I remember growing up I loved going to buffets. One of the reasons I look back with fond memories is because you can decide what food you wanted and how much of it. I often would eat until I was full, until I had enough portions to satisfy me. With life, with anything other than God, we will head back to the buffet line. The LORD is the One who alone can satisfy. That is why the Psalmist says, “The LORD is my portion” (verse 57). And what does it look like to live out the truth the LORD is our portion? It means we resolve and promise to keep His Word. We are not seeking counsel outside of His wisdom or looking for a second opinion. Instead, we are resolving to follow Him with our whole hearts, fully committed to submitting ourselves under His word and not half-heartedly choosing when we will obey God’s word and what commands are too hard. However, this type of whole-hearted devotion cannot be done in our own strength. That is why we pray for the grace of God. In His kindness, He gives us the power to turn to Him and to remember His works. We are so prone to forgetting and turning from what He has called us to. This is crucial because there will be challenging days (verse 62). When we are tempted to give in, we recall God has given us a spiritual family who will hold us accountable. It is accountability for the sake of wisdom, namely the fear of the Lord. When we are looking to other things for satisfaction, we need others in our lives to encourage and exhort us that only the LORD can be our portion. As we rest hold of that and seek to grow in our relationship with God, we witness the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord (verse 64). Through the good days, the bad days, and all the days in between, God is enough. He sent Jesus to live the life we could not, die the sinner’s death we deserved, and rise again to show us Jesus is our portion. Will we believe it?

Reflection Questions:

1. What are you tempted to place as your portion other than God? Confess it to him.
2. Who can help hold you accountable in your walk with the Lord? Ask them today.

By Steve Sering

“Walk by Faith” by Jeremy Camp is a song written out of great suffering. Christian singer-songwriter Jeremy Camp wrote the song during the grieving process of losing his first wife to cancer in the early 2000s. Wrestling with the pain, he questioned God and wondered why her life was taken so soon. The chorus declares, “I will walk by faith, even when I cannot see. Well, because this broken road, prepares your will for me.” It was the broken road of suffering that prepared Jeremy for God’s will to be done in his young life. Losing Melissa was one of the hardest moments of his life. Lying there in the hospital room after she died, left him completely wrecked and devastated. But as he lifted himself up and prayed for strength, God gave him a song to endure. 

The author of Psalm 119 had a song to sing too. It was the Word of God. As was custom during the Old Testament era, the people of God sang Scripture with one another. The book of Psalms is essentially that-the songbook of God’s people. Our passage under consideration is Psalm 119:49-56. Likely King David, he wrote from a perspective of suffering. No stranger to it, the king found refuge in the Word of God. Starting from verse 49, the author knew where his hope came from, the Lord: “Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope.” The source of hope in the Christian life is two-fold. First, our hope is rooted in our relationship with Christ. Without that we would be completely overwhelmed and destroyed by the wiles of Satan and the weight of suffering. Second, our hope is rooted in the Word of God and in the promises of God. During the writing of this passage, the complete canon of Scripture was not yet completed, however, he had enough to garner hope for his heart. Furthermore, in verse 50 the psalmist continues to look upward and onward. The comfort for his affliction came directly from the promises of God. Abundant life flows from a personal relationship with Christ. The ultimate fulfillment of that life is eternal life in heaven. Our redemptive hope is rooted deeply in the promises of God. One such promise is the fact that God will never leave us or forsake us. In the Old Testament, Moses told his protégé Joshua this before taking over as the leader of Israel: “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed” (Deut. 31:8). 

Brothers and sisters, it is the presence of God in our suffering that enables us to endure. Verse 51 is a declaration of faith amidst persecution and verse 52 is a personal reminder of the purpose of the Word of God. Just as Charles Spurgeon said, “The sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which the child of God rests his head at night, giving perfect peace.” Proximity to God’s presence fosters God’s comfort. Verse 53 posits an emotion of anger towards the wicked that forsake God’s law. Verses 54-55 are a reminder that God’s promises are a song to get us through the dark nights. David was a sojourner before he was a king, constantly on the run from King Saul. During these experiences, he turned to song to give hope to his heart. Finally, verse 56 reveals the effect of leaning on God’s sovereignty and trusting in his law. When we keep the word of God, we receive God’s blessing. Who wouldn’t want that!? The child of God positions himself for God’s blessing when he obeys the Word. Plain and simple. The fast track to blessing is obedience and the hope to endure is found in a song. To sing God’s Word is an anchor for the soul.

Application Questions:

1. How can you encourage your fellow believers with the Word of God in their suffering?
2. How has God come through in your suffering with your obedience? What song can you sing to get through the dark nights of the soul?

This past December, I lost my job. It was a challenging time, but over these past five months, I have seen the Lord provide. It has helped me meditate on the reality of the gospel. Because of our sin, we have all strayed and are lost. Yet, the story of Scripture is the story of a God who provides. In His steadfast love, God sent Jesus Christ to live a life we did not and die on a death we could not so that when He rose from the grave, we could be reconciled to God and saved from our sins. In a way, Psalm 119:41 sums this beautiful truth up because, “Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise” is what happened in the incarnation of Christ. Salvation was promised by God, and this God is trustworthy in His character. The enemies of sin, death, and Satan are defeated by Christ, so that no matter what we may face, we can trust His Word. In our sinfulness and brokenness, we may struggle to remember God’s promises. That is why we must cry out to God for us continually have His Word before us. We cannot stop there, though. As His Word is before us, we need to be putting His word before others. This includes being a witness both in word and action. As Jesus has come to us and called us to come to Him, may we pray and share with others of the steadfast love of the Lord so that they may receive the salvation that comes from God through the promise of the gospel.

Reflection Questions:

How do the promises of God bring encouragement during challenging times in life?

Who can you share the steadfast love of the Lord with this week?