Exhortation Station

A while back I read some passages that were encouraging to me, and I wanted to pass along some thoughts.  As I was working on this post, I realized some of the things shared here tie in well with a previous post, “All That Matters.”  That post was actually written by my brother Christopher and was very impacting to me.  I encourage anyone reading this post to go back and read the testimony Chris shared there.  With that said, let’s dig in…

Deuteronomy 32:9 — “For YHWH’s portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.”

Deuteronomy 26:18 — “YHWH has today declared you to be His people, a treasured possession, as He promised you, and that you should keep all His commandments.”

Isaiah 43:1,2 — “But now, thus says YHWH, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! ² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
nor will the flame burn you.'”

We see in these verses a glimpse of Yahweh’s love and care for His people.  I’m intrigued by the statement, “YHWH’s portion is His people.”  I picture a table full of all the amazing and awesome things Yahweh has created.  To Him belong all things — the galaxies, the stars, the planets, and everything that lives and breathes on this earth.  Yet, out of all the things on that table, YHWH chose unworthy people like you and me to redeem, set apart, and call His portion.  Wow!  Praise Yahweh that, through Yahshua, we “who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah.” (Eph 2:13) 

Now let’s look at some passages in Psalms 16 and 17. 

Psalm 16:5,8 — “YHWH is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot… ⁸ I have set YHWH continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.“

Psalm 17:8,13-15 — “Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings…¹³ Arise, O YHWH, confront him, bring him low; Deliver my soul from the wicked with Your sword, ¹⁴ From men with Your hand, O YHWH, from men of the world, whose portion is in this life…¹⁵ As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake.”

Notice how David declares that Yahweh is his portion in Psalm 16:5.  Then, in verse 8, David says, “I have set YHWH continually before me.”  In Psalm 17, we see David’s desire to be near to the Father and his petition to be delivered from “men of the world, whose portion is in this life.”  We are Yahweh’s portion…but do we, like David, choose Him as our portion — not just in our words, but in our actions?  Do we set Him continually before us, or are we seeking our portion in this life?  Recall David said, “I will be satisfied with Your likeness.”  Have we and do we make ourselves content in Him?

Let’s look at another passage in Isaiah.

Isaiah 44:3-5 — “…I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants; ⁴ And they will spring up among the grass like poplars by streams of water. ⁵ This one will say, ‘I am YHWH’s;’ And that one will call on the name of Jacob; And another will write on his hand, ‘Belonging to YHWH,’ and will name Israel’s name with honor.” 

I think verse 5 is really cool.  Do we unashamedly proclaim that we are YHWH’s?  Do we have the words “Belonging to YHWH” written on our speech, actions, and countenance?  May it be so!

To conclude, remember what we read at the beginning of this post — that we are “YHWH’s portion” and “a treasured possession.”  Remember those words from Isaiah 43 — “I have called you by name, you are Mine!”  Brothers and sisters in Messiah, our Father’s care for us is amazing.  Far be it from us that we would respond by longing after things of this world to the neglect of seeking His nearness.  Isaiah 30:18 says, “Therefore YHWH longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.  For YHWH is an Elohim of justice; how blessed are all those who long for Him.”  YHWH longs for His children to draw near to Him.  He has chosen us out of “all the things on the table.”  We, too, have a “table” set before us with all sorts of things we can choose from as our portion.  May we be moved to choose Him!

(All Bible passages NASB; emphasis and Hebrew transl. added.)