Welcome to our Together on Mission podcast, where we seek to be with and like Jesus, as we begin a conversation with Jesus in the morning, through scripture, prayer, and meditation, and then continue that conversation with him throughout your day. Your host is Travis Twyman, the pastor at the Inland Vineyard Church in Corona, California. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the daily Together on Mission podcast. We are going to bring our short journey through the Psalms to a conclusion today.
We've been talking about how we're feeling and what's going on in us and expressing that to God and using the Psalms as kind of a launching point to be able to do that. And I have saved one of my favorite Psalms, Psalm 16, for last. The title is Unfulfilled. And the truth is, I am unfulfilled, and you are unfulfilled, and we are unfulfilled.
And this is one of the predicaments of fallen, sinful humanity. In fact, this is what Eve was reaching out for, and Adam was reaching out for more. I've got to have more, and I've got to have it right now, because we're unfulfilled, we're unsatisfied. It's like something's missing.
It's like there's an emptiness. Someone or something is holding out on me. There must be more. You know, I'm not okay with what is.
I'm not okay with how I look. I'm not okay with the ground that I've covered vocationally up to this point. I'm not okay with the depth of my relationship with my husband or with my kids or with Jesus. I thought I'd be healthier.
You know, I thought I'd have a boat by now. You know, I'm not okay or satisfied with the paper that I just wrote or the presentation that I just gave or the quote that I just submitted or whatever it might be. I'm not satisfied with the money that I make or what's in my cup or what's on my table or what kind of furniture I have in my home. Of course, we can go on.
I'm just not satisfied. I need more. I need more right now. And so that brings us to the beginning, not the beginning, the middle of this incredible psalm, Psalm 16, verse 5.
Lord, you are my portion. You are my cup. You make my lot secure. My boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.
Surely, I have a delightful inheritance. And this is David talking, praying, writing. And I believe this is speaking into David's feeling that he's wrestling with of not having enough or not being enough or not accomplishing enough or not possessing enough. And David's wrestling through that with God.
And he's landing with, Lord, you're my portion. You're enough. My boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places. You see, what was in your cup or on your table in the ancient world was really one of the measurements.
And who are we getting? It's one of the measurements in the modern world, too, of whether we've arrived. And, of course, our boundary lines, that's how much land, you know, was owned. And inheritance was wealth.
And what David's wrestling with is I'm struggling with maybe it's not enough. And he's wrestling this through with God. In fact, the part that sticks out to me the most that I want to point out to all of us for just a moment is that line in verse 6, pleasant places. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.
And here's the truth. When we accept what we have as enough, there is a pleasant place to enjoy as opposed to being obsessed with what we don't have or obsessed with the fact that we need more. And we will come back to that because that brings us to verse 4. He says, those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
And the truth is when we persist in this feeling of being unfulfilled or not content or it's not enough, you know, it's just not enough. Then we tend to run after ways of pushing our life or pushing our family or pushing our relationships or pushing ourselves. We push and we pull and we twist ourselves or others out of shape to get more and have more, to accomplish more, to be more. And what that leads to, according to David in verse 4, is suffering.
When we run after other gods, we suffer more and more. And David says, I'm not going to pour out my patience of blood to such gods or take their name on my lips. In other words, I'm not going to do that anymore. I'm going to go after other gods anymore.
I'm not going to push and pull anymore. I'm going to rest in that pleasant place and trust that my boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places. And I love the end of verse 3 as well. Again, this is one of my favorite psalms.
At the end of verse 3, David says, the noble ones in whom I take delight. There are evidently people in David's life who he calls noble ones. And they've learned to be content and to take delight in what they have, not in what they don't have. And when David looks into a noble life of someone who is content with what they have and not always thinking about what they don't have, David says, man, those are the ones that I delight in.
Because that's a delightful place to be. That's a pleasant place to delight and to enjoy and to be grateful for what we have as opposed to trying to delight in what we don't have. Because the truth is, when we try to delight in what we don't have, we have to live in the future and we can never be in the moment and actually enjoy what we do have. And in verse 2, David says, I say to the Lord, you are my Lord and apart from you there is no good thing.
God, you are good. You are enough. You alone are my portion. You alone are my lot.
And David goes on and on about contentment and satisfaction, not in what he could have, but in what he actually has. And that is a life well lived. Enjoying and resting and rejoicing in where our boundary lies have fallen and what is in our cup and where this particular relationship is at. And how mature my dating relationship is, how accomplished I am at my vocation, how padded my bank account is, how good my health is doing, how well my grandkids are doing, how close I am with my husband, and on and on it goes.
In fact, the only way to experience gladness and rest is to fight for that pleasant place where our boundary lies have fallen today, a delightful place where we're satisfied and content and fulfilled with what we have. And so today, let's rest in that pleasant place. Let's fight for that pleasant place. Let's be content with what we have and enjoy what's on our table and what's in our cup right now.
And if we're struggling with that, just like David's struggling with that, then here is what I want us to meditate on this morning. So let's get out of the future of what we could have, what we might have, what we will have, and let's get right into this pleasant place, this place right here, right now, where we're content with what God has given us and who God is. Because you, Lord, are good, and apart from you, I have nothing. We'll talk soon.
Thanks for listening to the Together on Mission podcast. We truly hope that you were blessed and encouraged by it today. If you had any questions about the Inland Vineyard Church, our ministries, or our Sunday services, feel free to connect with us on our brand new app, which you can find in the Google Play and the App Store. And check out our social media pages like Facebook and Instagram, or even check out our website at inlandvineyard.org.
We'll see you next time.