My God, my Portion

I chose to include this hymn in our collection. At the time when I was considering whether or not to include it, I became troubled because I felt that according to its sensation, the hymn was fitting, but according to revelation, there is little to distinguish whether the hymn was composed by a Jewish writer or a Christian. The hymn covers the matter of God being our portion, but it does not suggest that God is our portion in Christ and through the Spirit. In essence, it contains nothing concerning God's New Testament economy.

Of the one thousand eighty hymns that we selected for our hymnal, Hymns, #600 was the only one that we chose simply because there was no other hymn that could replace it in terms of the sensation of the hymn. For this reason we chose this hymn and assigned a more fitting melody than its original melody in order to uplift the hymn's sensation. The writer might have seen something regarding God's New Testament economy, but he did not mention anything concerning God's economy in the hymn.

If we modified Hymns, #600 in order to uplift its spiritual content, we would need to insert the thought concerning the Father being our portion in the Son and through the Spirit. By including in the Son, the thought of redemption would be implied. If Christ had not accomplished redemption, we would not be able to come to the Father. According to the New Testament, God cannot be our portion unless He is in the Son, because He is holy and we are sinners. Thus, for God to become our portion, there was the need of redemption in the Son (Rom. 3:24; 5:1-2).

However, the thought of redemption in the Son is still not adequate. There also needs to be the thought of "through the Spirit." Second Corinthians 13:14 says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." In this verse we see God's economy in His reaching us. God does not come to us directly, for the love of God requires the grace of Christ, and the grace of Christ needs the fellowship of the Spirit. When we have the love of God as the source in the grace of Christ as the course through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit as the transmission, God becomes our portion. Such a thought is according to God's New Testament economy.

It is good to sing Hymns, #600, but we need to realize that it is lacking the revelation concerning God's New Testament economy.

At the Lord's table, which is altogether related to God's New Testament economy, the Spirit is within us to remember the Son, who leads us to the Father (Luke 22:19-20; Matt. 26:30; Eph. 2:18; Heb. 2:12). Thus, in the Lord's table meeting it may be better not to call Hymns, #600.

Since we have been justified, we have entered into another realm—the realm of grace. In this realm of grace our enjoyment is God Himself. Romans 5:11 says, "Boasting in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation." Our boast is not in our reputation, education, home, possessions, or situation, all of which are worthless when compared to God. Our boast is in our God, and our glory is in Him. Recently, my wife and I moved into a new apartment. After everything in it had been arranged, I looked at it and was very pleased. However, as I was admiring it, the Spirit reminded me that these things are worthless compared to God. Then I opened to Hymns, #600: "My God, my Portion, and my Love, / My everlasting All." God is our eternal portion. Outward things may be good in a shallow sense, but they cannot compare with God. We have peace toward God, we are glorying and boasting in Him, and we are enjoying Him.

God called Paul and said to him, "I send you, to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me" (Acts 26:17b-18). This inheritance is God as our possession, that is, God as our land with its rich produce. Today man needs land to provide food for his living and a lodging for his rest. As we have seen, Psalm 16:5 says, "Jehovah is the portion of My inheritance," and Psalm 90:1 says, "O Lord, You have been our dwelling place / In all generations." Hymns, #600 is written based on these two psalms. The general idea of the hymn is that God is our eternal portion, our everlasting all, and our safe abode. God is our land and our dwelling place. It is no wonder that when the Lord Jesus came, He said, "Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). Moreover, in John 15:4 He said, "Abide in Me." Today all men have lost God as their possession, and they have no real dwelling place. Fallen people are all drifting about and wandering without a home. Although they may live in high-rise buildings or large mansions, within them there is no rest, no dwelling place. Man is wandering because he has lost God. God is man's real dwelling place and real possession.