The Fullness of Joy Series celebrates the launch of the new Give Me Jesus Journal and the Fullness of Joy Collection. Each article in this series is a devotional on a passage from Psalm 16. Read the other articles in the series here:

• “Embracing Childlike Faith” by Jasmine L. Holmes
• “Keeping Close to God” by Jared C. Wilson
• "Rejoicing in God's Presence" by Gretchen Saffles

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
Psalm 16:5–6

Fullness of Joy: Hoping in a Beautiful Future

The family flanks the sides of a long, dark table in the middle of a corporate board room. A sister dabs her eyes with tissue. A brother nervously cracks his knuckles. A distant cousin quietly sobs.

An attorney enters, all buttoned up with formality and seriousness. He sets a leather briefcase on the table before popping the brass latches. A document is retrieved. The attorney clears his throat. 

It’s time for the reading of the will. 

The room transforms from a scene of subdued expectation to a war zone. Fingers are pointed. Accusations are made. No one gets what they were hoping for. The walls reverberate with the human craving for more. It’s the stuff of reality TV—a family unhinged when hopes for their inheritance go unmet. But for the people of God, it’s nothing more than a fairy tale. Our good Father has an inheritance planned for each of us, one more generous and glorious than our wildest dreams and highest hopes. 

Hoping in a Forever Home

Psalm 16 is earmarked as a miktam of King David, which some scholars translate as “golden.” His insights are to be treasured far more than the finest gold.¹ What wisdom is in this psalm that’s worth mining for? Among other things, it’s the reading of the will, a revelation of the inheritance God has planned for those who love him.

Consider David’s words: “The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot” (v. 5). This is Promised Land language. It harkens back to when God spoke about how to divide the land among the children of Israel (Josh. 13–21). As Joshua’s days as Israel’s commander dwindled, God promised to drive out all the enemies who remained, leaving the faithful leader with one final command: “Only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you” (Josh. 13:6). 

God’s chosen people had been moving toward this moment since the days of Abraham. Eyes that had seen so many sand dunes were about to inhabit the lush land God had for them. Hearts that had wandered for many years were about to find rest in their forever home. 

David looked back at God’s faithfulness then and forward at God’s promises to come and concluded that the gifts God had in store were the best of the best. The home God was preparing was like a prime piece of real estate. 

Hoping in God’s Promises

David continued: “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance” (v. 6). Again, this language points us back to the Promised Land, a place where everyone got more than their fair share, a land where property lines weren’t marked with fences but with the love and faithfulness of God (see Josh. 21:43–44). God promised his people a beautiful inheritance, and what God promises always comes to pass: “Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass” (Josh. 21:45).

All of God’s promises are true for all who put their hope in Christ. When you enter into your full inheritance, there will be no disappointment. Your inheritance is beautiful. After a lifetime of desert living, you’ll enter your true home. 

Hoping in Jesus

The beauty of living in our true home is so much more than streets of gold and living without the presence and pain of sin. Our true and perfect and beautiful inheritance is Jesus himself. In him, all of God’s promises are fulfilled. He is the better portion, our place of rest, our forever future. In him, we’ll find endless beauty forevermore. “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 73:26). 

There’s no need to fear that God won’t follow through. For not one word of all the good promises that the LORD made to you will fail. All will come to pass.