"Yahweh, You have assigned me my portion and my cup; You have made by lot. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise Yahweh, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set Yahweh always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices; my body will also rest secure, because You will not abandon me to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy (Faithful) One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasure at Your righyt hand" (Ps.16:5-11, NIV).

One of the great secrets of life is being content with your 'lot', however unfavourable or disadvantageous the world or the flesh may perceive it to be. The truth of the matter is that we can learn to be content or discontent with whatever we are given.

This passage of Scripture can be translated in two different ways, yet both meanings are the essentially same provided you have the right persepctive, the 'godly view'. On the one hand it is referring to that physical dimension of inheritance, in the case of David here, the Land of Israel, of which David has been given a "portion" or an allotment, if you like. Why is he content? Because the primary inheritance of a soul is not a home or a piece of land, but Yahweh Himself:

"Yahweh is my chosen portion and my cup; You hold my lot" (Ps.16:5, NRSV)

"Yahweh, You alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine. The land you have given me is a pleasant land. What a wonderful inheritance!" (Ps.16:5-6, NLT).

The "cup" here is a metaphor referring to what the host offers his guests to drink. To the godly, Yahweh offers a cup of blessing (Ps.23:5) or salvation (Ps.116:13), and to the wicked, He forces them to drink from a cup of wrath (Jer.25:15; Rev.14:10).

The outcome of life, whether it is one we desire or not, rests firmly on our own choice. We have to choose Yahweh (v.6); if we do, than our outward inheritance will be defined by "boundary lines" that fall for us "in pleasant places" (Ps.16:6, ESV), the boundary line defining your lot, your inheritance, even your circumstances in life.

How you come to view your assigned 'plot' will ultimately, through, depend on your choice, even though we also have been "chosen out of the world" by Messiah (Jn.15:19) in the sense of being elected to salvation because of His foreknowledge of our choices.

We have been chosen by Yahweh for the godly inheritance (Is.41:8-9; Hag.2:23). Our estate or inheritance is potentially huge, but we only get a portion of that in this life. Moreover, the 'inheritance' down in the here-and-now may not seem to amount to much at first glance until you realise - usually later on in life when you have acquired some wisdom - that it is more like a downpayment than the final yield.

Two days ago disaster struck our home, and all at a time when I was very weak and ill recovering from my heart operation and we were, and still are, desperately trying to make ends meet. A sudden warm spell caused the thick blanket of snow on our roof of our house to suddenly melt resulting in a cascade of water in five rooms. The parquet floor of one room was horridly damaged, the old-fashioned sawdust insulation soaking up the water and causing the floor to swell up like a mountain rising up from the ocean floor and will have to be ripped up and rebuilt. Elsewhere water poured through the ceiling of my office onto computer equipment, literally causing a printer, scanner and CD-burning equipment to drown and be rendered fit only for the municipal scrap heap.

Suddenly I did not want to be here anymore, my 'inheritance' in Sweden seemed like an impossible burden to bear, for I knew the insurance would at best only cover part of the damage. The winter had already been very hard, with large parts of the house too expensive to heat, our wood storage almost depleted, making much misery for this child of the Malaysian tropics and a lot of hard work for the rest of the family. I was not a happy camper and I was even more dissatisfied with my 'lot' than I had hitherto been. I dreamed again of moving even though I knew that was financially impossible...

It's at such times you remember how easy it is to confuse simcha (joy) with happiness. I will not conceal that I am unhappy - with my illness, with my economy, and being far from my natural 'home' (wherever that may actually be, since I have lived 'abroad' for most of my life now). Simcha (joy) is far deeper than happiness. Simcha (joy) can be felt even in the midst of and in spite of one's deepest troubles. Happiness is temporary because it is based on external circumstances, but simcha (joy) is lasting because it is based on Yahweh's presence within us.

But this is what the flesh resents, is it not? It is not interested in the things of Elohim (God). It does not appreciate that as we learn to contemplate the presence of Yahweh, not only will we grow in contentment but we will discover the deeper simcha (joy) that is connected to our confidence in Yahweh's abiding ahavah (love) for us.

No wonder that David, who knew much sorrow in his life, could say:

"I will bless Yahweh who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me. I know Yahweh is always with me. I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me. No wonder my heart is filled with simcha (joy), and my mouth shouts His praises! My body rests in safety...You will show me the way of chayim (life), granting my the isimcha (joy) of Your presence and the pleasures of living with You forever" (Ps.16:7-8,10, NLT).

It was Oswald Chambers who taught that to be crucified with Christ (in other words, dying to self and the flesh) is the breaking up of that tough, protective but spiritually and nutritionally useless husk of independence which the world prides itself in. Disaster, whether to health or property, soon reveals on what you depend. O, for a child-like emunah (faith) in, and dependence on, our Heavenly Father!