The Lord Is My Portion (Psalm 119:57-64)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.680 --> 00:00:05.839 Please turn with me to our sermon text. It's found in the Book of 2 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:12.150 Psalms, Psalm One hundred nineteen. I'm going to going to be reading verses 3 00:00:12.230 --> 00:00:17.309 fifty seven through sixty four. However, Verse Fifty Seven is is what I'm 4 00:00:17.350 --> 00:00:21.980 going to be focusing on in the sermon. So here now, God's word 5 00:00:22.059 --> 00:00:26.820 from the book of Psalm some one hundred nineteen, beginning with verse fifty seven. 6 00:00:29.780 --> 00:00:36.329 The Lord is my portion. I promise to keep your words. I 7 00:00:36.450 --> 00:00:41.570 entreat your favor with all my heart. Be Gracious to me according to Your 8 00:00:41.689 --> 00:00:47.170 promise. When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your 9 00:00:47.250 --> 00:00:54.000 testimonies. I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments. The cords 10 00:00:54.039 --> 00:00:59.039 of the wicked ensnare me. I do not forget your law. At midnight, 11 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:03.629 I rise to praise you because of your righteous rules. I'm a companion 12 00:01:03.750 --> 00:01:08.390 of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts. The Earth, 13 00:01:08.430 --> 00:01:15.590 O Lord, is full of your steadfast love. Teach me your statutes. 14 00:01:15.510 --> 00:01:19.420 This is the word of the Lord. Amen, you may be seated. 15 00:01:25.939 --> 00:01:29.340 Well, let's say that the Lord were to appear to you and here 16 00:01:29.420 --> 00:01:34.250 were to ask you, what is it that you want. I mean that 17 00:01:34.489 --> 00:01:38.569 that gets everybody here of any age right. What is it? What is 18 00:01:38.609 --> 00:01:44.530 it that you really want? I mean what is the one thing that you 19 00:01:44.689 --> 00:01:49.439 desire above all else? Whatever it is, I will grant it to you. 20 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:55.400 I wouldn't that be an exciting appearance of the Lord. So what is 21 00:01:55.439 --> 00:02:00.709 it that that immediately comes to your mind? And perhaps for some of you 22 00:02:01.349 --> 00:02:07.389 the first thought might be you mean only one thing, but, Lord, 23 00:02:08.430 --> 00:02:14.550 I have so many needs. And here's kind of what we're getting at here. 24 00:02:15.740 --> 00:02:23.460 Assuming that the Lord did grant you your desire, would it, whatever 25 00:02:23.500 --> 00:02:28.500 it is that you dream of and which occupies so much of your thoughts, 26 00:02:29.979 --> 00:02:34.569 if it were really giving to you, and let's be really, really honest 27 00:02:34.569 --> 00:02:38.729 about this, if it was given to you, would it really really give 28 00:02:38.770 --> 00:02:46.800 you fullness and enduring, lasting satisfaction? We all know the answer. It 29 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:52.639 wouldn't. It would not truly, whatever it is, be able to really 30 00:02:52.759 --> 00:02:57.159 fill our hearts and our souls. It might be nice for a while, 31 00:02:57.199 --> 00:03:00.229 it might be fun, might be enjoyable for a while, but it won't 32 00:03:00.229 --> 00:03:07.710 last. And that's part of the reality of life in this world. And 33 00:03:07.789 --> 00:03:13.099 in fact it's this very reality which the book of Ecclesiastes drives home so very 34 00:03:13.219 --> 00:03:16.340 well. In ecclesiast these, chapter two, we read this. I'm picking 35 00:03:16.379 --> 00:03:23.460 up at Verse Four. I made great works. I built houses and planted 36 00:03:23.500 --> 00:03:29.689 vineyards for myself. I Made Myself Gardens and parks and planted all kinds of 37 00:03:29.810 --> 00:03:35.889 fruit trees. I made myself pools. I bought male and female slaves. 38 00:03:36.169 --> 00:03:40.919 I also had great possessions of herds and and flocks. I also gathered for 39 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:47.240 myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, 40 00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:53.759 both men and women, and many concubines, and whatever my eyes desired, 41 00:03:53.400 --> 00:03:59.590 I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure. 42 00:04:00.909 --> 00:04:03.669 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had 43 00:04:03.750 --> 00:04:12.259 expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after 44 00:04:12.379 --> 00:04:18.420 the wind. Now, with that in mind the fact that nothing in all 45 00:04:18.579 --> 00:04:24.970 the earth that that you can dream of can truly fill your soul, can 46 00:04:25.129 --> 00:04:30.810 truly give you lasting, in enduring satisfaction, let's go back to where we 47 00:04:30.930 --> 00:04:36.170 began. Let's again say the Lord appears to you and he asks you, 48 00:04:36.730 --> 00:04:43.000 okay, what is it you want? Whatever it is, I will grant 49 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:50.279 it. Who among US would ever think to reply, Lord, I want 50 00:04:50.399 --> 00:05:00.790 you, I want you to be my portion. That's what we have here. 51 00:05:01.949 --> 00:05:05.069 Psalm one nineteen, verse fifty seven, that first part of the verse, 52 00:05:05.509 --> 00:05:13.300 the Lord is my portion. And you know what, regarding the Lord 53 00:05:13.420 --> 00:05:19.899 being our portion in Christ, this is exactly what takes place for all who've 54 00:05:19.939 --> 00:05:25.529 put their faith in, their trust in Christ, saving work on the Cross, 55 00:05:26.410 --> 00:05:32.689 by His grace, Christ gives us himself. Do you realize that he 56 00:05:32.810 --> 00:05:41.000 gives us himself? He gives himself to us as are everlasting, soul satisfying 57 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:46.480 portion, such that we truly can begin to say, and I say begin 58 00:05:46.680 --> 00:05:49.990 because it's in heaven where this will truly be realized in all of its glory, 59 00:05:50.029 --> 00:05:55.310 or we truly can begin to say, alongside the Psalmness, the Lord, 60 00:05:56.350 --> 00:06:02.589 he is my portion. Now, if we're really going to grasp the 61 00:06:02.829 --> 00:06:09.420 the sheer wonder and an utter desirability of this the Lord is my portion, 62 00:06:10.459 --> 00:06:15.620 we have to understand that this concept, that this is a concept which possesses 63 00:06:15.779 --> 00:06:19.129 a deep meaning and importance in in the Old Testament. See, what we 64 00:06:19.209 --> 00:06:24.449 have here in verse for Fifty Seven doesn't just come out of nowhere. It 65 00:06:24.569 --> 00:06:28.529 comes out of a bigger context of the Old Testament itself and in fact we 66 00:06:28.689 --> 00:06:32.560 find its origins back in the book of Joshua and the dividing up of the 67 00:06:32.680 --> 00:06:42.439 Promised Land amongst the various tribes of Israel. Regarding the Promised Land, it's 68 00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:46.680 not like we might think of our own country and maybe the settling of the 69 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:50.509 Midwest or the West, where some settlers perhaps might decide to go off in 70 00:06:50.589 --> 00:06:54.910 a more northerly direction. You know, I'm going to go to Oregon or 71 00:06:55.149 --> 00:06:59.430 or or Washington, I'm going to go to California and and so forth. 72 00:07:00.430 --> 00:07:03.060 In the book of Joshua, very differently, we find the dividing up of 73 00:07:03.139 --> 00:07:09.899 the land, that it was determined by God, and thus there was there 74 00:07:09.980 --> 00:07:13.540 was an order to it, a plan, there was a design to it. 75 00:07:15.699 --> 00:07:21.329 God divided up the land into geographical regions, with each tribe inheriting a 76 00:07:23.250 --> 00:07:30.800 particular geographic region. In other words, each tribe had their own territory or 77 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:39.199 inheritance or portion, there's that word from Verse Fifty Seven. Each tribe had 78 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:44.629 their own portion of the promised land, which really the Promised Land itself is 79 00:07:44.790 --> 00:07:49.189 a shadow of heaven it itself. That land wasn't the ultimate. So, 80 00:07:49.430 --> 00:07:55.230 for example, to understand this more, let's consider the inheritance or portion of 81 00:07:55.310 --> 00:08:00.740 land that the tribe of Judah received, as recorded in Joshua. Fifteen versus 82 00:08:00.819 --> 00:08:03.860 one to two. There we read the allotment for the tribe of the people 83 00:08:03.939 --> 00:08:09.180 of Judah, according to their clans, reached southward to the boundary of Edom, 84 00:08:09.660 --> 00:08:13.889 to the Wilderness of Zin at the furthest south, and their South Band 85 00:08:15.009 --> 00:08:18.649 boundary ran from the end of the salt sea, from the bay that faces 86 00:08:18.769 --> 00:08:24.170 southward. And then, having described the geographical boundaries, in verse twenty, 87 00:08:24.290 --> 00:08:31.720 there it says so importantly, this is the inheritance. It could be translated 88 00:08:31.799 --> 00:08:37.759 portion. This is the portion of the tribe of Judah according to their clans. 89 00:08:39.559 --> 00:08:46.029 The account here in scripture of assigning specific portions of the land to each 90 00:08:46.029 --> 00:08:50.230 of the various tribes continues on through a number of chapters in the book of 91 00:08:50.309 --> 00:08:54.820 Joshua, with each tribe receiving their own portion, their own inheritance of the 92 00:08:54.940 --> 00:09:03.179 promised land in which they could settle old and call their own. But okay, 93 00:09:03.700 --> 00:09:07.779 and this is extremely significant, so bear with me as I'm kind of 94 00:09:07.820 --> 00:09:15.009 developing this background to this idea of portion very significantly for the tribe of Levi. 95 00:09:16.090 --> 00:09:20.970 Do you know what they inherited the tribe of Levi, rather than being 96 00:09:22.210 --> 00:09:28.279 given a territory, instead, they were given cities, forty eight cities total, 97 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:35.120 priestly cities distributed throughout the promised land. And this, of course, 98 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:39.230 the distribution of those cities around the Promised Land, was done so they could 99 00:09:39.789 --> 00:09:45.710 be better available to the Israelites throughout the land. But this raises a huge 100 00:09:45.710 --> 00:09:52.860 question. All those tribes got got land, but the Levites only got cities. 101 00:09:52.940 --> 00:09:58.820 So so the question is, were they short changed, not getting any 102 00:09:58.019 --> 00:10:03.419 real land? You know, I wonder if this had taken place today, 103 00:10:03.379 --> 00:10:07.970 the Levites merely getting cities, not land. I almost wonder if we might, 104 00:10:09.009 --> 00:10:11.210 if this happened today, if we might end up turning on the evening 105 00:10:11.250 --> 00:10:16.490 news to scenes of the Levites picketing Moses. You know, the tent of 106 00:10:16.610 --> 00:10:24.440 meeting with signs Yahweh is unfair. We deserve land also in our day and 107 00:10:24.519 --> 00:10:31.559 age. That probably the least of what would happen. So were they short 108 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:37.470 changed? To find the answer, consider Joshua Thirteen, verse thirty three. 109 00:10:39.110 --> 00:10:46.669 But to the tribe of Levi, Moses gave no inheritance. The Lord, 110 00:10:46.110 --> 00:10:52.500 God of Israel, is their inheritance or portion. Do you get that? 111 00:10:52.340 --> 00:10:58.860 He gave no land, but the Lord is their portion, he is their 112 00:10:58.980 --> 00:11:03.460 inheritance. So that's it, you see, that's the point. They didn't 113 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:09.610 get mere land, they got God, they got Christ, they got the 114 00:11:09.769 --> 00:11:15.330 Lord as their portion. And that then takes us to numbers, Chapter Eighteen, 115 00:11:15.409 --> 00:11:20.600 verse twenty, where we read and the Lord said to Aaron, you 116 00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:24.799 shall have no inheritance in their land. Neither show you have a portion among 117 00:11:24.840 --> 00:11:33.830 them. I am your portion and your inheritance. That's actually awesome. Now 118 00:11:33.950 --> 00:11:39.230 this brings us to the to really the heart issue for understanding the significance of 119 00:11:39.269 --> 00:11:45.549 Psalm one hundred nineteen, verse fifty seven, where the psalmists declared the Lord, 120 00:11:46.990 --> 00:11:52.860 the Lord is my portion. Again, who got the better deal in 121 00:11:52.940 --> 00:11:58.019 the distribution of the land? Was it the the eleven tribes who received actual 122 00:11:58.019 --> 00:12:03.450 land, real dirt that they could pick down a bend down and pick up 123 00:12:03.570 --> 00:12:09.450 and and and declare this this is mine, this is given to me by 124 00:12:09.570 --> 00:12:13.929 the Lord. They got real land in which they could they could build a 125 00:12:13.049 --> 00:12:18.600 home and farm, raise sheep pass on down to their descendants from generation to 126 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:26.360 generation. You see what the psalmness is doing here in verse fifty seven, 127 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:33.750 is reaching back to the inheritances, back to the portions which were distributed back 128 00:12:33.789 --> 00:12:37.389 in the days of Joshua. And what he's saying is that what he really 129 00:12:37.509 --> 00:12:46.700 desires is not some piece of real estate which he knows will never ultimately satisfy 130 00:12:46.820 --> 00:12:50.299 the soul. As wonderful as land is. It's a wonderful thing to own 131 00:12:50.299 --> 00:12:56.179 land, but but he knows the things of this world. There's a limit 132 00:12:56.779 --> 00:13:01.090 to how much they can fill your heart and soul. So rather what he 133 00:13:01.250 --> 00:13:07.009 desires, he's very insightful. What he desires is that which truly can fill 134 00:13:07.889 --> 00:13:15.919 the heart and soul. The Lord is my portion. You See, only 135 00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:22.279 the Lord himself can truly bring lasting, true fullness of heart and soul. 136 00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:28.110 Everything else in this created world, God declared it good. Okay, I'm 137 00:13:28.110 --> 00:13:31.909 not. I'm not saying that at all. But everything else in this finite 138 00:13:33.350 --> 00:13:37.190 world is limited in what it can give, in what it can provide. 139 00:13:39.029 --> 00:13:45.820 Everything and anything else will only disappoint and let you down in the end. 140 00:13:46.139 --> 00:13:52.740 If that's what you place your ultimate hope and satisfaction in, and we all 141 00:13:52.820 --> 00:13:58.210 know this from our own personal experience in life. This is why we spend 142 00:13:58.210 --> 00:14:05.210 a lifetime grasping after more and more. This is why we have the credit 143 00:14:05.250 --> 00:14:11.840 card debt that we have. This is why so many Christians, to borrow 144 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:13.879 a phrase, I think it's from Dave Ramsey, this is why so many 145 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:22.600 Christians are driving their ties. You see, we try, as James Voice 146 00:14:22.679 --> 00:14:33.149 observes, to possess God is to have everything. Do you believe that to 147 00:14:33.269 --> 00:14:41.460 possess God is truly to have everything? That is a faith challenging, faith 148 00:14:41.659 --> 00:14:48.460 expanding statement. Now Dr Ligoan Duncan, one of my former professors, makes 149 00:14:48.500 --> 00:14:54.889 a very interesting and spot on observation regarding verse fifty seven. In this idea 150 00:14:54.129 --> 00:15:00.250 of the Lord being our portion, he points out that the greatest gift that 151 00:15:00.330 --> 00:15:07.799 the Lord gives really and truly is himself. In other words, if you're 152 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:11.879 trusting in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, then as a result, and 153 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:16.240 this is the part we're all familiar with, if you're trusting in Christ, 154 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:20.399 as a result you've received the full forgiveness of every single one of your sins 155 00:15:22.190 --> 00:15:26.470 and you've also been justified. There's a good Lutheran doctrine for you and and 156 00:15:26.750 --> 00:15:31.070 reform. You've been justified. What justified means is you've been made right with 157 00:15:31.230 --> 00:15:39.100 God. God is no longer scowling down upon you because of your sin. 158 00:15:39.220 --> 00:15:43.860 He's now smiling on you. We've received the forgiveness for every one of our 159 00:15:43.899 --> 00:15:52.490 sins. We've been justified by the imputed righteousness of Christ, and that's where 160 00:15:52.529 --> 00:15:56.129 we tend to leave it, isn't it? The benefits of Christ, but 161 00:15:56.289 --> 00:16:02.289 hold on to your seats, because this can be startling. Please realize having 162 00:16:02.330 --> 00:16:07.799 all of your sins forgiven through Christ and having the perfect obedience of Christ credited 163 00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:15.840 to you, neither one of these absolutely necessary benefits of Christ's work constitutes the 164 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:25.549 highest gift that God gives us. Rather, the highest and the greatest gift 165 00:16:25.669 --> 00:16:34.539 that God gives to us in Christ is himself. It's himself. Think about 166 00:16:34.539 --> 00:16:40.580 it. We receive forgiveness so that we might not be condemned and so that 167 00:16:40.700 --> 00:16:45.779 God's wrath against us might be turned away. And we receive justification by grace 168 00:16:45.820 --> 00:16:49.809 alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, so that we might be 169 00:16:51.049 --> 00:16:55.169 pardoned of all of our sins, so we might be declared righteous in God's 170 00:16:55.169 --> 00:17:02.360 sight. But even our forgiveness, even justification is not the ultimate blessing of 171 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:08.160 of the work of Christ. The whole goal of Christ's work is so that 172 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:17.230 we might be reconciled to God, and yet more than mere reconciliation. Listen 173 00:17:17.309 --> 00:17:23.309 Up, because this is this is truly glorious. We are saved by the 174 00:17:23.430 --> 00:17:27.470 work of Christ, so God again, to repeat it, so God can 175 00:17:27.549 --> 00:17:33.220 give us the greatest gift of all, which is himself. Verse Fifty Seven. 176 00:17:33.660 --> 00:17:44.289 The Lord is my portion now in this discussion. There's a chance that 177 00:17:44.410 --> 00:17:48.609 perhaps I've left some of you behind. Perhaps you're still thinking, yeah, 178 00:17:48.690 --> 00:17:55.369 but but those other tribes, they got land, don't you understand? They 179 00:17:55.410 --> 00:18:00.640 got something concrete, terra firma, something solid, something real, something they 180 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:07.119 can use, something that can benefit them every day of life. Isn't it 181 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:11.799 better to have good things now? In fact, isn't it better to have, 182 00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:15.950 to use the phrase, our best life now? Wouldn't it be be 183 00:18:17.509 --> 00:18:22.869 better to hold in our hands that winning laud'll ticket were several hundred million? 184 00:18:23.269 --> 00:18:29.579 Would that be better? When you like that ticket? In answer to these 185 00:18:29.660 --> 00:18:36.539 very real questions, these very real struggles, please realize there's nothing new in 186 00:18:36.779 --> 00:18:41.890 in these sorts of questions. In Psalm seventy three. The psalmness struggled over 187 00:18:41.970 --> 00:18:48.809 the prosperity the wicked, and maybe you have. He struggled over the fact 188 00:18:48.809 --> 00:18:52.329 that the wicked were prospering. He writes Psalm Seventy three, verses three and 189 00:18:52.450 --> 00:18:56.480 four. I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the 190 00:18:56.519 --> 00:19:03.480 wicked, for they have no pangs until death. Their bodies are fat and 191 00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:07.240 sleek, they're not in trouble as others are. They're not stricken like the 192 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:15.190 rest of mankind. But then the psalmnists after confessing to God. I envy 193 00:19:15.349 --> 00:19:21.589 the wicked. Look at what they've got. Then he continues a little later, 194 00:19:21.630 --> 00:19:26.539 versus sixteen, seventeen eighteen. But when I thought how to understand this, 195 00:19:27.539 --> 00:19:33.420 it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary 196 00:19:33.539 --> 00:19:38.650 of God. Then I discerned their end. Truly, you set them in 197 00:19:38.849 --> 00:19:45.170 slippery places, you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in 198 00:19:45.210 --> 00:19:51.009 a moment, swept the way utterly by terrors. Now the words what might 199 00:19:51.130 --> 00:19:56.279 look to us at first glance even a longer observation. They're the ones prospering, 200 00:19:56.359 --> 00:20:00.039 they're the ones happy in life. They're the ones that have it all. 201 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:04.920 In the end, in the end, in a moment, they will 202 00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:11.549 be destroyed. What good? Think about this for a moment. What good 203 00:20:11.630 --> 00:20:17.309 are riches and prosperity and even health if your fate is to be swept away 204 00:20:17.750 --> 00:20:22.299 in the end to the eternal fires of God's judgment? For what does it 205 00:20:22.460 --> 00:20:26.299 Prophet Jesus asked, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world 206 00:20:26.339 --> 00:20:32.700 and forfeit his soul? In fact, this is part of what makes hell 207 00:20:32.819 --> 00:20:41.569 hell. Hell is comprised of a deep, deep, empty, empty ache, 208 00:20:41.930 --> 00:20:52.279 ache, anguish, never ever even for an instant peace fullness, only 209 00:20:52.599 --> 00:21:00.160 and everlasting thirst and and ae that never can be quenched. So, with 210 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:07.750 this in mind, consider again the statement the Lord is my portion. Thomas 211 00:21:07.829 --> 00:21:11.829 Boston suggests that we imagine taking all the good things that we value in life. 212 00:21:12.549 --> 00:21:15.029 And if you're like me, there's a lot of good things that I 213 00:21:15.150 --> 00:21:19.180 value in life. I'm grateful to God for them. They are gifts from 214 00:21:19.220 --> 00:21:25.660 him. Okay, I'm not saying let's go out sell everything, start a 215 00:21:25.740 --> 00:21:30.859 monastery where you know, clothes, like John the Baptist and so forth. 216 00:21:30.980 --> 00:21:36.809 No, but but like Thomas Boston, suggests. We need to get these 217 00:21:36.849 --> 00:21:41.130 things into perspective. So let's imagine that we take all the good things which 218 00:21:41.130 --> 00:21:45.329 we value in life and we place them on one side of a scale or 219 00:21:45.410 --> 00:21:51.279 a balance, and then place all the Excellencies of Christ on the other side. 220 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:57.200 Do you know what would happen? Christ would outweigh all of those things 221 00:21:57.279 --> 00:22:00.789 which you value, what you're pursuing in life. He would. He would 222 00:22:00.789 --> 00:22:11.029 outweigh them his excellencies, by magnitudes. Another illustration he suggests imagining all of 223 00:22:11.150 --> 00:22:15.380 those things that you value as being like stars up in the night sky. 224 00:22:18.380 --> 00:22:23.700 Beautiful Stars, beautiful night sky in many places, here in Arizona at least, 225 00:22:25.539 --> 00:22:27.099 as you look up at those stars in a night sky, you behold 226 00:22:27.380 --> 00:22:33.329 their beauty, bright and sparkling there in the dark sky. But when the 227 00:22:33.490 --> 00:22:41.289 sun rises in the morning, every single star totally completely disappears because the sun 228 00:22:41.849 --> 00:22:52.079 is magnitudes brighter than every single one of those night stars. So also when 229 00:22:52.119 --> 00:22:56.720 we compare the brilliance and the glory and the fullness of Christ to everything that 230 00:22:56.839 --> 00:23:04.349 we can grasp after in life, absolutely everything else pails in comparison. The 231 00:23:04.549 --> 00:23:15.019 Lord is my portion consider Moses to try and illustrate this little more. Consider 232 00:23:15.140 --> 00:23:22.299 Moses, when he asked the preincarnate Christ, show me Your glory. That 233 00:23:22.500 --> 00:23:26.700 was a fabulous request on the part of Moses, wasn't it? Show me 234 00:23:26.779 --> 00:23:32.529 Your glory. And the Lord responded by placing Moses in the the safety of 235 00:23:32.609 --> 00:23:36.849 that gap, amongst those rocks, those boulders, and and he placed them 236 00:23:36.890 --> 00:23:41.440 there to shield him from the sheer, resplendent glory. And the Lord then 237 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:48.400 passed before Moses, proclaiming the Lord, the Lord a God, Merciful and 238 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:56.109 Gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast 239 00:23:56.269 --> 00:24:06.150 love for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin. You See, the 240 00:24:06.349 --> 00:24:14.059 glory of the Lord is the glory impart in large part, the glory of 241 00:24:14.180 --> 00:24:21.660 Christ, inward being bursting forth in blinding magnificence. The Glory of Christ is 242 00:24:21.779 --> 00:24:26.849 the glory of His love, His mercy, His grace, his goodness. 243 00:24:26.450 --> 00:24:34.970 It's the glory of his Justice, his wrath, His Holiness, his wisdom, 244 00:24:36.450 --> 00:24:44.359 his truth, his tenderness, his compassion, His Majesty. Can you 245 00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:49.599 maybe at least get a hint then, that everything else that we value, 246 00:24:52.039 --> 00:24:56.190 that we seek our happiness in, it's not that we throw it away. 247 00:24:56.390 --> 00:25:02.789 But to gain perspective, it pales in comparison to the glory, that Resplendent 248 00:25:03.789 --> 00:25:10.980 Glory of Jesus Christ. And thus there there is nothing more wonderful in life 249 00:25:11.180 --> 00:25:15.380 than to be able to really say, to stand alongside the somnist here and 250 00:25:15.500 --> 00:25:22.769 say the Lord, Yahweh is my portion. Yeah, way is my portion, 251 00:25:23.210 --> 00:25:27.490 consider also the Lord being our portion. In light of Psalm one hundred 252 00:25:27.569 --> 00:25:33.650 eighteen, verse one, there to Psalmnas calls us, Oh, give thanks 253 00:25:33.730 --> 00:25:38.759 to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. 254 00:25:40.680 --> 00:25:45.960 His steadfast love endures forever. This verse then begins with a call for 255 00:25:45.079 --> 00:25:51.309 us to do something very special. Were called to give thanks to the Lord. 256 00:25:52.150 --> 00:25:56.150 But why? Why give thanks to the Lord? Why should our hearts 257 00:25:56.230 --> 00:26:03.230 be filled with gratitude? Well, the answer is at least twofold. At 258 00:26:03.230 --> 00:26:07.980 least twofold. First, were to give thanks, as a psalm that says 259 00:26:07.059 --> 00:26:11.539 here, because the Lord, the Lord, really is good. And second, 260 00:26:11.579 --> 00:26:17.819 were to give thanks because his goodness experienced by his people, is experienced 261 00:26:17.859 --> 00:26:25.890 by his people in the fact that his steadfast love last a few weeks, 262 00:26:26.890 --> 00:26:30.730 okay, years, okay. Well, we'll stretch it a little bit. 263 00:26:30.890 --> 00:26:36.799 The Lord Steadfast love lasts a few years. Right now. That's that's our 264 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:47.000 problem, isn't it? The steadfast love of the Lord endures forever. It 265 00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:52.950 endures forever. We live in a world where people fall in love and they 266 00:26:53.069 --> 00:27:00.940 fall out of love, people fail in enduring in their commitment, enduring in 267 00:27:02.059 --> 00:27:06.779 their love, where we're a culture of divorce, where a culture where we 268 00:27:07.019 --> 00:27:17.009 expect divorce as an illustration and in our fallen state we are unreliable, we 269 00:27:17.210 --> 00:27:22.809 let each other down. But note carefully that we're told in Psalm one hundred 270 00:27:22.890 --> 00:27:26.650 eighteen and else where in scripture, we're told that Christ's love for us is 271 00:27:26.890 --> 00:27:34.319 a very special kind of love. It's a love which is steadfast, it's 272 00:27:34.359 --> 00:27:41.960 a love which endures forever, and I absolutely love the way that Dr Duncan 273 00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:48.509 describes this special divine love. He calls it the love which will never let 274 00:27:48.589 --> 00:27:53.910 us go, the love which will never let us go. He writes the 275 00:27:53.990 --> 00:28:00.460 Psalmness is celebrating the fact that God remains steadfast and immovable in his love for 276 00:28:00.660 --> 00:28:10.859 us, despite our undeserving despite our wanderings and despite our failings and are stumbling. 277 00:28:11.059 --> 00:28:17.809 This is the steadfast love of God to Israel, that despite Israel's failings, 278 00:28:18.289 --> 00:28:23.049 God kept his promises to her. Think about that. The whole story 279 00:28:23.170 --> 00:28:30.160 of the Old Testament repeated failure, repeated apostasy, repeated idolatry, and yet 280 00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:41.359 God kept his steadfast love for Israel, continuing to build the case that we 281 00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:45.950 should desire the Lord to be our portion. Consider we're created in the very 282 00:28:47.109 --> 00:28:53.390 image of God and thus we are made to know God intimately. That is 283 00:28:53.470 --> 00:28:59.259 how we were made at in our deepest being. We're made to love him, 284 00:28:59.380 --> 00:29:04.180 to know him, to enjoy him and consider further, all good things 285 00:29:04.339 --> 00:29:11.130 come from God and are found in God. So let's think about our situation 286 00:29:11.369 --> 00:29:15.970 here in this world. Due to our sin, due to our sin, 287 00:29:15.089 --> 00:29:21.809 due to our rebellion, due to our lack of trust, we're alienated from 288 00:29:21.890 --> 00:29:26.160 God. That's the human condition. We're alienated from God. In fact, 289 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:33.079 we're under his wrath and judgment. But when we embrace Jesus Christ as our 290 00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:37.799 Lord and Savior, as I've said earlier, all of our sins are forgiven. 291 00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:45.150 We're restored back to God such that he becomes our God and we become 292 00:29:45.269 --> 00:29:49.549 his people. And you have to understand something very, very important about God 293 00:29:49.829 --> 00:29:56.220 and our lives. Set Augustine, or Ustin, if you prefer, Saint 294 00:29:56.259 --> 00:30:03.059 Augustine so famously said. Lord, you have made us for yourself, and 295 00:30:03.259 --> 00:30:10.250 our hearts are restless until they find the rest in you. Were made for 296 00:30:10.369 --> 00:30:15.809 God, and we will be restless, always wandering, always striving, until 297 00:30:15.809 --> 00:30:22.519 we find our rest in God, in Christ. Then we regain the deepest 298 00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:29.599 need of our hearts, of our souls, of our being and intimate personal 299 00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:36.430 covenant relationship with God himself. For in Christ, were told by the Apostle 300 00:30:36.549 --> 00:30:41.349 Paul, for in Christ all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. 301 00:30:42.109 --> 00:30:47.710 Have you considered that before? In Christ the fullness of God dwells. After 302 00:30:47.750 --> 00:30:52.819 all, he is God, right, that's an embracing Christ by faith, 303 00:30:52.220 --> 00:30:56.940 knowing him deeply, should be our greatest treasure, our greatest portion, and 304 00:30:57.099 --> 00:31:04.490 this is because Christ, through Christ, God gives us himself, and thus 305 00:31:04.609 --> 00:31:10.130 our restless hearts and souls and minds finally find their rest, their portion, 306 00:31:10.569 --> 00:31:18.640 their fullness in him. Think about it. No matter what you attain on 307 00:31:18.839 --> 00:31:22.119 Earth, matter what you attain on Earth, and and all of you young 308 00:31:22.200 --> 00:31:26.559 people here this morning, you have your you've heard this before. You have 309 00:31:26.680 --> 00:31:32.559 your life ahead of you and you probably have goals and aspirations, and that's 310 00:31:32.599 --> 00:31:37.750 awesome. God wants us to aspire, to achieve for his glory, to 311 00:31:37.910 --> 00:31:44.789 live for his glory. But you also have to understand something. No matter 312 00:31:44.910 --> 00:31:51.259 what you may attain on Earth, it will never truly fill, it will 313 00:31:51.339 --> 00:32:00.259 never fully satisfy your heart and your soul. It was never meant to fully 314 00:32:00.299 --> 00:32:07.369 fill, fully satisfy. You can you can marry the most wonderful, beautiful 315 00:32:07.410 --> 00:32:13.849 person imaginable, and yet your heart won't find its fullness in them. During 316 00:32:13.930 --> 00:32:17.599 the honeymoon stage you may think you found it. You know. You can 317 00:32:17.599 --> 00:32:25.559 attain riches and have all that. Riches can buy multiple homes, fabulous home 318 00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:31.990 spread throughout the world, possessions that the the finest foods. You can attain 319 00:32:32.190 --> 00:32:39.430 fame, power, sex. You can have the greatest body muscles, sexy, 320 00:32:39.750 --> 00:32:47.619 beautiful. It's a trap. You won't find your rest, whatever you 321 00:32:47.740 --> 00:32:53.819 can think of in this world. It's not God and it won't be able 322 00:32:53.859 --> 00:32:59.569 to to really give you your rest. It will never truly be able to 323 00:32:59.690 --> 00:33:05.849 satisfy. Why? Because everything in this world is finite, it's it's limited. 324 00:33:05.890 --> 00:33:09.690 It can only give so much and then there's nothing more it can give. 325 00:33:10.650 --> 00:33:15.359 There's an end, there's a limit. But then the Lord. Consider 326 00:33:15.480 --> 00:33:21.640 this. The Lord is our portion. He's infinite. He's without limit, 327 00:33:21.799 --> 00:33:24.319 whether it be is love or goodness, or joy or grace or provision, 328 00:33:24.799 --> 00:33:31.190 even his very person. He truly is without limit in all of his qualities 329 00:33:31.230 --> 00:33:38.109 and being in person. Please understand only the infinite Lord can fill your restless 330 00:33:38.109 --> 00:33:45.460 heart and soul. This then brings us to the rest of of our verse. 331 00:33:45.579 --> 00:33:49.740 Here I've only done the first half of Verse Fifty Seven. The Lord 332 00:33:49.819 --> 00:33:52.859 is my portion. The second part is, I promise to keep your words. 333 00:33:54.180 --> 00:33:59.930 I promise to keep your words. How, when I read that, 334 00:34:00.170 --> 00:34:04.930 my question is, how can the psalmnist dare to make such a promise? 335 00:34:05.450 --> 00:34:09.800 I'm going to keep your word, I'm going to keep your commandments. How 336 00:34:09.880 --> 00:34:17.599 can you dare to make that kind of promise to God? It's because really 337 00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:27.110 realizing, coming to grips with the fact that the Lord, he's our portion, 338 00:34:27.750 --> 00:34:36.230 goes a long way in enabling us to resist temptation to sin. Because 339 00:34:36.309 --> 00:34:39.619 what is temptation to sin? What is it but seeking to find our happiness, 340 00:34:39.739 --> 00:34:44.500 our joy, our pleasure, a high in something apart from God. 341 00:34:45.340 --> 00:34:50.539 And if we begin to realize the God is our true portion, we can 342 00:34:50.659 --> 00:34:54.929 begin to say no when temptation strikes. And so what I'm going to do 343 00:34:55.090 --> 00:35:00.530 now is clothes with a quote from Thomas Brooks, which I believe shows us 344 00:35:00.570 --> 00:35:05.929 the way to endure temptation and just keeps and thus keep God's word, through 345 00:35:06.010 --> 00:35:14.159 realizing the Lord is our portion. The Very Wise Puritan Pastor Thomas Brooks writes 346 00:35:14.400 --> 00:35:20.519 this little bit lengthy. Hang in there. I would counsel every Christian to 347 00:35:20.639 --> 00:35:28.110 answer all temptations with this short saying. The Lord is my portion. It's 348 00:35:28.150 --> 00:35:37.179 awesome temptation hits Internet, whatever, porn whatever. The Lord is my portion 349 00:35:37.380 --> 00:35:42.099 is how you answer that temptation. He goes, he says, Oh Christian, 350 00:35:43.579 --> 00:35:46.820 when Satan or the world shall tempt you with honors, answer the Lord 351 00:35:46.980 --> 00:35:53.369 is my portion. When they shall tempt you with riches. Answer the Lord 352 00:35:54.730 --> 00:36:00.650 is my portion. When they shall tempt you with a promotion. Answer the 353 00:36:00.889 --> 00:36:07.000 Lord is my portion when they shall tempt you with the favors of great ones. 354 00:36:07.039 --> 00:36:13.800 Answer the Lord is my portion. Yea. And when this persecuting world 355 00:36:13.880 --> 00:36:16.719 shall threaten you with the loss of all you have, answer the Lord is 356 00:36:16.840 --> 00:36:22.309 my portion, and when they shall threaten you with the loss of your freedom, 357 00:36:22.070 --> 00:36:27.750 answer the Lord is my portion, and when they shall threaten you with 358 00:36:27.869 --> 00:36:31.829 the loss of friends, answer the Lord is my portion, and when they 359 00:36:31.829 --> 00:36:37.940 shall threaten you with the loss of life, answer the Lord is my portion. 360 00:36:38.860 --> 00:36:43.179 Oh, sir, if Satan shall come to you with an apple, 361 00:36:43.300 --> 00:36:46.170 as once he did to eve, tell him the Lord is my portion, 362 00:36:46.210 --> 00:36:51.210 or with a grape, as he once did to Noah. Tell him that 363 00:36:51.489 --> 00:36:55.130 the Lord is your portion, or with expensive clothing, as once he did 364 00:36:55.210 --> 00:37:00.530 to Gohazi. Tell him that the Lord is your portion, or with a 365 00:37:00.610 --> 00:37:04.079 wedge of gold, as once he did to Aken. Tell him that the 366 00:37:04.239 --> 00:37:07.679 Lord is your portion, or a bag of money, as he once did 367 00:37:07.760 --> 00:37:14.039 the Judas. Tell him what the Lord is your portion, or with a 368 00:37:14.239 --> 00:37:20.510 princely crown, as he once did to Moses. Tell him the Lord is 369 00:37:20.590 --> 00:37:22.710 your portion. Let's pray.