The Cup That is Handed to Us

There is something sacred about the daily ritual of morning coffee. For me, it is not only the warmth of the cup in my hands or the aroma rising to meet me; it is also the love expressed in the hands that bring it. My husband knows how I like my coffee, just as I know how he likes his. That quiet knowledge of one another’s preferences becomes a language of care, unspoken yet deeply felt. The cup itself is a delight, but the true sweetness comes in knowing who has prepared it and placed it in my hands or on the table beside me. Love sweetens the cup.

David speaks of another cup, one far greater, in Psalm 16:5: “The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.” This imagery is not about a simple beverage but about the whole of life. The “cup” in Scripture often symbolizes a person’s appointed share, what God has measured out for them each day and in the course of their years. For some, that portion appears sweet; for others, bitter. Yet David looks beyond the contents of the cup to the Giver Himself. His joy does not rest in whether the cup holds pleasure or pain, abundance or want, but in knowing that Yahweh is both the portion and the one who fills it.

This changes everything. Life, when viewed only from the surface of circumstances, can appear uneven and even unjust. Some seem to hold cups overflowing with blessings, while others sip long from sorrow’s draught. But when David says that the LORD is his cup, he is affirming that his sustenance, strength, and security are not ultimately in the cup’s contents but in the Lord Himself. In this way, the believer shares the privilege of the Levites, who were told that the LORD would be their inheritance rather than land or possessions (Num. 18:20). To possess God as portion is to have a treasure that cannot diminish and an inheritance that cannot fade.

The imagery presses deeper still when we consider Christ. On the night of His betrayal, He prayed in Gethsemane: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39). That cup was filled with divine wrath, the bitter portion appointed to Him for our salvation. He drank it to the last drop so that the cup placed into our hands would never hold condemnation. Because of Christ, the cup handed to the believer each morning is no longer wrath but mercy, no longer judgment but grace, no longer death but life. This is why David could say with confidence, “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance” (Ps. 16:6).

The Puritans often wrote of God as the “soul’s portion,” reminding us that all created blessings are but conduits and tokens leading us back to the Giver Himself. Thomas Brooks once noted that “the good things of God are streams, but God Himself is the fountain.” When we delight in the streams without the fountain, we drink shallowly and are soon parched. But when we learn to lift the cup daily with thanksgiving, seeing God Himself as its portion, then even the smallest sip refreshes with eternal sweetness. It is the same lesson Paul learned when he confessed that he had learned the secret of being content in plenty and in want, because Christ was his sufficiency (Phil. 4:11–13).

This truth reshapes our mornings. The coffee cup in my hands is a small but tangible parable. Just as I cherish the love expressed in the one who hands me that daily drink, so I must remember the greater hand that has prepared the day’s portion for me. I may not know what the cup will contain, whether sorrow or gladness, but I know whose pierced hands extend it. To receive it without fear is to trust that whatever is poured has been measured out with infinite wisdom, covenant love, and unfailing faithfulness. The sweetness is not in the drink itself, but in knowing the Giver.

So each morning, as you lift your cup to sip, whether of coffee or tea, let it remind you of the truer cup placed in your care by the Lord. Receive it not with anxiety but with trust, not with complaint but with gratitude. Remember that Christ has already emptied the cup of wrath, leaving only mercy for His people. The Lord Himself is your chosen portion, your inheritance, your daily sustenance. The cup you drink may change from day to day, but the hands that hold your lot never do. And when your lips touch the rim, let your heart echo David’s words: “The LORD is my portion and my cup.”