Psalm 119:57 (HETH) You are my portion, O LORD; I have said that I would keep Your words. Several things strike me as interesting about this verse. My first question was, “What is a portion? And what does it mean to be someone’s portion?” Looking at the Hebrew it says that a portion is a share, a possession, or an award (usually from God). That still seemed pretty vague, so I looked down at the entry from Gessenius’ Lexicon where it elaborated that a portion could be an inheritance or a fellowship/common possession with someone. [1] That was interesting. An inheritance suggests that the Lord, or the knowledge of Him and of how to obey Him is passed down from generation to generation – from father/mother to child. It’s part of heritage. The part about it being a fellowship or common possession emphasizes the importance of community to the Hebrew people. Knowing and serving YHWH is a precious inheritance to be shared and practiced with my community. I am not disconnected, nor am I alone. In a world of insanity, He is my place where I belong and where I can rest surrounded by friends and family who help me to walk in greater obedience to Him. The last things I looked at were the verbs in the second part of the verse because I’ve read that Hebrew verbs are either finished or not finished. There is no past or future. That being said, “I have said” is a verb that is finished. But, “I would keep” is unfinished, so it’s probably closer to “I am keeping” because it’s not something I’m going to do, it’s something that is not finished – I’ll continue to do it until it’s finished (which would be when I die). So sometime previously a decision was made to obey His words (a.k.a. His commands – which would be laid out in Torah to Moses). And this action of keeping/obeying His words is ongoing. And somehow the keeping His words is connected to God being my portion/inheritance/fellowship. Perhaps as I keep His commands, I enter into fellowship with others who also obey His commands. Obedience makes me part of a particular community because it sets me apart from the world. Then, too, I become part of the legacy and heritage of Israel, obligated to pass on what I know and how to obey to my children. I all begins with obedience – Keeping His words. Do I? Am I? Will I? [1] Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for cheleq (Strong’s 2506)“. Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2010. 27 Jul 2010. <http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H2506&t=NKJV >
Leviticus 7 This chapter talks about fellowship/peace offerings. It says that all meats or baked grains that are brought must be eaten that day (apart from the ones that are given to the priests). It struck me that perhaps this was a way to encourage community and fellowship among the Israelites. Considering that some people were bringing entire cows, that’s a lot of meat. It probably took more than one family to finish it off in one day, so it could have been shared by the community. Party! Just a thought. And another thing that the chapter talks about is how the Israelites aren’t supposed to eat the fat or the blood. The fat’s just plain bad for you, but the blood has more meaning that simple health regulations. Pagan cultures included the drinking of blood in their religious rituals because they believed that the blood contained the essence of life. So by drinking the blood (lifeblood) they could gain extra power or strength by absorbing the life essence of the dead creature (or person?). God specifically prohibits this practice by telling the Israelites that they aren’t allowed to drink blood. The blood is part of what is sacrificed on the altar. Symbolically, this also makes sense. By offering the blood to God, we are giving Him our life. God doesn’t need our sacrifices to be strong, but the blood was a reminder that He owns our life, its strength, and its very breath.