Pleasant Places

Alnwick Castle, Northeast England

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
-Psalm 16.6

I came across this verse in my Bible last night. I had already underlined it a long time ago, so it drew my attention. The poetic nature of the Psalms draws me back on many occasions. I like how it invokes in me a reminder that it doesn't matter what I do for a job or if I come from a rich family. I have the inheritance of God's kingdom because I have Him in my heart and I believe. That is all I need.

This verse recognizes that the goodness bestowed is not due to the psalmist's power, but by God, who made it possible for all things to fall into pleasant places. It is a dangerous outlook one can adopt when giving oneself credit for the good things that happen.

Journaling helps me see in my own words how God is at work in my life. As I write I sort matters in my heart and I always end up seeing how good God is and how nothing is able to be done that God does not already see. He is at work on things that I cannot possibly comprehend yet. That is, I think, what the author means in Ecclesiastes (perhaps it was Solomon who wrote the book) when he wrote:

What has been is what will be,

and what has been is what will be done,

and there is nothing new under the sun.

-Ecclesiastes 1.9