What Does “The Lord Is My Portion” Mean?

NATHAN W. BINGHAM: This week, we're joined by the chairman of Ligonier Ministries and one of our teaching fellows, Dr. W. Robert Godfrey. Dr. Godfrey, what does "the Lord is my portion" mean in Scripture?

DR. W. ROBERT GODFREY: That's good. That's a phrase that occurs frequently in the Psalter and is often an expression of the piety of the heart of the psalmist and of the people of God. I think its roots are in Israel entering the promised land. And each tribe was promised a portion of the land. So, "portion" originally, I think, meant the land of Israel. But when they got to Levi, as it's recorded in Numbers 18, the Lord said, "Levi will not have a portion of the land," but Moses said to Levi, "The Lord will be your portion."

And the idea is that the Lord would provide directly for Levi through the temple and through the tithes and offerings of Israel, rather than land, which the people would have to work and cultivate to derive their sustenance. So, it's originally an idea about the Lord providing intimately and directly for a part of His people. And I think that phrase so appealed to Israel, and should so appeal to us, that the pious just took it up and said: "I want the Lord to be my portion. It's not so much that I care about my portion in the land. What I care about is that the Lord should be my portion."

And so, it's great for us, I think, as the people of God to look at the world, to be thankful for whatever the Lord gives us in this world, but to have our fundamental faith rest in the conviction that the Lord is enough and that the Lord is our portion.