November 16

Morning

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.” — Lam 3:24 BSB

The Lord is my portion. It doesn’t say, “The Lord is partly my portion,” or “The Lord is in my portion”; rather, He Himself is the entirety of my soul’s inheritance! Everything I possess or desire is found within that promise.

The Lord is my portion—not just His grace, love, or covenant, but Jehovah Himself! He has chosen us to be His portion, and we have chosen Him to be ours. It’s true that the Lord must first choose our inheritance for us, for we would never have chosen it ourselves. But if we are truly called by His electing love, we can joyfully sing,

“Loved of my God, for Him again
With love intense I burn;
Chosen of Him before time began,
I choose Him in return!”

The Lord is our all-sufficient portion. God is full within Himself, and if He is all-sufficient in Himself, He must be all-sufficient for us. It is not easy to satisfy human desires. When we think we are satisfied, we soon realize there is still something more we want, and the restless cry of our hearts is, “Give me more!”

But everything we could ever want is found in our divine portion. That’s why we ask, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.” We can truly “delight ourselves in the Lord,” for He makes us drink from the river of His pleasures. Our faith spreads its wings like an eagle and soars into the heights of divine love, its true home. “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” Let us rejoice in the Lord always. Let us show the world that we are a happy, blessed people, and by doing so, inspire others to say, “We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”

Evening

Your eyes will see the King in His beauty and behold a land that stretches afar. — Isa 33:17 BSB

The more you know about Christ, the less satisfied you’ll be with shallow views of Him. The more deeply you study His role in the eternal covenant, His work as your eternal Surety, and the fullness of grace that shines through all His offices, the more clearly you’ll see the King in His beauty. Spend much time in such meditations. Long more and more to know Jesus.

Meditation and contemplation are like windows through which we behold our Redeemer. Meditation is like putting a telescope to our eye, allowing us to see Jesus more clearly than we ever could have seen Him if we had lived in His day. How we need to have more heavenly conversations and to be more absorbed with the person, work, and beauty of our incarnate Lord! The more we meditate, the more the beauty of our King will dazzle us!

Beloved, it’s very likely that we will have the most glorious view of our King when we come to die. Many saints, in their final hours, have looked up from the stormy waters and seen Jesus walking on the waves, hearing Him say, “It is I, do not be afraid!” Yes, when this earthly tent begins to fall apart, and the clay crumbles away, we see Christ through the cracks, and the sunlight of heaven shines through the gaps!

But if we want to see the King in His beauty face to face, we must go to heaven, or the King must come to us. Oh, how we long for His return! He is our Beloved, and we feel widowed by His absence! He is our dearest Brother, and we feel lonely without Him. Thick clouds and veils stand between us and our true love—when will the day break and the shadows flee away? Oh, long-awaited day, come quickly!