Years ago, we were looking for a house for rent. We saw this beautiful house—2 story, 3 bedrooms, 2 comfort rooms. It was very affordable. Only about P6,000.00 at the time, in 2000. But it had one major problem. It was located in front of a cemetery!
Recently, we were looking for a house for sale. We went to a housing projectin Banawa. It was near the school. But it had one major problem—only one lane going in and out of the subdivision.
We went to another housing project in Guadalupe. Its one and only house was not yet finished. And there are no people around in the mountain!
I guess it’s hard to find a good location for a house and lot in Cebu nowadays!
The words, “portion,” “cup,” “lot,” and “lines,” are words used for the distribution of land in the promised land. It looks back to the time when the LORD distributed the land to the Israelites in Joshua. The words, “portion,” and “cup,” refers to the allocated land for each tribe, clan, and individual. The word, “lot,” refers to the method used to allocate the land. The “lines” refer to the boundaries of the portion of land.
But if the background of this Psalm is David’s encounter with Saul in the wilderness of Zith, then David at this time has no portion of land to inherit. He has no lines or boundaries to count on. He has no inheritance to claim.
Yet why does David use these words? The reason is that David follows the faith of the Levites. God gave a portion of land to all the eleven tribes of Israel, except one tribe—the Levites. They did not receive their share of land. Instead, the LORD told them to serve in the Tabernacle.
In an agricultural economy, land meant food and drink. How would they survive without a land to support them? The other tribes will support them with the tithes.
But the LORD told them something special. “And the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel”” (Num. 18:20, ESV).
The LORD is telling them, “I am your portion. I am your sustenance. I am your supply. I am your provision. I am your food and drink. I am your very existence.”
So when David says, “The LORD is my portion,” he is saying with the Levites, “I have no other support for my existence but the help that comes from you, O God.”[1]
That is the faith of David in a time of loss and uncertainty.
David might not have a portion of land in Israel. But he has God.God is his portion. He might not have an inheritance in Israel. But God is his inheritance. Because he has God, he has everything.
True faith then, does not depend on external circumstances. True faith looks at the internal reality of God’s grace in one’s life.
[1] Mays, Psalms, 432.
The Glory of His Grace 