Psalm 47:4 He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes contentment does not come naturally to me. I could say that discontentment comes naturally to me. Now, I can be smug that I have it better than someone else or jealous that someone else has it better than me, but how often does one just have a quiet contentment about their place in the world?
Psalms 47 is a psalm that emphasizes both the universal reign of God and the wisdom of God in giving to me what He will apportion to me. It is a joyous psalm. Verse 1 begins, “O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.”
Being “terrible” does not mean God is contemptible; it means He is awesome in power, awe-inspiring. The Bible is emphasizing here that He is a great King over all the earth, not just part of it. This is not just Israel’s God or the West’s God; this is the God Who created the universe and Who sent His Son for the sins of every person who has ever been born. He hates sin. He loves people. He has made a way where a righteous God can be reconciled to sinful people. So, he is the God of all the earth.
Verse 7 reemphasizes this when it says, “For God is the King of all the earth.” Verse 4 is in connection to this. It says of God, “He shall choose our inheritance for us.” What a wonderful thing that God is King over all and that He will chose our inheritance for us! A God mighty enough to rule the world is wise enough to give me my part in it.
That is not to say I should do nothing, be nothing, and have no ambitions, plans, and goals. It is to say that I should not leave God out of it when I feel as if I don’t have as much as someone else. I am not to be ungrateful and count God out as if I am some orphan in the universe. When I have some advantage over someone else, I am not to be arrogant and think, “Wow, I am amazing and they are nothing.” No, there is a God and this God is mighty enough to rule the entire world.
Today, wherever you find yourself, remember that a God Who is mighty enough to rule the world is wise enough to give you the right portion in it. So, rest in God, take what He has given you, and use it as a wise steward.