My Portion

“CHETH. Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words.” (Psalms 119:57)

The author of Psalms 119 is unknown. But it’s believed to have been Ezra. Ezra was a priest or scribe who returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity. He reintroduced the Torah, which are the first five books of the Bible to the Jewish people who had been lax about following God.

The word “portion” means allotment or inheritance. At the beginning of the verse, we see the word “CHETH.” I couldn’t explain it better than Yahoo.

· Psalm 119 is one of several acrostic poems found in the Bible. Its 176 verses are divided into 22 stanzas, one for each of the 22 characters that make up the Hebrew alphabet. In the Hebrew text, each of the eight verses of each stanza begins with the same Hebrew letter.

Ezra was zealous about the Law. He was very determined to know it and to teach it to the people. His zeal is demonstrated in verse 57. His inheritance was the Lord. His zeal drove him to devote his life to teaching the people the Law. It meant that he did not consider his inheritance to be anything in this world that maybe is normal to inherit. The Lord was his source of happiness and all that he needed. When the Lord is our inheritance, we need nothing else. He provides us with what we need in spirit, soul (mind, will and emotions) and body.

What do we consider our inheritance? Is it the possessions, the monies, the business or the good name of our parents when they pass on? A worldly inheritance will fade. It’s temporal and is good only here on earth while we’re alive. It can be a distraction and a hinderance to an inheritance that is eternal, beyond our lives here on earth. (1 Peter 1:4) Jesus told about how in the final judgement, all the nations will come before the Son of Man Who will like a shepherd separate the goats from the sheep; goats on His left and sheep on His right. He will then tell the sheep on His right, “...Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” (Mat 25:31-34) So we see that as followers of Jesus, there is an in heritance to be had. Then Jesus continues to give the reasons why the sheep on the right will inherit the kingdom. “For I was an hungred, and ye gave Me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me in: Naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me.” (Matthew 25:35-36)

When we study the actions of the sheep, we see that they didn’t live their lives for themselves. They were selfless in their giving of what they had, their time and their love. Our lives are so self-involved today that we first consider if we can fit in our Christian “obligations” (because that is what we now consider the life Jesus calls us to live, an obligation) to accommodate our schedules, our dinner plans, our meetings and any other excuse we can come up with to keep us from serving and loving others.

Does it sound too harsh? That’s how far off we have gotten off the track. Can we truly say like Ezra, “The Lord is my portion, my inheritance? Are we fulfilled only in Him? Are we happy only in Him? Is He all we need? “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.” (Romans 8:14-17) Notice in this Scripture that it’s not just talking about being saved but being led by the Spirit of God. It also speaks of suffering. It means suffering jointly with the same kind of suffering of Jesus, particularly persecution.

This is one of those things Christians don’t want to think about. But affliction is real for us, especially if we’re doing what Jesus told us to do. It’s a battle for your soul (mind, will, emotions). This is not affliction for bad decisions or sin. Those are consequences. The suffering Paul is talking about is an assault because we are being obedient to Jesus. “However, if you suffer because you are a Christian, don't be ashamed of it, but thank God that you bear Christ's name.” (1Peter 4:16 GNB) As we come closer to the end times, it will become harder to obey Jesus without affliction. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)