Psalm 16:5-6 “LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.”
Verse 11:“You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
One of the roles of the referees in today’s game will be to watch for players who go out of bounds. Getting the ball down the field has to be accomplished within the boundary lines that have been established. There will be great celebration for the team that can score the most touchdowns, for the team that while keeping the ball in bounds, can get it into the end zone. I guarantee you we will see some goofy dances as touchdowns are made. That is probably my favorite part of a football game! I love the individual expressions of victory. There will be great joy expressed every time a team scores. When one person scores, millions will rejoice.
Learning to live with the boundaries that have been established for us, by God in His Word, will also produce great joy and celebration. Look at the words on the screen. “You have made my lot secure.” Security is a byproduct of living life in bounds. In verse 11, we read that the path of life, real life, the kind that produces joy, is lived within the boundary lines.
The Psalmist calls the spaces inside the boundary lines, “pleasant.” Here, the writer is speaking about the Promised Land that was divided and given to the 12 tribes of Israel. Each tribe was given a space to conquer and occupy. There was a connection between the tribes as one tribe’s property line met another, but they were separate entities. Lengthy portions of Old Testament Scripture are devoted to the details of how far north, south, east and west, each tribe’s land would stretch and what other tribe of people group it would border. Borders and boundaries were clearly defined and were very important. People were to manage their families, to manage their livelihoods, to manage their lives, inside those boundary lines.
Just as important as physical property boundaries, perhaps more so, are the boundaries we need to live by when it comes to spiritual, physical, emotional, and relational boundaries. The Christian life is a life lived with God-given boundaries. God has established boundary lines for us. We are to live inside of those lines. We are to live “in bounds.”
In football, boundaries are established so that the game can be played in a strategic, disciplined, and focused way. Picture a football game being played on a field with no boundary lines. It would only lead to chaos and casualties. In addition, how much more difficult would a player make it for himself if he crossed the boundary lines, left the field and started running up the steps and through the aisles of the stands? It would be like creating an obstacle course for yourself with all kinds of crazy challenges where you were more likely to get hurt. The field provides a straight, level path to the end zone. People who aren’t supposed to be part of the game aren’t on the field. Only those who sign up for the physical altercations, who have trained for the roughness of the game, who are also wearing the appropriate gear, only they will be part of the play which ensures there is actually a game being played and not just random chaos like you see at a four-year-old soccer game! Just sayin! If players were to continually disrespect the boundaries of the game, there would be no point to watching it. The boundaries God sets for us help keep us and other people safe and ensure there is a point and purpose to our lives.
In addition to the chaos that would ensue as a player left the field, the receiver would be running away from the end zone with the ball. He would have turned his body away from the place of victory and would be running in the wrong direction. He might be running with all his might. He might have a tight grip on the ball. He might be entertaining some people with his razzle, dazzle skills along the way, he might even be able to run faster than those who are chasing him, but he isn’t going to score because he isn’t moving toward the end zone. Boundary lines keep you focused on the end zone so you can score! God has an end zone for your life. He wants to take you to a place of victory. He wants you to score multiple times in your lifetime, but you won’t experience it if you don’t respect the boundaries. When you step outside of the boundaries, you are turning your back on the victory God has for you.
God hasn’t established boundaries for His children because He wants to limit us, but because He wants us to succeed. God’s blessing is inside the boundary lines. When we go outside of the boundaries God has established for us and pursue the sinful things of this world, and live our lives to please ourselves, we run the risk of impairing our relationship with God and others. There are spiritual, emotional, relational and financial prices we pay when we cross God’s boundaries for our lives, but there is blessing in the boundaries.
Ezekiel 36 is one of my absolute favorite chapters of the Bible. Look at what is declared by God in verses 24-28: 24 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. What is God saying here? He is explaining that due to their sin, they were exiled, displaced from their homeland, displaced from the playing field that God had established for them. He was going to get them back on the field, back inside the boundary lines. And He wasn’t just going to relocate them, but He was going to change them in the process.
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.
They had violated God’s boundaries. They had embraced the idols of the cultures to which they had been exiled. They had lost their distinctiveness as God’s people. Let me just make that point quickly. When you violate God’s boundaries, repeatedly violate them, you lose your distinctiveness as a Child of God, like the world identifies you with them instead of with God. Because Israel had been swept up into ungodly cultural practices, they needed to be cleansed. They needed to be washed. They had been contaminated by the world and that filth had to be removed from them.
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
They needed to have a heart transplant. I talked earlier about the people who know what God has said, but who in turn, live as if to say, “So what,” that is the heart that is being talked about here. A heart of stone. A heart that is unyielding to the ways of God, the voice of God, the boundaries of God. A heart that is bent on doing life your own way. A heart that decides that the boundary lines don’t matter, that they don’t apply to them. God says, “If you are going to be my people, you are going to have to have a new heart.” When your heart gets away from God, you begin to follow yourself instead of God, and you walk right off the field, forfeiting your chance to score God’s blessings.
Here is the best part of the text: 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
God isn’t just going to deliver laws and set up boundaries without putting Holy Spirit power inside of us to help us carry out what is being asked. There are rules in a game of football. No one expects any team to win this evening that has decided the rules don’t apply to them. No one expects us to see the teams play as if there aren’t any rules, as if there are no boundaries. This is something we can all agree on when it comes to football. Why do so many people struggle accepting this when it comes to faith?
Listen, there are rules that God has established for our lives, but unlike football that is only rules-based, life with God is first and foremost about a relationship with the Holy Spirit. In football, you follow the rules. With God, you follow the Spirit, and He empowers you to stay in the boundaries God has established.
And guess what? We desire to live this way when our old heart is removed, and our new heart is in place and when the Spirit of God begins to work on the inside of us. Why do we desire to live that way? Because we know we can’t lose!
Verse 28: 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. (Ezekiel 36:24-28)
God is saying, “Then you will be back on the field, and we’ll be in a relationship together, one that will lead you to victory.”
Psalm 16:5-6 “LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.”
Verse 11:“You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
Do you agree with the Psalmist’s statements? Are you living securely and safely? Does your respect for God’s boundaries help keep others safe? Are you focused on the end zone? Have you been experiencing victory? Do you have peace? Have you left the field? Do you need a reset? Have you resisted the whisper of the Holy Spirit who is calling you back? Do you have a heart of stone? Is your attitude towards God more of a “So what” attitude than an attitude of surrender? Have you gotten Christianity wrong, thinking it was just about rules and not about a relationship with the Holy Spirit? I believe God has great help for those who will respond with an open heart today, and I pray God will help us choose faith on the field, a life in bounds with Him.
