[0:00] We shall now turn to the psalm which we read together, Psalm 16. And our text for this evening is verse 5, Psalm 16 and verse 5.
[0:17] The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance, and of my cup thou maintainest my lot.
[0:30] The Lord is my portion and my cup, he maintains my lot.
[0:48] What does God mean to you? How do you view God? What do you see as your relationship with God?
[1:08] And how does God fit into your way of thinking? The psalmist here says, God means to me this.
[1:19] He is my portion and he is my cup. That's his confession. Now I wonder, could we make that confession?
[1:32] He says in verse 1 that he had put his trust in God. He prays, preserve me, O God. And he knows that he will be preserved by God.
[1:48] Because he puts his trust in him. We don't know what was troubling the psalmist. We don't know if there was anything special affecting him at this time.
[2:00] Some danger, perhaps. Some illness. Some trouble from enemies, perhaps. Some spiritual problem.
[2:11] It makes no difference. Whatever was worrying him. He says, preserve me. And then he adds, for in thee do I put my trust.
[2:25] Therefore I know I shall be preserved. Because you say, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. And I will give you rest.
[2:36] And I know I will get rest. Because you say it. You promise it in your word. I will find peace and safety and security. Because you are my God.
[2:47] Because I trust in you. I shall not be put to shame. There's no one that puts their trust in God. Whom God will let down at the end of the day.
[3:04] So, have you committed your soul to Christ? Have you put your trust in him? Have you said to him, as the psalmist says in verse 2, Thou art my Lord.
[3:22] Thou. Not myself. Not somebody else. Not something else. But thou. Thou art my Lord. You are the Lord of my soul.
[3:33] You are the master of my life. You are the ruler. You are the one in whom I have trusted. And you are the one who is going to lead me.
[3:45] And guide me. And be my teacher. And my master. Forever. Thou art my Lord. Is Jesus your Lord.
[3:58] Today. Fear. For me. Their sorrows shall be multiplied at his and after another God.
[4:11] Unbelievers. And those who don't trust in Jesus. They shall have sorrows. They shall have worries. They shall have troubles. They shall have problems and difficulties.
[4:21] those who do not accept the leadership of Christ and who do not trust in him their sorrows shall be multiplied but says the psalmist I trust in thee thou art my lord therefore I shall have joy and this psalm is one that's full of joy exuberance joy the psalmist is saying I have set the Lord always before me therefore my heart is glad my glory rejoices my flesh rests in hope thou wilt show me the path of life in thy presence is fullness of joy at thy right hand are pleasures evermore the psalmist is rejoicing that he's got a great God and he's happy in his faith in God he knows that God loves him and that God is looking after him and that he's got a great future and that no harm can come to him if we trust in God we can know something of the joy unspeakable and full of glory of which the psalmist speaks but they who don't trust in Jesus their sorrows shall be multiplied and whatever sorrows we have today they'll have more tomorrow and whatever sorrows they have tomorrow they'll have a thousand times more when death comes on a judgment day their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another God so let's look then at the confession of the psalmist here what he says about what God means to him verse 5 the Lord is my portion other people focus upon temporal things and they find their portion in their family there are many people and they idolise their family and they think that nothing is so important as the family they make all sorts of sacrifices for their family and the family is the most important thing the family is their portion the husband the wife the children that is their portion other people it's their job and they sacrifice everything for their job what will they not do in order to get on in their job and to do well or to make their business a success their business their job is their portion it fills their waking hours it fills their dreams it fills all their ambitions other people it's their home and they want their home to be really nice and their possessions and beautiful house and their lovely furniture and all the rest of it that's their portion and they're so diligent in building up their portion and they idolise the things they possess other folk it's their pleasure and they have their various pleasures entertainment diversions hobbies whatever it might be and that is their portion that's what makes life worthwhile for them that's what gives them the kick in life and gives them the thrill their pleasure whatever it might be it's their portion thus says the psalmist
[8:29] God is my portion that's what I rejoice in that's what I love that's what is so important to me he is the centre of my life by his grace I will love him with all my soul and heart and strength and mind he is the centre of my life and the centre of my ambitions he is the one I work for he is the one who is my master I'm his servant he is the one that I want to please and he is the one I want to spend my eternity with I want him to be with me today and I want him to be with me tomorrow he is my portion he is the one I have chosen and he is the central place in my heart and in my life how can we say that tonight the Lord is my portion I know I know we come short and I know we sin and I know other things push themselves in upon us from time to time but can we from the depths of our hearts say yes this is my desire this is my longing more and more the Lord is my portion despite all my shortcomings he is my choice he is the one who means most to me when the children of Israel came into the land of Canaan the land was divided up for them the various tribes were given their portion the various individuals families within these tribes were given their allotment but the tribe of Levi was different they were given no part in the promised land for said God they are the priestly tribe
[10:36] God will be their portion and that was to teach us a lesson because the New Testament teaches us about the priesthood of all believers you are priests you are God's priests and like the rest of the people the Lord is your portion just like the Levites had no part in the promised land the Lord was to be their portion so you are the priests of the Lord and the Lord is your portion and in this world you are strangers and pilgrims the world looked upon you as silly and foolish making daft choices and failing to take advantage of the opportunities that there are and missing out on so many things but the Lord is your portion and having made that choice you don't view yourself as missing out on anything the world around you they have their portion but the Lord is your portion you are a priest and God is your portion a literal translation of the words here would be the portion of my inheritance would be literally translated as the portion of my portion the same word is used the Lord is the portion of my portion what does that mean it's emphasis it's saying the Lord is my choice portion my special portion and of all the portions
[12:35] I have he is the portion within all the rest yes we do have many good things in this life and many things for which we give thanks we have food and we have clothes and we have homes and we have loved ones and we have jobs all these things are good we have many pleasures in this world we have our health and our strength but one thing stands out as special amongst all the good things of life the Lord is my portion he is my choice portion he is the portion of my portions the chief portion the one that is special can you make that confession tonight have you chosen it friend if you haven't surely it's time tonight that you're dead so that you will become one of these special people these people who have the joy of the psalmist and who can say in thy presence is fullness of joy and at thy right hand are pleasures evermore it's wonderful for all those who have taken
[14:02] God into their heart they can say the Lord is my portion my choice portion but isn't it wonderful too that God condescends to be your portion because it's a two way thing you choose him and he chooses you and we choose him because he first chose us it's a two way thing and isn't it wonderful to think that God gives himself to us that God condescends the great God of heaven to enter into your heart and to dwell there and if you're one of these people like the psalmist God has made you into a temple and he lives in your heart and that's something special the Lord is your portion and in his covenant he comes into your heart and life he bows so low he humbles himself to enter into your experience and to live in your heart and life and that's something wonderful he is my portion he has come into my life and I have chosen him too and I delight in him and therefore the psalmist says
[15:30] God is the portion of my inheritance God is my choice portion the portion of my portions do you want him to enter into your life do you know what he says to us in the book of Revelation chapter 3 and verse 20 behold I stand at the door and knock any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in with him and sup with him and he with me and eat with him and drink with him and live with him and he with me and I will have a relationship with him and on the great judgment day I won't say to him the way I'll say to some depart from me I never knew you of course I'll know him because I live in his heart and will always live in his heart and will never separate from him the souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness and their bodies being still united to Christ to rest in the graves until the resurrection even the dead corpse of the Christian is precious it's united to Christ and that's wonderful when you see a dead body no life the spirit's gone there's something ugly about a dead body but that dead body is precious it's united to Christ and it's resting in the grave until the resurrection
[17:21] God is my portion the second thing the psalmist says is God is my cup a cup of wine is the delight of many people a cup of wine or a cup of beer a mug of beer or a glass of spirits whiskey or whatever that's what thrills many people there's some people and they work all week to be drunk over the weekend there are other people and there's nothing they like better than drink a cup it is their delight even although they perhaps don't go to excess to many people the cup is their delight it's what makes a meal they say the wine and so on but
[18:30] Jesus promised God is my cup he's the one who makes everything special and everything I enjoy in life and every meal I have it's made special because of the cup God is my cup he gives me far more delight than the cup gives to any drunkard he is the one who thrills me he is the one who fills me with joy and with ecstasy with delight God is my cup God is my cup in the sense that he satisfies he satisfies me with food more than food and drink he that comes to me says Jesus shall never hunger and he that believes in me shall never thirst
[19:34] I am the bread that came down from heaven in another place he says if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink and as the scripture says out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water and this he said referring to the Holy Spirit which would be given to such if any man thirst God is my cup I will drink of Christ I will come to him and drink him and it will be a well of water springing up inside me unto everlasting life remember the woman of Samaria she came to the well to get water Jesus was sitting there and he said please give me a drink and she said I'm surprised that you are asking drink of me a woman of Samaria for the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans the Jews can't stand the Samaritans
[20:42] Jesus turned to her and said if you knew who was asking a drink of you you would say you give me a drink instead and I will give you the living water what she said to him you have nothing to draw water with and how then can you give me a drink Jesus said the water that you drink from this well you drink it and then you're thirsty again and you have to come back and get some more but the water that I will give you will be a well of water inside you satisfying the deepest thirst of your soul do you know what it is to drink of Jesus Christ the spirit and the bride say come come says
[21:49] God's Holy Spirit to you tonight and the church the bride says come and let him that is at thirst come and drink of the water of life freely it's free the living water it's free and it's for you oh everyone that thirsteth come ye to the waters and he that hath no money come ye come buy and eat wine and milk without money and without price don't spend your money and your labour on that which profiteth not but come and drink of me the water of life is Christ he is my cup in the midst of the desert of this world the burning heat of this wilderness in the midst of all the temptations and disappointments and distresses and pressures in the midst of the sorrows and sadnesses of this life the broken hopes and the death that is reigning in this world
[23:10] God is my cup he satisfies me he gives me the water I need to carry on going through the desert the water from the rock so that I don't die of thirst all around us people are dying of thirst I'm going down to a lost eternity but the Lord Jesus he is the water of life drink of him keep on drinking of him drink every day from Christ can you say today he is my cup he gives me more delight than the cup of spirits to the drunkard and he satisfies the burning thirst of my heart the Lord is my choice portion and the
[24:16] Lord is my cup in the midst of the desert of this life he satisfies my soul thou maintainest in the third place thou maintainest my lot land promised land amongst the tribes various Israelites got part by the casting of lots the psalmist says here my section of land is secured for me because God gave it to me and what God has given to me no man can take from me God has given it to me thou maintainest my lot my portion my lot my allotment in life it has been given me by God and nobody will take it from me there might be many robbers and invaders and yet
[25:30] I'm safe God is my refuge I'm safe I will never perish the father is greater than all and therefore no man can pluck me out of my lot I am safe I am secure in this life and in the life to come thou maintainest my lot where is our refuge where is our security where is our peace to be found God he maintains our assurance our peace our security my father that gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand God will give us a place in heaven and nobody can take that place from us he said to us let not your heart be troubled
[26:44] I go to prepare a place for you yes do you think about this do you ever meditate on it that Jesus went specially to prepare a place for you and your name is written on that seat and nobody else can sit there but you he's getting it ready a place specially for you I go to prepare a place for you let not your heart be troubled everyone who believes in me you believe in me in God believe also in me in my father's house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you not only does God give us a place in heaven but he gives us a heaven on this earth do you have a heaven in this world has heaven entered this world in your experience this is what the
[27:49] Christian life is about some people think of the Christian life as a list of do's and don'ts some people think of the Christian life as a list of beliefs some people think of the Christian life as a matter of some religious practices but the Christian life first and foremost is a life with God it's a heaven in this world it's a spiritual life where God is your portion and God is your cup and where your lot is being maintained by God you have safety and security you have refuge in him he is your fortress your high tower your deliverer your shield a wall of fire around you so that you are safe even from the attacks of the roaring lion the devil God maintains our lot we shall never perish he in whom he begins the good work he will bring it on until the day of
[29:02] Christ Jesus the lines are fallen unto me verse six in pleasant places gay I have a goodly heritage the lines the surveyor's lines have fallen in pleasant places well that's literally true isn't it many a part of the world where we could have been born and to us they don't look very pleasant places you could have been born in Russia with all its problems with its oppression in the past and with its lack of direction economic problems today we could have been born in Yugoslavia where there's so much bitterness and fighting we could have been born in the Sudan where again there's war and where there's desperate poverty people are dying of hunger we could have been born in
[30:09] South Africa with all its tensions we could have been born in Peru with its economic difficulties its hyper inflation its terrorism we could have been born in Los Angeles with racial unrest and rioting we could have been born in so many places but we've been born here where we've got peace and safety and security nobody bothers us we can get on with our own life we have a healthy climate we have food to eat and clothes to wear we have the sun shining down upon us and we can enjoy the warmth of this lovely weather we have so many good things friends do the good things of this life turn your heart to God does the sunshine make you think of the one who in his love has given you the sun shining down upon you the lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places
[31:21] I have a goodly heritage but especially we say these things in a spiritual sense when you think of where our lot has been cast we have indeed been born into a land which spiritually flows with milk and honey a land where we've got the Bible Bible in our own language a land where we've got an innumerable amount of excellent Christian books where we've got tapes where we've got so many aids where we've got a good church where we've got God's word being preached where we have many of us
[32:21] Christian parents and certainly Christian friends the lines have fallen unto us in pleasant places yes we have a goodly heritage God has been very good to us and God has given to us to be born and brought up in a place where there are many blessings there are many miserable people around us here in Glasgow even but we're not miserable we have joy we have so much to be thankful for rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice joy unspeakable and full of glory that's what we are to have in our hearts when we consider the goodly heritage that the
[33:23] Lord has given to us let us remember Paul's words to Timothy godliness with contentment is great gain does that describe your own life godly and content and as long as you're godly you're content there is contentment linked essentially with godliness and if we have this proper relationship with God there will be a peace and a contentment in our lives every child of God here tonight can confess and would admit freely to a measure of this contentment in their own hearts and it's a wonderful thing the serenity that God gives I will bless the
[34:24] Lord who hath given me counsel verse 7 the God who is my guide giving me counsel I pray to him and I trust in him and I know I will never go wrong I'll never go astray he will lead me he will guide me I can't make a mistake I can't take a wrong turning if I trust in him and pray to him and listen to his word and it's wonderfully comforting to know that the Lord is there constantly shepherding us he goes before us he walks through the pathways of this life opening the way in front of us leading us through the jungle as it were leading us also across the deserts leading us across the seas wherever we have to go we have a guiding star we have a shepherd who goes before us and who leads us
[35:41] I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel my reins my heart also instructs me in the night season God speaking to me through my heart instructing me I have set the Lord always before me therefore I shall not be moved and so the psalmist concludes rejoicing in the Lord thou wilt not leave my soul in hell in the grave I shall rise again just as Jesus rose for thou wilt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption Jesus rose from the dead and so will we thou wilt show to me the path of life I shall not die but live and even when death comes God is showing me the path of life it's something he does every day he shows us the path to life and the path of life the path of eternal life whom to know is life eternal in thy presence is fullness of joy and at thy right hand are pleasures evermore are you able to rejoice with the psalmist and these words to say tonight the lord is my potion the lord is my cup the lord looks after me and keeps me and maintains my lot the lord has made my lines full in pleasant places the lord has given me joy and gladness and this joy will never be taken from me and my destination is to be at god's right hand and there i'll have pleasures evermore rejoice oh child of god and if you're not one of them seek the lord seek him tonight and seek the pleasures that cause all other pleasures to fall into the shade let us pray oh lord our god help us to lay hold of thy word and to rejoice in what it says to us and to be thrilled by the great message of scripture grant oh lord that the gospel of god's redeeming grace would constantly cause us to be joyful rejoicing in what thou has done for us and what thou will yet do for us be with us and bless us and encourage us lead us forward guide us and direct us and mark not our iniquities against us for
[38:50] Jesus sake Amen