The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh assigned my portion and my cup. You made my lot secure.
- KJV The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.
- NKJV O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot.
- NASB ¶The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot.
- NLT Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Yahweh himself is David's portion, cup, and secure inheritance. It matters because God, not earthly possessions, is the believer's lasting wealth.
Overview
Using the imagery of an inheritance, David declares that the Lord is his assigned portion and cup and the one who makes his lot secure. Like the Levites who had no land but had the Lord as their inheritance, David finds his treasure in God himself. Believers in Christ likewise possess God as their inheritance and are kept secure in him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 25
- Ps 73:26My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
- Ps 142:5I cry to You, O LORD: “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
- Lam 3:24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”
- Ps 119:57The LORD is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words.
- Ps 23:5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
- Deut 32:9But the LORD’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance.
- Ps 89:20–37I have found My servant David; with My sacred oil I have anointed him.
- Ps 89:4‘I will establish your offspring forever and build up your throne for all generations.’” Selah
- Ps 116:13I will lift the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.
- Jer 10:16The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance—the LORD of Hosts is His name.
- Isa 53:12Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
- Ps 9:4For You have upheld my just cause; You sit on Your throne judging righteously.
- Ps 21:7–12For the king trusts in the LORD; through the loving devotion of the Most High, he will not be shaken.
- Ps 2:6“I have installed My King on Zion, upon My holy mountain.”
- Ps 132:11The LORD swore an oath to David, a promise He will not revoke: “One of your descendants I will place on your throne.
- Acts 5:31God exalted Him to His right hand as Prince and Savior, in order to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.
- Ps 11:6On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
- Ps 125:3For the scepter of the wicked will not rest upon the land allotted to the righteous, so that the righteous will not put forth their hands to injustice.
- 1 Cor 15:25For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
- Isa 42:1“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.
- Eph 5:18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
- Ps 110:1–2A Psalm of David. The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
- Acts 2:32God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses.
- Ps 132:17–18There I will make a horn grow for David; I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one.
- Ps 61:6–7Increase the days of the king’s life; may his years span many generations.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 16:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.