Grateful For Definition

“The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant [places]; yea, I have a goodly heritage.” (Ps 16:6 AV)

This verse can be taken several ways.  David could be speaking if his physical inheritance in the tribe of Judah.  This would certainly apply.  He could be referencing his relationship to his forefathers in the lineage of both being king and being in the lineage of the Messiah.  David may also mean that his lines in pleasant places and goodly heritage are the life God has chosen for him.  Particularly, to serve as king if Israel.  For us, the application can also be some of the above.  Add to those things our relationship to God by the blood of Christ and we can agree with David that God has, by His grace, given us pleasant places and a goodly heritage.

Do we thank the LORD for the lines?  The lines are the boundaries God puts in place to keep us in our place.  They are the purpose for which we exist.  Those lines give us definition.  Those lines give us plans for the future.  They guide us in the decisions we make.  The O.T. Hebrews were not allowed to blur those lines.  In whatever tribe you were born, that was where you remained.  For the male Hebrew, he could not marry outside his tribe for gaining another tribe’s territory.  For example, a man from Judah could not marry the daughter and only child of someone from Simeon.  The lines are the assignment of God for the lives of those who found themselves within.  Lines are good.  Lines save time in the sense there is no guesswork where one belongs.  Constraints are often seen as a bad thing.  Yet, for those wandering through life wondering where to go, lines are wonderful.  The heritage is the trail which one’s forefathers left and the trail one must continue.  A heritage gives explanation and reaffirms one’s purpose and direction.

Note in particular how David refers to the lines and heritage.  They are pleasant and goodly.  Now, one might think, “Well, of course they are.  He is the king of a nation.  He is the apple of God’s eye.  He has many wives.  He has wealth.  He has it good.”   Perhaps all of that was true.  But as a saint of God, we can say no less.  We are forgiven.  We are assured of a place in heaven.  We have the Creator of all things as our loving Father.  We have assurance and affirmation that can come only from God.  Where know where we have been.  We know where we are going.  We have a completed Bible.  The Bible is the voice of God to man.  We have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  We have so much.  God also created us for a purpose.  There is a plan for our lives.  There is a reason for our existence.  God can and does use us.  I am sure there were days that David wished he was back in the fields tending to the sheep.  I am sure there were days David wished his biggest battle was a lion or bear.  I am sure there were those times when his sons caused much grief.  With the blessings of life came also hard times.  David lost four children before he died.  David lost a wife only a few short years after he married her.  David’s own son rebelled and sought to kill him.  David’s lines and heritage were not without hard days, too.  But he was very grateful.  We can do no less.