(Psalms 16:5) “The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.”

Please read the previous devotions Part One, Part Two, and Part Three of this series to give continuity to the interpretation of this Psalm.

The words of Psalms 16 have been expounded between two thoughts of interpretation. First, they are the Words of Christ, our Representative, God in the flesh. Second, they are the words of David. The devotions in this series are presenting these words as the Words of Christ, the saint’s Representative. David is the human author inspired by God; but, the words are the words of Christ.

The Subject of this Psalm is the Lord Jesus Christ. David records the Words of Christ as our Representative; as our Perfect Savior; and as our Forerunner to the Father. Some of His statements relate only to Christ, the Perfect Lamb of God; His Only Begotten Son; God in the flesh. Other times His statements are as our Substitute; speaking for us in His Perfection; which also applies to us because we are His Body; the Church.

In this fourth devotion, Psalms 16:5 is the text verse: “The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.” David reveals Christ in His Priestly role. David points the reader of this verse to Aaron, the high priest of Israel and the head of the Tribe of Levi (the tribe of the priests of Israel). Aaron was appointed by God; and consecrated into the office of High Priest by Moses, per God’s instructions, to minister over the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. The Levites had no physical inheritance in the land of Israel, as did all the other tribes, when Joshua portioned out the conquered land. (Num. 18:20) “And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel. Thus, Aaron, was a type of Jesus Christ, the Great High Priest of the Sheep of God.

Therefore, Christ – as the High Priest of the Sheep of God (who are the true Israel of God, even His Body), “The LORD”; that is, Jehovah God – is “the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup; thou maintainest my lot.”

Note three things Jesus said in Psalms 16:5 as our Representative concerning God:

1. “The LORD (or Jehovah, the I Am that I Am) is the Portion of mine inheritance”

As such, the word “portion” means an allotment. That is what is to be counted as his “inheritance,” or his portion, or allotment. That is, this statement reveals the perfect communion of Christ with the Father. It reveals the perfect agreement of Christ to surrender to, and submit to, and obey the Father’s will in His coming to be flesh and dwell on this earth among men. This should be the statement of every child of God; for neither this earth, nor the things of this earth, are the “portion” of the child of God’s inheritance. The Child of God is an heir of God and a joint-heir of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:17). This earth is not the final home of the child of God; but, their final home is to be in the Presence of God Almighty forever and ever. Everything in the earth will pass away; but, eternity and God are forever and ever. Poor and defeated is the child of God that has his eyes and goals on the things of this earth; for they will pass away. The child of God must always keep in mind that he is a “stranger” and “pilgrim,” only passing through this present evil world. What is seventy years on this earth, which is full of evil and trouble; as compared to eternity in heaven, full of perfection and peace for the child of God?

2. “The LORD (or Jehovah, the I Am that I Am) is the Portion of mine inheritance and of my cup”

Christ adds, “…and of my cup.” The “cup” is the Eternal Purpose of Christ coming to this earth robed in flesh, yet without sin; the “cup” is the cup of sorrows – a Man of Sorrows (Isa. 53:1-12); a Man of Sufferings as the Sacrifice for Sin (Eph. 1:7); as the Sinner’s Substitute (2 Cor. 5:21); and as the sinner’s Savior on the Cross, making Atonement in His Own Body. This cup He freely took upon Himself (Jn. 12:27; 18:11).

So, the child of God should, and must, embrace the Plan and Purpose that God has ordained for his life and walk and service on this earth for Christ’s Name Sake. The child of God has no other purpose to live other than to live for Christ’s honor and glory; for he is the Temple of God on this earth (1 Cor. 6:19-20); he is the Light of God as God’s Witness and Ambassador of the Grace, Love and Mercy of God in Christ Jesus on this earth (Mt. 5:14-16; Jn. 12:36; 2 Cor. 5:20).

3. “…thou maintainest my lot.”
   

Jesus, as the child of God’s Representative, is saying to the Father, as the Covenant God, God Whose Promises cannot fail; here alone is true Security. God cannot fail; for He and He alone is God; for there is no other God but Jehovah (Isa. 46:9-10).

The same is true for all the children of God in Christ: (Deut. 32:9) “For the LORD’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. (10) He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.”

Not only is Christ the Portion of God’s people; but, the child of God is the Lot of Christ’s Inheritance. (“these Jehovah took hold of, kept, preserved, and upheld, as the word(s) signifies; so that they shall never totally and finally fall and perish;”) (see Rom. 8:29-30).  

There is no failure for the child of God, because the Victory has already been won by Christ for His Sheep. Christ’s resurrection is the banner of Victory that every child of God flies. Not death, or the grave, could hold the Son of God; declared so by His Resurrection (Rom. 1:4; 1 Cor. 15:1-57; I Jn. 5:4-5). Therefore, being “in Christ,” nothing can separate the child of God from Christ (Jn. 10:27-31). The hope of every child of God is (Col. 1:27b) “…which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The Hope is Christ; Who is God; the Creator, Controller and Consummator of all creation; The Alpha and the Omega; the Beginning and the End (Rev. 1:8, 11, 17, 18).

Application:

In our text verse, Christ is proving the Security of the Child of God; because He is God in the flesh, the Covenant God, the Everlasting Father (Isa. 9:6-7), in Whom are all the Promises, Yea and Amen (2 Cor. 1:20). And the child of God is His portion and inheritance, for whom He came and gave Himself for on the Cross of Calvary, to purchase their eternal Salvation. Being God, He is Eternal; and His Lot (or His People, His Inheritance) is maintained (or secured forever) because He is God.