ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 Falaite ‘Okatopa 15, 2021

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup

Ko hoku ‘inasi ‘i he tofi‘a, mo e ‘inasi ‘o ‘eku ipu ‘a Sihova

Saame 16-17 (Psalm 16-17)

(16:5-6) Ko hoku ‘inasi ‘i he tofi‘a, mo e ‘inasi ‘o ‘eku ipu ‘a Sihova; ‘Oku ke pukepuke hoku koloa. Kuo falō kiate au ‘a e ngaahi afo ‘i he ngaahi potu ‘oku sai:

‘Io, ‘oku faka‘ofo‘ofa kiate au ‘a e tofi‘a ni.

(16:5-6) The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

Psalm 16

This is a song of satisfaction. The singer is not one who is unfamiliar with peril. The opening sentence is a sigh, revealing the consciousness of peril. Toward the close, the shadows of She01 and the terror of corruption are recognized. Yet these things find a place here only that they may be canceled by the facts which create a sense of triumph over all peril. Jehovah is the one and all-sufficient good and the saints are friends of the singer because they are also friends of Jehovah.

With those who exchange Jehovah for another god the psalmist will have no fellowship. The fact that Jehovah is the supreme good is developed in descriptive measures. He is a present good and the hope of all the future. A present possession, creating pleasant places and perpetual power. As for the future, the last enemies will not overcome. Beyond victory over them is the presence of the King and the place of His right hand with fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. The hope of this singer found its perfect fulfilment only in the Man of perfect trust, and through Him in all who share His life through the mystery of that death from which He came triumphantly to enter into the eternal joys.

Psalm 17

This psalm is generally conceded to be closely linked with the preceding one. There is an evident similarity of outlook. In each case the singer declares his abstention from complicity with ungodly men. In both psalms God is appealed to, and the final hope of the soul is for fuller communion with Him. Yet, of course, the chief impression of comparison is the contrast. In the former, peril is referred to incidentally. Here, it is described and is the occasion of the outpouring of the soul.

The two exercises of priesthood are exemplified in the psalms. In the first the sacrifices of praise are offered. In this the petitions of need are presented. First, the ground of appeal is the singer's uprightness of heart, and speech, and action. It then moves into another and higher realm, the singer's confidence in God. He is known to be One who saves the trusting. The consciousness of His tenderness appears in the expressions used:

Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me under the shadow of Thy wings.

After a description of the immediate peril the singer again appeals for help, and the song ends with the expression of assured blessing and the declaration of the one and only full satisfaction.