Psalm 16: [1] Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
[2] I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”
[3] As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight.
[4] The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names on my lips.
[5] The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
[6] The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
[7] I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
[8] I have set the LORD always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
[9] Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
[10] For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.
[11] You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
I want an easy life. I do not want to be sick – ever. I don’t want others to hate me, hurt me, neglect me or ignore me. I want the car to always be running well, the house to be beyond the need for repair, my marriage to be free from issues, my family, including my in-laws to not need me to fix things for them. I want people to understand the Scriptures the first time they are explained to them. I want people to leave church happy, satisfied, content and hopeful, faithful and loving. The list could go on and on.
Out of the things just mentioned above I have precisely none of them as my experience. I get sick. I take a couple of pills every morning so my head won’t explode as a result of a stroke. I have been lied to, lied about, slandered, opposed and persecuted. The repair bills on my relatively new car recur. The house seems to deteriorate faster than we can keep up. My mouth gets me in trouble with my wife – no fault of hers. There are always family members who are needy in some fashion. People do not get the Scriptures very easily.
Does all this mean that Psalm 16:6 is not my testimony? Should we need everything to be going as we want it to go in order to say “The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places”? David’s life was a constant turmoil. We do not know what was going on in his life when he penned this Psalm but we do know that it was not trouble free. Verse 1, 4, and 10 indicate that something is going on that has him a little vexed. David was always in some kind of crisis, either of his own making or that of others against him. How could he say that his life was pleasant?
The word “lines” probably refers to boundary lines set by God for the tribes of Israel. In the context of this Psalm it would mean that David saw his life as ordered by God and that within the boundaries of God’s will for him, life was pleasant.
“How could David say that his life was pleasant?” If we need pleasant circumstances in order for us to have a pleasant disposition then we will never be happy or content. The believer’s joy is not based on his circumstances. It is based on God’s love for Him, God’s care for Him and God’s provision for Him. Jesus Christ has come into the world and secured the eternal well being of all His people. He has promised never to leave me or forsake me. He has told me that in this world I will have tribulation but to rejoice anyway because He has overcome the world. He has gone to glory to prepare a place for me and He is coming back to get me to take me there – forever. My sins are as far as the west is from the east. I am counted as being as righteous as Jesus Christ Himself. I have the inestimable privilege of being allowed by God to call Him father and go to Him to make requests. He allows me to worship and preach and give the Gospel. Death was defeated for me on the cross when Jesus made a public spectacle of the devil as He anguished on the cross. I am an heir of God and a co-heir with Christ. My problems are light and momentary compared to the joys that await me. The difficulties I face now are obtaining for me a far greater weight of glory. These things that I now see, including my troubles, are temporary. The things that God has prepared for me that are unseen, are eternal. This list of blessings that are mine because of Christ is longer than the list of troubles that are mine. I don’t like trouble. They vex me. They take a lot of energy to deal with. The tears seem endless.
But it is still true that the lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; I have a beautiful inheritance.
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