When God’s Portion is More Than Enough

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Scripture:

Psa. 142:5      ¶ I cry to you, O LORD;
        I say, “You are my refuge,
        my portion in the land of the living.”

Observation:

David found himself trapped in a cave and running from King Saul, the earthly leader who should have provided him with refuge and a portion.  Safety from the king would surely have been expected and yet, the king saw David as a threat.  Where could David and his men go but to run for a place of safety?  Instead of being able to freely live out in the open they would have to hide away.  Realizing his relationship with Saul was terribly strained, David also had no way in which he could live out life with the portion of land and hesitance he should have received.  Not only did he and his band of men have to hide out in caves, they literally had to side with the enemy so they could have a place to live and exist. 

In a moment of despair David cries out the Lord and in his lament we hear a valuable truth.  No matter what the world throws at you or tries to take from you, there is only one place of refuge and that is in the Lord.  There is no portion on earth great enough to compare with the refuge we find in God.

Application:

Hopefully not many of us will find ourselves living in a cave, trying to survive while our enemy hunts us down.  While that may not be the case in a physical sense, it could be true in an emotional sense.  A feeling that the world is closing in on you and while you have worked hard to have relationships and physical comfort and security, it’s all falling apart.  This could be as a result of illness, or loss of work, or strained relationships at home or among friends. 

Suddenly you find yourself living life in the safety of a cave somewhere and it is in that moment that we should follow David’s lead and cry out to the LORD.  It is the LORD who provides our portion.  In our moments of weakness we discover God’s strength.  His portion becomes more than enough and in this God gets all the glory.

This is the second Sunday of Easter and we continue to rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  When his disciples were living in the darkness of his death they couldn’t imagine anything that might lie ahead.  They were perplexed, alone, and in the darkness of a cave.  Yet, when they went to look at the human-created cave of his tomb they discovered it was empty.  We find our refuge and our portion in an empty tomb that brings us into the land of the living for in Christ we have new life!  God’s portion is certainly more than enough for God’s portion is his own son. 

Jesus ushers us into the real land of the living — the land of eternal living.  When we hold onto the things of this world we are holding onto the temporary and that portion may seem satisfying today but it will not satisfy eternally.  Only Jesus is more than enough and he has burst out of his tomb leaving it empty so that he can reach down and find us hiding in the back of our cave and draw us into new life.  To God be the glory for his portion is enough.

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for your portion that satisfies and cares for me.  Amen.




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