Thanks a LOT!

joH'a' assigned wIj portion je wIj HIvje'. SoH chenmoHta' wIj lot secure.

The LORD assigned my portion and my cup. You made my lot secure. Psalm 16:5

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What is your lot in life? Rich or poor is a matter of perspective across the years of one's life as our fortunes rise and fall. And you might consider yourself impoverished - yet to another in different circumstances you'd be wealthy. "LOT" - that's our Klingon word to consider today, though you'll note, it isn't one that is translated into Klingon in our text.

Sometimes you might hear successful people of faith, suggest that earthly success indicates divine approval. At its best this is a recognition of dependance - at its worst it can be a gross misunderstanding of scripture. And it ISN'T what King David is thinking in this verse from Psalm 16.

For our worldly good is not tied to a simple equation. "Comforters" like those who visited Job may know many words about God that they think point to a cause-and-effect system, but fail to bring help or hope to those dealing with disaster.

SoH chenmoHta' wIj lot secure.

You made my lot secure.

Since my Klingon Language Version merely does word-for-word replacements, there's plenty of places where it doesn't provide a translated word - and this is one of those cases.

The first problem is there are vastly different meanings of those three letters - in particular it's the NAME of Abraham's nephew - nearly a third of the occurences in the Bible. Obviously the mechanical process of generating the KLV yields odd "translations" but Lot's *name* is too familiar to translate it into a meaning (especially the wrong meaning).

"LOT" in this verse is the Hebrew word gowral (go-rawl), which means "pebble" and appears over 60 times in the Bible. The corresponding Greek word, kleros (klay'-ros) that appears over 10 times means "a break," a bit of wood, i.e. a die. The literal meaning is some small object used in making a random choice - like we might use dice today, or flipping a coin.

This is not an endorsement of gambling, but is seen across scriptures as one way that believers would use to make decisions - as one writer notes:

The lot was always resorted to by the Hebrews with strictest reference to the interposition of God, and as a method of ascertaining the divine will (Pr 16:33), and in serious cases of doubt (Es 3:7). (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

For a Klingon word - a literal translation of gowral might be naghHom - little rock. That doesn't tell us much. Better might be to come up with a phrase - maybe "SuD naghHom" - the stone gambles? Maybe you see why I opted NOT to translate this word.

joH'a' assigned wIj portion je wIj HIvje'. SoH chenmoHta' wIj lot secure.

The LORD assigned my portion and my cup. You made my lot secure. Psalm 16:5

I bring up the word, and its meaning, because I like noting that when David talks about his portion he uses a word that suggests his fortune, his "lot" has an arbitrary aspect - something outside of his merit, his personal worth. I think David is reminding us of the action in his life of GRACE - God's unmerited favor. One more thing worth noting - the verse begins stating a fact, something impersonal, ABOUT God: The LORD assigned my portion and my cup.

But it ends with words of relationship, addressed to God: You made my lot secure.

I think this is what's missing when we start fooling ourselves into acting as if our LOT - our success or prosperity - is in something we did. For then we've lost the most important thing, the relationship with a God who loves us, who cares for us - not because we somehow proved we were worth it, but because he loves us better than we could ever hope or deserve.

joH'a' assigned wIj portion je wIj HIvje'. SoH chenmoHta' wIj lot secure.

The LORD assigned my portion and my cup. You made my lot secure. Psalm 16:5

What a great God!