Psalm Meditation 607
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
February 5, 2012

Psalm 16
1 Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."
3 As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight.
4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips.
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage.
7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure.
10 For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit.
11 You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
(NRSV)

For many of us our good fortune is more a matter of heritage than it is about personal choices. We live where we live because it resembles where we grew up in some way. Our economic status has something to do with the status and expectations of our extended family. Even our belief system was likely inherited, rejected, modified and claimed as a result of the beliefs of those around whom we were raised. In the area in which the Psalms were written this is likely even more the case than for any of us.

Whether our belief system was inherited from family or was a clean break from our familial heritage, we have each chosen the faith we follow. For me, verse 5 says it pretty well, “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup, you hold my lot.” I was born and raised in Christianity, walked away from various parts of it through the years and when I claimed it as my own it was with firm conviction. I have my doubts and fears, and I know that God in Christ holds my life and is the source of my help and hope.

I also join the psalmist in the sentiment of verse 6, that, for any number of reasons, I am pleased with the full arc of life so far. I wish I had done some things differently, however, since I did not, I live with the choices I have made and the blessings I have received. I see the handiwork of God, sometimes because of and sometimes in spite of, the choices I have inherited and made as well in the choices of others by which I am touched and changed.

© January 30, 2012