thou art my portion | SCRIP-BITS

Psalm 119:57. Thou art my portion, O Lord: I have said that I would keep thy words.

And then it was rain, mixing up with the snow, and with the lower night time temps, more likely than not turning to ice. Yes friends, that’s what we’re looking forward to this Sunday before Christmas 2016; an icy world.

But yuh know what? That’s not going to stop us from going to the Lord’s sanctuary and celebrating His Sabbath Day. We going to get there, even if we have to walk and/or crawl. (smile)

And when we get there we’re going to have glorious fellowship, with plenty thanks and praise and worship and preaching of the Word, so that we can leave feeling rejuvenated and refreshed, strong and full of confidence to go out and live a good and true Christian life in the upcoming week.

Now let’s begin the praise and worship with this beautiful hymn, ‘O Come All ye Faithful.’ Yes my brethren, please let our faithful voices raise our praise and glory to high heaven in perfect harmony!

‘O Come All Ye Faithful Joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem. Come and behold Him, Born the King of Angels; O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

O Sing, choirs of angels, Sing in exultation, Sing all that hear in heaven God’s holy word. Give to our Father glory in the Highest; O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee, Born this happy morning, O Jesus! For evermore be Thy name adored. Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing; O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.’

Ah mih people, this is the season of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’s birth in the lowly stable in Bethlehem, and we ought to be celebrating it with lots of enthusiasm, passion and spiritual awareness. Remember, Christmas is the occasion that got the whole Christian thing; the ball of salvation, forgiveness of sins, reconciliation, justification and the promise of eternal life rolling.

And if we don’t fully appreciate it, we won’t be able to fully appreciate what it caused either. So please tone down the worldly activities, and instead raise the godly ones, for without Jesus there would be no Christmas, no gifts, no set of food, in fact no celebration at all at this time of year.

And now that I’ve said my piece, (smile) let’s turn to our Bit, a powerful acknowledgement of God’s place in the psalmist’s life. ‘Thou art my portion, O Lord: I have said that I would keep thy words.’ Yeh friends, the Lord ought to be our portion, and we ought to faithfully keep His words if we claim to be believers in His Son Jesus Christ.

Now today I want to look at some other scriptures that uphold, which corroborate the words of our Bit. Let’s begin with something from Numbers. ‘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. And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance (a possession), for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.’ (Num.18:20-21)

So Aaron and his descendants, the priests, would own no land in Israel. The scholars explain it thus: ‘18:8-20. In recognition of their altar service, the priests were to receive parts of the sacrifices, firstfruits of the harvest, and firstborn animals (cf. Lev.6:14-7:36; 27:26-33). The priests’ families could also eat from these offerings as long as they were “clean.” Their inheritance would be God Himself, who provided for their needs through His people’s gifts. (v.20)

‘18:21-24. Tithing was now provided for the tribe of Levi (Gen.14:20; 28:22: Lev.27:30-33). The tithe was a payment for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation (v.21; cf.31). It also compensated for their lack of an inheritance in land. Later they were given 48 villages which were scattered throughout the land (34:16-35:8).’

That means those in charge of running the tabernacle, had no other duties but looking after God’s house, and the Lord provided food for them from the gifts of the people. Now hear Bruh David from Psalm 16, where he seeks preservation and blessing.

‘The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest (upholds) my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places: yea, I have a goodly heritage (inheritance). I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel; my reins (heart) also instruct me in the night seasons.’ (Ps.16:5-7)

Meanwhile, Jeremiah in his Lamentations boldly declares: ‘The Lord is my portion, saith my soul: therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.’ (Lam.3:24-26) Wonderful advice my fellow believers!

And we’ll end with some more wonderful advice, this time from the psalmist Asaph, from Psalm 73 – The mystery of prosperous wickedness. ‘My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength (rock) of my heart, and my portion for ever. For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee (that are unfaithful). But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.’ (Ps.73:26-28)

Oh friends, the Lord God Jehovah, Creator and Controller of the universe, ought to be a big part of our lives if we truly believe. Now let’s take some time today and consider how big a portion He is in our lives, and as always, ask Him to help us make it bigger. For that’s wisdom of enormous proportions! Much LOVE!

…the bigger the portion of God in us…the better…

Psalm 119:57. Thou art my portion, O Lord: I have said that I would keep thy words.

Ah friends, it’s just snow and more snow… and even more snow! Steups! We had more snow again last night and our meteorologists tell us that over the next couple days we are going to have a co-mingling of rain, freezing rain, snow, wet snow and obviously somewhere in there the most dangerous of them all, ice.

Ah Lord eh, if this is the standard for this winter then I’d better hurry up and go to Tobago yes, because I can’t take this everyday snow business nuh. (smile) Especially when Brother Kirby’s nice, hot and spicy, tasty West Indian soup is waiting for me down there. As I said before though, that’s what dreams are made of, and if you don’t dream, you might as well be dead.

Anyway, on this cold, snowy, Saturday morning, a week before Christmas, let’s check out some quotes I received this week from our friend Anselm, who always aspires to inspire us with his wise words.

Here’s the first one: ‘If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.’ Now that’s gospel friends, and essentially why liars get into trouble; they can’t remember every lie they’ve told, and to whom.

And the second states: ‘Deal with the faults of others as gently as with your own.’ Now that is very difficult for many of us to do, since we always tend to make lofty excuses for ourselves, but come down heavy on others. I guess it’s just a natural human reaction, selfish and unfair though it may be.

Listen to the third quote: ‘Help me never to judge another until I have walked a mile in his moccasins.’ That’s also a favourite failing of the human animal, even mature Christians. We tend to judge others without knowing a whole lot about them, and it is definitely an unchristian behaviour.

Remember, Jesus told us not to judge, else we too will be judged. But we still do it a lot. However when the shoe falls on the other foot, when we are unfairly judged…Wow! What a stink we create!

And the last one states: ‘I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’ That’s very true my brethren! And I’m sure we can all testify to it. Just think back to some of your brightest or darkest moments; you won’t remember all that was said or done, but you’ll definitely remember the emotional state in which you ended up.

That brings us to our Bit, taken from the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119, which deals predominantly with Lord’s Word. ‘Thou art my portion, O Lord: I have said that I would keep thy words.’

Yeh friends, throughout the Psalm, the writer continually talks about the Lord’s statutes, commandments, precepts, testimonies, judgements; how he wants to learn them, so that he can keep them. Are we so enamoured of the Lord’s Word, my fellow believers? We ought to be if we are true to our calling.

And please remember that the Lord’s Word is not for Him, but for us. We are the ones who benefit from it. It’s a guideline for us, so that we don’t mess up our earthly pilgrimage more than is necessary.

Now hear how the psalmist continues after our Bit. ‘I entreated thy favour with my whole heart: be merciful unto me according to thy word. I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments. The bands (cords) of the wicked have robbed (bound) me: but I have not forgotten thy law.’ (Ps.119:58-51)

Oh friends, is that how we behave toward the Word of God? Is it like Jeremiah says: ‘But his word was in mine heart, as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing (holding back), and I could not stay (endure it).’ (Jer.20:9)

Yes precious people of Christ, are we eager to read God’s Word and have a great desire to speak it and keep it? I certainly hope so, otherwise we won’t be worthy of calling ourselves Christians.

And the psalmist continues thus in this passage under the heading of the Hebrew letter ‘Cheth.’ ‘At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgements. I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. The earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy (LOVING-kindness): teach me thy statutes.’ (Ps.119:62-64)

Now that’s the picture of a true believer my people! How many of us rise up at all sorts of ungodly hours to give thanks because of God’s righteous judgements eh? Are we faithful companions to and have strong fellowship with others who reverence the Lord’s name and keep His commandments?

All of that is a part of being a true Christian, including enjoying God’s LOVING-kindness which is lavished all over His great earth. And please note the psalmist’s last request: ‘teach me thy statutes.’ That is still his number one wish, for if one doesn’t know the Lord’s statutes, how can one keep them eh?

Ah friends, it’s not easy following Jesus Christ faithfully, but if we are sincere, faithful and diligent in our approach, continually reading and meditating on His commands, statutes and precepts, then we will do a fine job. But it’s oh so essential for all believers to put out the effort to learn the word of God, if we truly want to serve Him at a high level. Much LOVE!

…It is impossible to truly LOVE the Lord…without LOVING His Word…and greatly desiring to know it…and sincerely abide by it…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 18 December 2016 Psalm 119:57.

Today’s Scrip-Bit 17 December 2016 Psalm 119:57.

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