Two Portions, Two Destinies Text: Psalm 17:13-15
Introduction: The Great Divide
Every man, whether he knows it or not, is an investor. Every day you are alive, you are investing your time, your energy, your affections, and your hopes into one of two portfolios. There are only two options on the table, and they offer starkly different returns. The first portfolio is managed by "the world." It offers immediate dividends, tangible assets, and a satisfaction that you can feel in your belly. The second portfolio is managed by God. It promises future glories, intangible realities, and a satisfaction that is located not in the belly, but in the very face and likeness of God Himself.
In our text today, David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, draws a sharp, clear line between these two investment strategies. This is not simply a matter of personal preference, like choosing between stocks and bonds. This is a matter of ultimate destiny. This psalm is what we call an imprecatory psalm, a prayer for God to act in judgment against His enemies. And we modern, sentimental Christians often get queasy about such prayers. We think them un-Christlike. But this is to misunderstand the very nature of righteousness. Righteousness is not a squishy, sentimental tolerance of all things. Righteousness loves what God loves and hates what God hates. And because God is a God of justice, a righteous man must long for justice to be done.
But this prayer for justice is not rooted in personal vindictiveness. It is rooted in a profound understanding of reality. David sees two kinds of people in the world, and he understands that their ultimate ends are going in two entirely different directions. There are the wicked, whom he calls "men of the world," and there are the righteous, represented by himself. The conflict between them is not a petty squabble; it is a collision of kingdoms, a clash of ultimate loyalties. And in this prayer, David is asking God to make it plain which kingdom is which, and who belongs to whom. He is asking God to act in history in such a way that the delusions of the wicked are shattered and the hope of the righteous is vindicated.
This passage forces us to ask a fundamental question of ourselves: Where is our portion? What are we satisfied with? Is our treasure in this life, or the next? Is our deepest longing to have our bellies full, or to behold the face of God? Your answer to that question determines everything.
The Text
Arise, O Yahweh, confront him, bring him low;
Protect my soul from the wicked with Your sword,
From men with Your hand, O Yahweh,
From men of the world, whose portion is in this life,
And whose belly You fill with Your treasure;
They are satisfied with children,
And leave their excess to their infants.
As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness;
I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake.
(Psalm 17:13-15 LSB)
A Prayer for Divine Intervention (v. 13-14a)
The psalm concludes with this urgent cry for God to act decisively.
"Arise, O Yahweh, confront him, bring him low; Protect my soul from the wicked with Your sword, From men with Your hand, O Yahweh..." (Psalm 17:13-14a)
David begins with a summons: "Arise, O Yahweh." This is the language of holy war. It is a call for the divine warrior to enter the battlefield. It assumes that God is not a distant, deistic clockmaker, but a present and powerful king who can and does intervene in the affairs of men. When God arises, His enemies are scattered (Psalm 68:1). David is not asking for a negotiation or a compromise. He asks God to "confront him, bring him low." This is a prayer for humiliation. It is a prayer that the proud and arrogant enemies of God be brought to nothing.
And notice the instruments of this judgment. David asks God to deliver him "with Your sword" and "with Your hand." He recognizes that the wicked are, in a strange and sovereign sense, God's own sword. God uses the wicked to chastise His people, to test their faith, and ultimately, to accomplish His own purposes. Assyria was the "rod of My anger" against Israel (Isaiah 10:5). This is a profound theological truth. Even the actions of wicked men are not outside of God's sovereign control. He can use them as a tool, a sword in His hand, and then He can judge them for the wicked intent with which they acted. This is a hard doctrine, but it is the bedrock of our comfort. If the wicked were truly autonomous, if they were outside of God's control, then we would have cause for despair. But because they are His sword, we can appeal to the one who holds the hilt.
This is not a prayer for personal revenge. This is a prayer for the vindication of God's name and God's justice. When the righteous are oppressed, the character of God is slandered. The wicked essentially say, "There is no God," or "God does not care," or "God is on our side." David's prayer is that God would arise and prove them liars.
The Portion of the Worldly (v. 14b)
David then provides a masterful, concise description of the ungodly man's worldview and ultimate desire.
"...From men of the world, whose portion is in this life, And whose belly You fill with Your treasure; They are satisfied with children, And leave their excess to their infants." (Psalm 17:14b)
Here is the great contrast. David's enemies are "men of the world." The Hebrew is stark; they are men of this fleeting age, this passing system. Their entire frame of reference is horizontal. Their treasure is here, their hope is here, and their reward is here. Their "portion is in this life." This is the motto of the secularist, the materialist, the practical atheist. "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die." They have cashed in their inheritance in the world to come for a bowl of stew in the here and now.
And notice, God is the one who gives it to them. "Whose belly You fill with Your treasure." This is the doctrine of common grace. God causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:45). God, in His sovereignty, allows the wicked to prosper in this life. He gives them wealth, success, and earthly comforts. He fills their bellies. This is often a stumbling block for the righteous. We see the wicked prospering and we are tempted to envy (Psalm 73:3). But David sees it with spiritual clarity. This earthly prosperity is not a sign of God's ultimate favor; it is their entire portion. It is all they get. God is settling their accounts in this life. He is giving them their pay, and when this life is over, their account is closed.
They are "satisfied with children." This is not to say that children are not a blessing. They are a heritage from the Lord (Psalm 127:3). But for the man of the world, children are simply another form of earthly legacy. They are his claim to a little slice of immortality on his own terms. He builds his little dynasty, accumulates his wealth, and leaves his "excess to their infants." His entire vision is bounded by the grave. He lives for what he can see, what he can hold, and what he can pass on to his own flesh and blood. His satisfaction is found in his posterity, not in his God.
The Portion of the Righteous (v. 15)
In stark contrast to the man of the world, David declares his ultimate hope and satisfaction.
"As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake." (Genesis 17:15)
This is one of the most glorious verses in all the Psalms. "As for me..." David draws the line in the sand. You can have your full bellies, your earthly treasures, your fleeting legacies. As for me, my portion is something else entirely. My hope is not in what I can get from God's hand, but in what I can see in God's face.
"I shall behold Your face in righteousness." The ultimate desire of the redeemed heart is not to be delivered from hell, or even to get into heaven, but to see God. To be in His presence, to gaze upon His glory. This is what Moses longed for (Exodus 33:18), and it is the promise to the pure in heart (Matthew 5:8). And this vision is not achieved through our own striving, but "in righteousness." This is not our own righteousness, which is as filthy rags, but the imputed righteousness of Christ. It is only because we are clothed in His perfect righteousness that we can stand in the presence of a holy God and not be consumed. We see God's face because we are hidden in His Son.
And the result of this vision is ultimate, final, and complete satisfaction. "I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake." The men of the world are satisfied with children. David will be satisfied with the very likeness of God. This is a clear and powerful statement of faith in the resurrection. The "sleep" of death is temporary. There is an awakening to come. And on that resurrection morning, when we awake, we will not just see God, but we will be made like Him. The apostle John echoes this very hope: "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2).
This is the Christian's great hope. The world seeks satisfaction and finds only temporary satiation. It fills its belly, but the soul remains starved. The believer, on the other hand, forsakes the fleeting pleasures of this world for the ultimate satisfaction of being conformed to the image of Christ. The world gets its inheritance now. We are waiting for ours. And our inheritance is not a thing; it is a person. It is God Himself.
Conclusion: Waking Up Satisfied
So the line is drawn. On one side are the men of the world. Their portion is this life. Their god is their belly. Their legacy is in their children. Their end is destruction. On the other side are the men of God. Their portion is the Lord. Their satisfaction is His face. Their hope is the resurrection. Their end is everlasting life.
Every day, you are choosing your portion. Every decision you make is an investment in one of these two destinies. When you choose sin, when you choose to gratify the flesh, when you live as though this world is all there is, you are declaring yourself to be a man of the world. You are choosing the full belly and the empty soul.
But when you, by faith, turn from your sin and look to Christ, you are making a different declaration. You are saying, "As for me, this world is not my home. My treasure is not here. My satisfaction is not in what I can accumulate." You are saying that you would rather have Christ with nothing than have everything without Christ. The gospel is the great exchange. Christ, who was in the form of God, whose portion was the glory of the Father, emptied Himself. He became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich (2 Cor. 8:9). He endured the cross, despising the shame, for the joy that was set before Him (Heb. 12:2). And what was that joy? It was the joy of bringing many sons to glory. It was the joy of the great awakening, the resurrection morning, when He would be the firstborn among many brethren, all of them satisfied in His likeness.
Therefore, do not envy the wicked when they prosper. Their full bellies are a tragic consolation prize. They are eating their final meal on death row. Your feast is being prepared. Do not lose heart when you suffer for righteousness' sake. Your light and momentary affliction is preparing for you an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. Live now in light of that great awakening. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (Col. 3:2-4). And on that morning, when you awake, you will behold His face, you will share His likeness, and you will, at long last, be truly and eternally satisfied.