My Portion

October 30

Lamentations 3-5

Psalm 119:57-64

Proverbs 26:8-10

Hebrews 9:1-10

My Portion

“Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore, I will wait for Him.’ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” Lamentations 3:22-26 NIV

“You are my portion, Lord; I have promised to obey Your words.” Psalm 119:57 NIV

Jeremiah is using the same word in verse 22 that David used in Psalm 119:41 for faithful love that we saw a couple of days ago. Because of the Lord’s hesed, Jeremiah is convinced that he and the Jewish remnant will be ok. Because he knows God is faithful and loyal, he is secure in the knowledge that they will be saved. Jeremiah wrote Lamentations after Jerusalem had been destroyed and most of the children of Israel were either killed or taken off to Babylon into captivity. God had warned him what was going to happen because of their unfaithfulness, and it happened just as God told him it would. Jeremiah had seen with his own eyes the punishment God had inflicted on the wicked. He knew the extent of God’s wrath and yet he was able to say, “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” This faith comes from a place of an intimate, personal relationship with God. He not only knows about God and His love, but He also knows God and has experienced the depth of His hesed.

Two of the verses in our reading today say the Lord is “my portion.” Jeremiah and David both use this term referring to God. This is an interesting choice of words. We think of God being our strength, our hope. our savior, our deliverer, our shelter, our refuge, and our peace. But what does it mean that He is our portion? When God gave the children of Israel the promised land, it was divided among the 11 tribes (the Levites were priests and did not get a section). Each tribe was allotted a portion based on the number of people in their tribe. The land was to remain in that tribe and was not to be sold or passed to anyone outside of the tribe through marriage. Family inheritance was very important and signified God’s provision for His people. The Levites were not given a portion because God promised to be their portion and would take care of all their needs. Jeremiah and David both recognized that God is the One who meets their needs and they do not have to rely on their family inheritance. He is the source of their provision. They recognized that nothing is as valuable as the promises of God. Nothing else could satisfy their needs and bring peace and joy to their lives. As believers we have been given the same promises. He is all we need. A lot of the fear and anxiety we experience can be avoided if we recognize that God is our portion. Because of His hesed, we can trust that He will take care of us and meet all our needs.