Tuesday Night Bible Study ~ And ~ Shout Out To Tony & Linda Andaya!

I want to give a SHOUT OUT TO TONY & LINDA ANDAYA who are vacationing with family and friends in the Philippines  ~  We had a great Bible study last Tuesday night at the home of Ester Avila, but we really missed the two of you.  I pray that Tony is feeling much better now and that you have a blessed Christmas season with your family and friends in the Philippines.  We look forward to welcoming you home again in the new year.

And to all my Friends, in our Tuesday Night Bible study we continued in Psalm 119:57-64 and right away, on verse 57, "The LORD is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words" - we found ourselves in an interesting discussion.   Rachel Quintans raised the question, "What did the psalmist mean by, 'The LORD is my portion;.  .  .'?"

We tend to think of a "portion" as being only a part of something.  Yet we know that, as believers, we do not have just a portion of God, we have all of God's love and His blessings.  So what does "portion" mean in Psalm 119:57 - and in Psalm 73:26 and Deuteronomy 32:9?

We read in Psalm 73:26, "My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

I found this in"Word Study – God Is My Portion Forever" by Chaim & Laura Bentorah:

“His Eye Is On The Sparrow.”  The first verse of the song says:

Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows fall,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion, my constant friend is He,
His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.

I love that phrase, "When Jesus is my portion" - but when my study partner asked what it really meant, I was at a total loss as to what it meant.  Does it mean we get just a part of Him or does it mean He is our inheritance?  Do you ever have that experience when you hear something, you just thrill at hearing it, but you haven’t the foggiest idea what it means.

I started studying this word kalak which is rendered as portion, which means territory, equal portions, and separation.  When you look at the context you find that this whole chapter of Psalms 73 is speaking of discernment.  Asaph is saying that his flesh and heart can fail him in discernment, only the Holy Spirit can give true discernment.  Thus Asaph says that God is his portion or separation.  God separates the truth from that which is not true.

But say, there is more.  Asaph may very well be answering his own question here by saying that God is his portion.  He is using the same word used in Numbers and Deuteronomy with regard to the portioning out of land among the tribes.  Only eleven tribes received a portion of land to farm and feed their families.  One tribe, the tribe of Levi, received no earthly, material portion. 

They were not to spend their days cultivating land but cultivating their knowledge of God and to lead the members of the other eleven tribes to an understanding of God.  In return the members of the eleven other tribes tithed a tenth of what they grew to the Levites so they could feed themselves and their families and be free to spend their time in the service of God.

Thus, Asaph, who was himself a Levi, was making a reference to this division of land when he said his portion was God.  In other words, the wicked and unrighteous may prosper materially, but he seeks no such portion of material blessings from God, he only seeks God.  If God is his portion then it does not matter if the wicked prosper materially, Asaph is prospering spiritually and he will leave his material needs in God’s hand as his ancestors had done.

After that interesting discussion on verse 57, our very able Bible study leader, Associate Pastor John Nash Quintans, brought us back to focusing on finishing the complete passage found in Psalm 119:57-64 - where we found that God's Word establishes our relationship with Him through our studies of His words, His testimonies, His commandments, His law, His righteous rules, His precepts, and His statutes.

All in all, a great night of studying and discussing God's Word - and good Christian fellowship.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

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