You Hold my Lot

In the uncertainties of life I am always struck by the constancy of God. There is sureness in the feet that find their footing in Him. I look about me and it is quite overwhelming to consider the possibilities, the dangers, the opportunities, the pitfalls that each present themselves in varying degrees before me. I feel the pull of self, the growlings of my appetites. I see challenges ahead and I am unsure whether to skirt them or charge them head on. I cannot see very far as the road is dark, but if I focus my eyes, it appears to be forking. 

Much is uncertain to us, but to God nothing is. Our very lives, the Scripture informs us, are held in the palm of His hand. Psalm 16 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, and I frequently go back to the deep security that can be found in the song of David. Verse 5 says, "The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot." 

The battle cry of the modern philosophy preaches that we are the authors of our lives. We and we alone hold our lots. The celebrated poem Invictus concludes with the resounding declaration: "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." I cannot think of a more dire proposition, a more crushing conclusion. What to some sounds like freedom sounds to me like choking oppression. How can I determine these lofty outcomes of fate and soul? To where am I to steer the rudder when the immeasurable expanse is thrown open before me? I am left drifting un-moored, carried by the currents of time and place until the eventual abyss takes me. 

David is succinct: "You hold my lot." And in these four words I have found time and time again a deep peace. Though with prudential intentions I may try to make 5 year plans and  determine in my head some vision of my future life; the Lord determines my steps. He holds my lot. And in those hands I find rest. In those hands I am free from the anxiety of the fate masters and the soul captains. Instead of some aimless drift, I am guided and my lot is held by the hands of my God.

"The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance." David is writing from his own personal experience, but I believe this to be the reality of those people who have the Lord as their own choice portion. Those who have God, who have tasted and seen his goodness, will stand with David in agreement that the boundaries of their lives have fallen in pleasant places. They will rejoice that they too have a beautiful inheritance as they await the fullness of His presence. No matter what externals may indicate, or what the temporal circumstances seem to dictate; there is food for the righteous which the world knows nothing about. At His right hand our pleasures forever more. 

As we go through the changes and the unknowns in life, and as we walk through doors and paths that seem open before us--may we remind ourselves that the Lord holds our lot. It is he who determines our steps. "Because He is at our right hand, we will not be shaken."