Two phrases stood out to me in this section: “The Lord is my portion” and “The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love.”
If we dwell on these two things, we could avoid a lot of trouble, headache, and worry in this world.
If the Lord is truly our portion, why would we need to be right in the eyes of others? Why would we care about how people perceive us? Why would we argue and criticize fellow believers? If the LORD is our portion, we don’t need anything else to fulfill us. He provides for our needs because He loves us.
The evidence of His love is all around us. David wrote in Psalm 8 of how the night sky filled him with wonder at the majesty and glory of God. Yet, in that majesty and glory, God loves us and sent his Son so that we who are insignificant in the scope of time and space could have a relationship with Him (1 John 4:10). In 2020 I have run in the desert of Southern Nevada and along the Chattahoochee River in Northern Georgia. The scenery could not be more different, but both contain beauty. When we recognize the natural beauty around us, we see the finger play of God at work.
There are so many distractions on the earth. Politics and policies have always been a tool of the enemy to focus people on humans instead of on God. It’s easy to fall into the trap of what power can do for us and to us, especially in times of collective crisis. But when we focus on human response to anything, we lose the ability to see God’s word and His work clearly. This section of Psalm 119 is a call to look away from the things of earth and look fully to God as our portion through His steadfast love.
Defaulting to Grace 