A wonderful inheritance

David had a confidence in the Lord that He would do what He had said, indeed, this confidence is the backbone of any long-term relationship

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In an earlier blog of December 2021, I wrote enthusiastically about our short trip to see our welsh family who farm near Aberystwyth. I tried to describe the beauty and thrill of travelling over the welsh hills; checking the sheep and surveying the significant progress that the family have achieved across the farm. Handing on such farm to the next generation who value it and want to continue with improvements is a pleasure to both generations. Of course, realities are never quite so clear cut, but the general principle is clear. A farm is not the only example of a  treasured inheritance. There are many family businesses where an older generation have invested their life, and the younger ones have joined bringing fresh ideas and vigour. And so, having proved themselves to be capable managers, the older generation are then delighted to transfer the business over either in their lifetime or at death in their will.

The words of the psalmist come to mind: The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. Now we are told that this is a psalm of David, who was the 8th son of his father Jesse. Normally, a father’s inheritance was shared between the sons, with the first born taking the prime. So he may have had a small inheritance from Jesse, but David developed a wonderful relationship with the Lord, the God of Israel. This relationship was already strong when he was a young shepherd. He testified: "The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.”

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We can read about David’s story in the books of Samuel and Kings, how his life was developed and tested so that he would be a faithful king over God’s people. It is a remarkable story, complete with triumph and disappointment, victory and defeat, yet full of redemption. But David had a confidence in the Lord that He would do what He had said, indeed, this confidence is the backbone of any long-term relationship. And when David was firmly established as king, he brought peace to all the borders of Israel so that the nation occupied the fullest extent of the promised land. The Lord worked with David to bring about the fulfilment of the promises made to his ancestor Abraham some 1000 years earlier: "The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

David working with the Lord, inherited the promises and was able to pass on an inheritance, However, his chief delight was not the land or the wealth or security of the people but the Lord. I want to end this brief blog with Psalm 16:

Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
 I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.
Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
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.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful b one see decay.
You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Author: Richard Windridge

May God bless and enrich your life

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