My Portion: Psalm 17:14-15

I was trying to find a portion of scripture the speaker quoted this Sunday morning.  I know it's in the Psalms somewhere, but I'm pretty sure I remembered the wrong psalm.  The one I wound up looking at was Psalm 17, which doesn't contain the quote I remember.  It's a psalm of David, praying for God to protect him, in his uprightness, from wicked men who conspire against him.  The part that struck me though, was the last two verses:

Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword, from men by your hand, O Lord, from men of the world whose portion is in this life.  You fill their womb with treasure; they are satisfied with children, and they leave their abundance to their infants.  As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

Psalm 17:13b-15 (ESV)

It presents a picture of two different end goals.  God seems to grant both of them.  For the "wicked,"  their portion, their reward, is in this life.  Wealth, and children to pass it on to, is their legacy.  That is what they strive for.  That is their reward.  But David looks forward to something different.  For him, the reward is to see God's face in righteousness rather than in judgment, to be satisfied waking up and seeing him.

For me, it's an ideal that speaks directly to the heart of the Great Romance.  I want to remind myself of it and make it mine.  Lately, I've found I've been living, day to day, with a desire for seeing God more that day, like a junky living for the next spiritual high.  But life isn't supposed to all be spiritual highs.  I have to have a greater purpose for my days.  I have to have a better portion to satisfy me.  May I live my days as David did, looking to the reward of someday waking up and seeing God's face smiling down on me.