Portion

chēleq

The Hebrew chēleq (2506) is a rich word from Jewish history that refers to a share or piece of territory and is used in several ways. It is used for a part of the spoils of war (Gen. 14:24) or a portion of food (Lev. 6:17). Its most common use, however, was to refer to a share in an inheritance, as in a portion of land (Josh. 19:9). God gave the Promised Land to His people according to His covenant promise. This makes the term, in fact, a parallel of nāchal (“inheritance”).

Psalm 119 once again provides a striking example of a word’s use in poetry: “Thou art my portion, O Lord” (v. 57). The clear figurative use here is that while the world seeks happiness in wealth, property, and other earthly spoil, having “their portion in this life” only (Ps. 17:14), the true child of God seeks only God Himself and desires only what is found in Him. Profoundly struck by this truth, David writes again in Psalm 142:5, “I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.” Another psalmist, Asaph, David’s chief musician, probably picked it up from David and writes, “My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever” (73:26).

Commenting on Psalm 16:5—“The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot”—perhaps Spurgeon puts it best: “He is our portion, supplying all our necessities, and our cup yielding royal luxuries; our cup in this life, and our inheritance in the life to come. As children of the Father who is in heaven, we inherit, by virtue of our joint heirship with Jesus, all the riches . . . of grace; and the portion which falls to us sets upon our table the bread of heaven and the new wine of the kingdom.”

Abraham knew this truth. While Lot wanted the well-watered plain of Jordan and pitched his tent toward the advantages of Sodom, Abraham was satisfied with what God would provide in the desert. This picture was vividly painted for me when I drove across western Utah and then Nevada only to see hundreds of miles of desolation. What could anyone possibly find there that would satisfy? But Abraham was satisfied. Let us also be satisfied with the portion God chooses to give.

Scriptures for Study: What truth did Paul learn in Philippians 4:11–13? What is Peter’s encouragement (2 Pet. 1:3)?