Ps 16:6 PURE PLEASURE

PURE PLEASURE

“The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.” Ps 16:6

Do you know where the property of your neighbor begins? Every parcel of land has a property line that is placed there by a surveyor and is recorded in government books. When the Psalmist says here, “The lines are fallen unto me,” he is not talking about property lines but about spiritual lines. God is the surveyor who sets the lines for each of us, lines that show the boundaries where He rules.

When you think about it for a moment, you realize at once what those boundaries are. The Psalmist is talking about our hearts. That is our Lord’s property. There He rules with His love, and there is the most pleasant place on earth. Is there any place more pleasant than the forgiven heart wiped clean from sin by the forgiveness won by Jesus Christ? Is there any place more pleasant than the trusting heart that casts all its cares on the Lord? Is there any place more pleasant than the joyful heart that is confident of everlasting life? To live with a heart where God sets the lines of His love is pure pleasure.

This picture is so pleasant and so beautiful that it does not seem possible for fearful hearts like ours. Do we deserve that kind of pleasure? No one does! But we can count on it. We can say with all the certainty of the Psalmist, “Indeed, I have a goodly heritage.” When the Holy Spirit made us God’s children through faith, we also inherited all the pleasures that faith brings.

What about the trials and problems in our lives? Can our heart still be a pleasant place in spite of them? The writer to the Hebrews expresses our feelings when he says that no “chastening” seems pleasant at the time. In fact, it is very unpleasant. But when each trial is over, we can look back in faith and actually take pleasure in our affliction because our Lord has taught us, through it all, that He means only good for us.

What a contrast is our spiritual joy to the world where pure pleasure is nothing more that satisfying every sinful lust. Unfortunately, it is that way with you and me, too, because of our sinful inner nature. It is only when the lines of God’s love blot out our rebellious self that our heart once more becomes a pleasant place and a goodly heritage. Then the pure pleasure of faith is ours, and we can confess with the Psalmist: “in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.”