“All billionaires under 30 have inherited their wealth.”1 That’s the headline of a recent article from The Guardian, which follows the source of the wealth of the world’s youngest members of the billionaire club. Turns out, at least one billion dollars was the portion, or, inheritance for each of these affluent individuals. Maybe you read that headline and start to envy these seemingly fortunate people just a little bit. However, if you’re a believer, you’ve been given a far more valuable inheritance than any mogul could boast. You can rightly claim that the Lord Himself is your portion. And by looking at one short psalm, we can see at least six reasons that’s a fabulous inheritance.
Reason #1: We Have a Refuge
Protect me, God, for I take refuge in you. (Psa 16:1)
This reason shouldn’t surprise us. If you’ve spent much time in the psalms, you are likely very familiar with the concept that God is our refuge—a safe place to find security and strength in time of distress, calamity, uncertainty, and catastrophe. Because the Lord is our inheritance, we’ve been given this safe fortress, a strong tower to which we can run and be safe (Prov. 18:10). Those outside the family of God, who cannot rightly claim the Lord as their portion, are left without a safe haven, though they may not realize it. They may, like us, look to their money, their position, beauty, abilities, health, or reputation for safety. Or they may find it in food, alcohol, drugs, shopping, or scrolling. But none of those things will provide true refuge. In the end, they’ll prove to be as secure as a house of cards on a windy day.
Reason #2: We Have No Other Good
I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have nothing good besides you.” (Psa 16:2)
It doesn’t take much work or creativity to list the many ways that God has blessed us. From health to family, work, home, intelligence, and fellowship—we enjoy a myriad of gifts from God. We must acknowledge that each of those are a byproduct of God’s goodness (James 1:17), that we have absolutely nothing good besides God Himself. We must not believe, however, that if God weren’t around we would have fewer good things. No, without Him, There. Is. No. Good. No hugs, no sunsets, no vacations, no first kisses, no toothless grins, no decadent dessert, no lattes, no sex, no beauty, no art, no truth, no love, no joy, no peace. But because God is my portion, I can say with David that I have no other good besides Him. I need not look to one of His gifts to do what He does. I just need Him.
Reason #3: We Have a Cup of Blessing
LORD, you are my portion
and my cup of blessing;
you hold my future. (Psa 16: 5)
Students of Scripture are not strangers to the metaphor of the cup. This image shows up a few times in the storyline of the Bible, and is usually associated with God’s wrath.
For instance, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: ‘Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand and make all the nations to whom I am sending you drink from it.‘”(Jer 25:15). Or, more famously, when Jesus prayed about this same cup: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Mat 26:39). The cup to which both of these passages refer is the full cup of God’s wrath against sin. We deserve to drink from this cup for all of eternity. However, because the Lord is our portion—our glorious, incorruptible inheritance—we’ve been given a cup of blessing instead. It’s this cup to which David refer in Psalm 23 when he claims, “My cup overflows. Only goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of our lives” (vv. 5-6). As heirs of Christ, we have exchanged the cup of God’s just and righteous, white-hot wrath against our sins for the overflowing cup of His manifold mercy, grace, and steadfast love.
Reason #4: We Have Pleasant Boundary Lines
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. (Psa 16:6)
This verse took on new meaning to me several days ago as I mulled it over from the comfort of an urgent care room at the hospital. With one fateful step, my summer changed dramatically as I went from totally able-bodied to having a torn achilles tendon. Now, instead of bike rides, camping trips, and hikes, I get to look forward to a summer of surgery, crutches, and physical therapy. And yet, as I sat in that room, this verse came to mind. Yes, the boundary lines of my summer have fallen in what I might consider unwelcome places; however, because the Lord is my portion, I can say with David that the lines God has drawn are pleasant. No, I don’t like them, and I wish they were different. But by faith I can trust that they are for my good. Perhaps you have different boundary lines in your life—physical limitations, financial constraints, relational struggles, or marital strife—but if the Lord is your portion, you can trust that He has not drawn these lines by accident, but has providentially laid them in pleasant places.
Reason #5: We Will Not Be Shaken
I always let the LORD guide me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken. (Psa 16:8)
I don’t know when in David’s life he wrote this psalm, but regardless of the season, he had reason to be shaken. Whether he was facing down bears and lions in the pasture, hurling rocks at giants, dodging Saul’s spears, running from Saul’s murderous jealousy, fending off contenders for the throne, hiding his own sin, or evading his son’s murderous jealousy, David knew about being “shook.” And yet, because the Lord was his portion, he could confidently say that he would not be shaken. None of these circumstances left him trembling in fear because he knew the security found at the right hand of the Lord. We live in a society of anxiety. With instant access to news coverage and often video footage of the most horrific of stories, we have an endless cascade of reasons to live in fear. And yet, if the Lord is your portion, you can say along with David, “I will not be shaken.” The author of Hebrews puts it this way: Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful. By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, (Heb 12:28)
Reason #6: We Have Eternal, Abundant Joy
You reveal the path of life to me;
in your presence is abundant joy;
at your right hand are eternal pleasures. (Psa 16:11)
I began this article by talking about individuals who had inherited a great deal of wealth and became billionaires overnight. I admittedly don’t know any of their stories, and I hope that they experienced more grief over the death of their loved one than ecstasy over the inheritance they would receive. Regardless, I have to imagine that most were nothing short of elated at the prospect of inheriting more money than they could possibly spend in a lifetime. And yet, that inheritance, noteworthy as it may be, doesn’t actually provide joy. Only one inheritance could ever do that—and it’s the incorruptible, undefiled, unfading inheritance that we have been given in the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. This joy does not exclude all suffering while we’re still exiles here. But it does supersede that suffering. Peter put it like this:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. …You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith — more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire — may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1Pe 1:3-4, 6-7)
1 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/apr/03/all-billionaires-under-30-have-inherited-their-wealth-research-finds#:~:text=Three%20children%20of%20Leonardo%20Del,after%20his%20death%20in%202022.
Bible Study Nerd 