God Speaking

“Lord you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.”

(Psalm 16: 5)

Many years ago, my husband and I bought a holiday cabin for all the family to use, on a remote lake with a water frontage. The property was an acre and was covered in stately pine trees. We fell in love with it when we first saw it. When we moved in, I was reading my Bible and came across this verse in Psalm 16 in which the Psalmist was thanking God for the pleasant and beautiful place God had allowed him to live in. When I read it, it became my prayer for this place we had just bought, and I wrote out the verse in big letters and it remained on the refrigerator the whole time we owned it.

Eventually we became too old to stay in such a remote place and had to sell it and our house and move into a condo in the city. I came across the verse recently in my reading and had to stop and recall all the memories it held for me, but then I had an awaking as I looked at where I am now living. As I started to count my blessings I was once again able to pray that prayer back to the Father.

My physical boundaries were certainly different, but emotionally I was surrounded by the Father’s love on all sides. He had surrounded me with a loving family to care for me. Loving friends and a supporting church community. I was bound to him by his love. The Lord had promised to never forsake me so he is one of my boundary lines that can never be moved

“…For the Lord your God goes with you, he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31: 6)

In ancient Israel boundary lines were very important and could not be moved by anyone except the rightful owner. The Heavenly Father also knew that we as humans also needed boundary lines in how to live with each other. A few years ago, there was a movement to establish boundary lines for children from parents finding that when children had boundaries to behaviour, they felt safer and better behaviour resulted. Scripture is our source of behaviour boundaries for us. The Bible has set out how we can live at peace with everybody if we remember them.

Many think God’s laws as being restrictive and making life miserable, but the exact opposite is true. When we live those words especially this basic one; 

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it. Love your neighbour as yourself.” (Matthew 22: 37 – 39)

We can confidently say…

The boundary lines in my life

are truly pleasant