The Lord is my Portion

Psalm 119:57-64 Chet ח 57 Thou art my portion, O Lord: I have said that I would keep thy words. 58 I intreated thy favour with my whole heart: be merciful unto me according to thy word.59 I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. 60 I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.61 The bands of the wicked have robbed me: but I have not forgotten thy law.62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.63 I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.64 The earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy statutes.

For this week, I believe the Holy Spirit would have us focus very particularly on one specific word in the above section of the next letter of our Psalm, “portion”. Let us take this weeks’ study to focus on what it means for the Lord to be our portion. One of the biggest mistakes we can make in our walk with God is allowing the enemy to infiltrate our mind and let him convince us that we need something more than what God has given, or that if we wait for God He will not provide. Wantonness or covetousness, the bible would call this, and it is, as we have discussed in previous sections of this study, a direct disruption to our ability to hear God and follow His lead. Actually, the first sin, committed by Adam and Eve in the garden was rooted in the temptation to accuse God of withholding goodness and provision. The devil convinced them, somehow, despite all the goodness they were surrounded by, that God was holding something back from them. Satan told Eve, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 2:5) Playing on the suspicion that not only God was holding them back from some goodness available to them, but that he actually had bad intentions for withholding it. In fact, we know that God was protecting Adam and Eve, but Satan convinced them of the opposite.

First of all, let us understand that the Hebrew word for portion, “Chalaq/ חֵלֶק” begins with our letter for this week, “Chet”. Notice that the letter itself looks like a doorway. It also symbolizes life, for example the toast in Hebrew “L'chaim,” meaning, “to life,” also contains this letter. Recognizing that the Lord is your portion is the doorway to life, and in order to walk through it there are some things you must accept and trust. One of the primary ones being, that the Lord will provide for you. He will supply you with all you need; relationships, practical provisions, guidance, shelter, spiritual growth, the list goes on, but we must believe He will provide it. We also must believe He wants good things for us, or we will never truly put our lives in His hands and trust Him. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17) This is why the psalmist says they turn their feet to His testimonies, because it helps us stay rooted in God’s nature and goodness.

What then does it mean for Him to be our portion? A portion means it is what is divided unto us, it is our share of the inheritance. The Lord is not lacking, He has all things and can provide all things. As Jesus says in His sermon on the mount,

“Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? 29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. 30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. 31 But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Luke 12: 27-31)

God will and can provide for all your needs, yet His primary concern, His most valuable provision, is your spiritual growth, your spiritual portion. You must seek this first. You must show this is where your priority is. Then, when God sees your heart, when you have suffered a while, when you have been matured and pruned, when you are ready to leave the wilderness, He will begin to pour blessing out upon you in different ways. He will meet all of your physical needs. He will not leave you without. However, having, must never be more important than having Him. Until He knows that He is your portion, you are not ready for your complete inheritance.

Let us turn our attention to verse 63, “I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.” Why is this statement there? After everything else that has been said? Well, let us look closely at what leads up to this verse and I believe we have our answer. The Psalmist writes about the struggle they have had with the “wicked”, how they seek the Lord In the night with gratitude when they are disturbed by the thoughts of what they have suffered at the hands of the wicked. Let us be honest, most of us have suffered at the hands of the wicked, many of those relationships that have hurt us the most, have been with people who should been felt safe. People who should have cared, who should have met loyalty with loyalty, honesty with honestly, and love with love. However, we live in a fallen world, we are not allotted the privilege of living a life free of hurt. Yet, I think we can come to a place where we recognize that God still protected us, though He didn’t completely shelter us. He was in control and protecting us, even then, even before we heard Him or knew Him. That he was there in those betrayals, and that somehow He used them to bring us where we are now… Because He is our shepherd, and our provider, and our portion.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (Psalm 23)

I think you will find one of the most challenging yet rewarding moments with God is when you realize you can surrender your relationships too. That God doesn’t want you to be alone, but that He will bring relationships into your life, and others out, for your own spiritual wellbeing. This isn’t to say that relationships are disposable, on the contrary, relationships that are God ordained are a powerful source of His presence, love, and sustaining power in our life. They challenge us to grow, they help us to learn to love, they support us when we stumble; but can we trust God to be the supplying of our relationships too?

So often we can respond to relational trauma in the extreme, by either shutting down all relationship intimacy, or by clinging to toxic relationships that are detrimental to our growth and walk with God. The godly response is neither. God asks us to let go and trust Him as our provider, to allow Him to weed the wicked, but also, to plant the Godly. He will give us companions, that we would also commit to being companions to those within the family of God. If we surrender those relationships to Him we can find safety and love within them not accessible elsewhere.

“Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. 10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; 13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. 15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.” (Romans 12:9-16)

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God is your portion. He will provide all your needs. Whatever you feel you lack, surrender it to Him, let Him provide it to you.