Boundary Lines In Pleasant Places In Cook
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This psalm exudes David's joy, using words such as "delight," "pleasant," "glad," "rejoices," "joy," and "pleasures." David celebrates his relationship with God. Because the Lord is with him always, David feels secure, even in the face of death. This is because his eternal destiny is assured.
Psalms -8 New International Version (NIV) The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
“The Lord bless you and keep you” is a striking blessing that has been used by Jewish people and Christians throughout history. It is a way to invoke and call upon God's blessing of provision and guarding of those who believe in him and follow him.
David rejoices in his relationship with the Lord, in his inheritance in Israel, and in the Lord's direction for his life. David asks the Lord for protection, trusting in God as a safe place from enemies and evil. He confesses that apart from the Lord he has nothing good.
“The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places” would then be: “Your sovereign goodness has fenced me in to God himself. The borders of my life are boundaries around where God is.” And when he adds, “I have a beautiful inheritance,” the ultimate meaning would be: God. God is my inheritance, and he is beautiful.
Here, Paul is reminding us there is a distinction, a boundary, between what good is, and what bad is. Good, and God, is like the light, and bad, or night, is like the darkness of our sin. God is very clear with us in scripture that boundaries are appropriate as they differentiate what is Godly, and what is evil.
Some commentators suggest this statement could be interpreted to mean the Lord will place into our hearts those desires which are godly. In other words, when we delight in God, He makes us want what He wants (Romans ; Galatians –24).
“The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places” would then be: “Your sovereign goodness has fenced me in to God himself. The borders of my life are boundaries around where God is.” And when he adds, “I have a beautiful inheritance,” the ultimate meaning would be: God. God is my inheritance, and he is beautiful.
In praying “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven,” we ask God to save us from any unwillingness to learn God's will and embrace God's kingdom; to save us from choosing our own plans and desires; and to save us from trying to limit the scope of God's purposes.
Bits of biblical property law appear throughout the Old Testament, as in Deuteronomy : "You shall not remove your neighbor's landmark, which the men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land. . . ." Simply put, each individual or family owned specific plots of land whose boundaries ...