Many parents, if they can afford to, will try to leave a nice inheritance to their children. Every so often in the news we hear of this or that celebrity or Wall Street business tycoon dying, and then leaving a very sizable inheritance to their children. Then there are many who have very little that they can leave to their children, and neither did they receive much from their parents, either. However, if one is a Christian, our Heavenly Father has promised us a good inheritance. The Apostle Paul writes about that often in his Epistles, and here in the Psalms we see this promise, as well.
Psalm 16 was written by David, and it’s unsure when he wrote it, quite possibly before he became king. During the early years of his adult life David spent much of his time living on the run from the murderous plots of King Saul. He would not have had the opportunity to earn a living in the traditional way. David would likely have had to depend upon the Lord and the generosity of others for his daily needs. Did he have any inheritance from his father? We know that David had several older brothers, and was the youngest son. Though his father was not particularly poor, it’s not likely that he was very wealthy either. In Jewish culture at the time, the eldest son got a much bigger portion of the inheritance, and then the remainder was divided among the rest of the family. David’s father seemed very dismissive of his youngest son, David, not even thinking him worth being there when the prophet Samuel came to the family and asked for the family to be gathered (I Samuel 16:5, 11). David seems to have had lingering feelings of rejection by his parents, as we see in Psalm 27:10. However, David knew that he had a glorious inheritance through his Heavenly Father (vs. 5-6).
You, too, might not have any earthly inheritance from your parents or family. Perhaps they had nothing to leave you, or they were estranged from you, or all you were left were bad memories and hurts. Yet with Yahweh as your Father, you can say with David that He is your inheritance and that you have a good inheritance!
We might feel that we have valid reasons for feeling dissatisfied with the circumstances in our life. David might have too during the years prior to becoming king, the years he was ignored in his family, being treated like he was unimportant, and the years on the run for his life from the murderous intentions of Saul. Our view of changing circumstances and contentment is a personal choice. The way we view our circumstances is more important than the circumstances themselves. When we go through some very difficult times we have the choice to either sit and wallow in our misery, or to get up and through the power and strength of our ever-present Savior, face the problem. That is what the Apostle Paul did (Philippians 4:11). He knew that with Jesus, he could be content whether things were going good or not. When we draw our ultimate satisfaction from God, who never changes, we can be content despite our circumstances. Lasting satisfaction can be found only with Him. When all we have is God, we have all we need.
Although we live in this world, we belong to the kingdom of God, which is diametrically opposed to the system of this world. (John 17:16; I John 2:15-17). The Lord can and will give us joy when we turn to Him, and His joy will give us strength day by day, no matter our circumstances (Nehemiah 8:10). The level of our joy determines the level of our strength.
In closing we should always remember that God’s goodness is not dependent upon our circumstances. It is always accessible, even when life is filled with difficulties and hardships. He is our inheritance!
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