Pleasant boundary lines

LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.

(Psa 16:5-6 NIV)

David wrote this psalm in a difficult situation, as he did many of the psalms. So this verse is even more important. We know we are secure when we are in the hands of Jesus. Independent of any people or circumstances we are secure in Jesus. He can rejoice and be glad knowing this. Hence he is able to rejoice IN his situation and say that his boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places, for those boundary lines are not defined by this world but by the assurance of his inheritance yet to come.

What a wonderful reminder for us. Our boundary lines have also fallen in pleasant places. We are exactly where God intends us to be. He is not taken by surprise as the things around us change. He is not taken by surprise with world events. He is not taken by surprise when we think our world is collapsing around us. 

Why are we surprised? We can say that it is just human nature, but that is not sufficient if we truly trust Jesus for this life as well as the next. We may not have answers for why things happen, but we can be sure that OUR boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places.

It is a strange use of the word “pleasant”, but none the less it is true, at least when we see it from an eternal perspective.

Here is yet another example of the need for us to have a proper world view. A biblical world view is so different from a earthly world view. We live within this collision of world views and have to make up our minds as to which world view is going to govern our life.

Surely this is part of what the apostle Paul meant in Romans 12 when he said:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

(Rom 12:2 NIV)

Our minds need to be renewed if we are going to understand God’s ways and what pleases Him. This is a radical change, a metamorphosis, a total transformation. For most people this is going to be a fairly long process as we are immersed in a totally different world view (or culture). Hence one of the needs for us to learn from and honour true elders in the faith.

Young people cannot make this transition easily. It is only by the application of God’s ways as seen in the Bible to everyday living that we begin this transformation. Wisdom is not gained easily or quickly, it takes time and application.

We can all begin by affirming the truth of this psalm and recognise, and rejoice in the fact, that our boundaries have indeed fallen in pleasant places, even when we do not feel like it.

The wisdom of life

There is much need today for wisdom. Wisdom is from the elders, those who, through a lifetime of knowledge and experience, have discerned the ways of life which actually work. Knowledge and strength come in our youth. Hopefully knowledge increases even as strength diminishes.But neither of these are wisdom. Knowledge is one of the building blocks of wisdom, but that knowledge needs to be lived before it can become wisdom.

In today's society we value knowledge and youth. We tend to discount what the elders (olders) share. The video below (Barry Schwartz in a TED Talk) is an eloquent description of wisdom from a human perspective. He refers to it as virtue, but it is similar to wisdom.

Remember that this was given just after the inauguration of Barak Obama as the President of The United States, so some of the references are to be seen in this time perspective. He eloquently shows the limitations of law and incentive as motivators and dirctors of human activity. Instead he shows, without ignoring law and incentive, the need for moral heroes to whom we can look for moral skill and moral will; heroes in the ordinary as well as extraordinary affairs of life.

Of course this is nothing new for us as Christians. Or is it?

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Pro 9:10 NIV)

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise. (Psa 111:10 NIV)

There are many such precepts in the Scriptures, but where is the matching behaviour today?

We seem to have lost wisdom, in our earthy behaviours as Barry Schwartz shows, and in our real life, the life of the Spirit, as  the powerless state of much of the Church shows.

The Western Church, and much of the rest of the world as well, is running after the latest teaching, the latest experiences, the latest "guru", but forgetting the true wisdom that only comes from a fear of the Lord.

There is much I could say, and will say in future blogs about the fear of the Lord. It seems to be largely absent from modern Christianity. Much of what passs for Christianity is little more than pop psychology, and poor psychlogy at that, rather than an acknowledgement of the Kingship of the Lord God Almighty as revealed by the Lord Jesus and recorded in the Bible. We need a real fear of this God, and not the insipid 'fear' that is preached as reverence, or some other lesser term.

We must return to our God. He is calling out from so many elders and fathers in the faith. Who will listen? Who will bow before the Holy One and live their whole lives as living sacrifices to the wonderful Lord Jesus.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship.
(Rom 12:1 NIV)