Psalm 16
Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”
As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight.
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.
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. ESV
I'm going to exercise writer's prerogative and focus on just one verse.
6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
This morning we were praying for one of our church elders who is moving to another state, and I was thinking about this verse. When you commit to walk with the Lord, you can be sure that your boundary lines will be laid in good places, but some times the lines move! Where I grew up in Illinois, most people thought of boundary lines a fixed. Many people were born and died on the same farm. Some would prosper and purchase a neighboring farm to expand their lines, but most were content to live within the boundaries set by their fathers.
Our family was a bit different in this regard. Over a period of seven generations, the Brillhart's migrated from Europe to Pennsylvania and then to Illinois. My great-grandfather moved part of the family on to Kansas, but my grandfather stayed in Illinois. I had one uncle who moved his family all the way to Colorado, though he was motivated by health reasons. I myself have made a couple of major moves, from Illinois to Pennsylvania to Alabama.
Sometimes, you can be settled in a place, being content with your lines, when the Lord says, "This is good, but your destiny lies in a different place." That was certainly the case when I moved from Pittsburgh to Mobile, Alabama. The Lord had a definite purpose for us on the Gulf Coast that was bigger and better than what we were doing in Pittsburgh. I'm sure this is the case for Elder M.L., where there is a greater destiny and wider purpose in Texas, even though much has already been accomplished in Alabama.
The psalmist closes with "You make known to me the path of life;...". Sometimes that path can lead to some different and interesting places, places where you would never have imagined that you would go. But when you listen to the Lord's plan, that path will lead to a place where you can say "my lines will fall to me in pleasant places. I have a beautiful inheritance."
Listen to Psalm 16 by the Psalms Project:
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