipation of the final paragraph teases you through the turn of every page. Finally, the last words are read, and if it’s a good book, happiness swells within you, characters are reflected upon fondly, and respect for the author overflows. However, within five minutes you are thinking of the next thing. This is human nature. Very little satisfies us for long. Nothing on earth truly satisfies us at all. True satisfaction, true fullness can only come from our Eternal Lord. How lucky we are, as believers, that God is our Portion… and that He is eternal.

Charles Spurgeon, who I’m pretty sure waxed eloquent at every given opportunity, had the following words to say about our excellent Portion:

He is our portion, supplying all our necessities, and our cup yielding royal luxuries; our cup in this life, and our inheritance in the life to come. As children of the Father who is in heaven, we inherit, by virtue of our joint heirship with Jesus, all the riches of the covenant of grace; and the portion which falls to us sets upon our table the bread of heaven and the new wine of the kingdom. Who would not be satisfied with such a dainty diet? Our shallow cup of sorrow we may well drain with resignation, since the deep cup of love stands side by side with it, and will never be empty.

Spurgeon seems to be echoing Ephesians 1:3, which says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Through Christ we have not only been given abundant spiritual blessings; we have been given every spiritual blessing. David speaks of this at the end of Psalm 16. Christ is at God’s right hand, and through Him are pleasures forevermore. These pleasures are not limited to spiritual blessings; they are also earthly blessings. Romans 8:32 says, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" We, as Christians, are freely given all things. I feel that it cannot be repeated too often that we have an excellent Portion. However, we must remember that all earthly blessings are from God. We must not live as if our past, present, or future “lots” are the guiding forces of our lives.

• Most of us have been blessed with good homes, a good church, and good upbringings. It is easy to let those things define us.
• We all have busy lives currently. Work, school, housekeeping. For me, it is easy to get busy with the ins and outs of running a home and just begin to tell yourself, “I’m a wife. My lot in life is my husband and my home.”
• We all have hopes for the future. These have always been the most dangerous in my life. We are quick to get wrapped up in our plans for life and sort of neglect the present. As females—which most (all?) current readers are—we begin to hope to be wives and mothers, and that is a good hope. However, it’s easy to let our plans for the future define us—rule us even. Putting all your stock in the future is the most dangerous because that kind of mindset can continue on indefinitely. “Hi, I’m Hannah, and I want to be a wife and mother some day… and I want to have more kids soon… and we are looking forward to a bigger house now that there are eight of us… and we’re looking forward to the big wedding… yes, and now I need to be a grandmother to feel complete… oh, we’ll finally feel settled after retirement.” This can go on for a lifetime. We must not let the future rule our lives.

All blessings—past, present, and future—are from God. We must remember that all good things are from Him, but they are not our portion. We cannot pick up all our blessings and move over to our own little worlds and try to exist. God is sustaining us. God has a plan for us. But he wants our hope to be in Him. After all, why would we live for our earthly blessings when we have a Portion who is ever-present, all-sufficient, and eternal? None of our wildest hopes and dreams can surpass the Portion we have been given. John Calvin entreats us, “Let us therefore learn, as God offers himself to us, to embrace him with our whole hearts, and to seek in him alone all the ingredients of our happiness. For if we have idols along with God, they will become our inheritance and our portion.”

I will close with Charles Simeon (again):

Imitate, for once, the worldling who is just about to take possession of his inheritance; with what joy he surveys it, and anticipates the delight which he will experience in the full possession of it! Thus go you, and survey your inheritance. See the state of those who are now possessed of their entire lot. Behold how they feast in the presence of their God! Think, if you can, what God is to them; and know, that their bliss is yours, in all its fullness, and for ever. Think how you will then “bless the Lord for giving you counsel.” Live, then, now as persons sensible of their privileges; and say, as [David did in verse six], “The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance.”