Psalm 119:57 NKJV
57
You are my portion, O Lord;
I have said that I would keep Your words.
God as Our Portion
My Notes
Thou art my portion, O Lord. I think Albert Barnes gave the best explanation of this in his commentary, and that is “God was to him what other people seek in wealth, honor, pleasure, fame. To him, God was all and in all. He asked nothing else.”
The Lord wants to be and can be our “all in all”, but we need to ask Him in and then let Him be our “all in all”, the way David put it; (my paraphrase) Lord thou art my portion, and You know what’s in my heart so You know that I have chosen You for my portion and I depend on You to see it through. If we do this, the Lord has infinite wisdom to give us direction, infinite knowledge for us to learn from, infinite mercy to save us, infinite love to care for us, and infinite power to protect us.
Psalm 119:57 expresses a profound spiritual commitment where David declares the Lord as his portion, underscoring the paramount importance of God’s presence in his life. This sentiment, echoed by various commentators, highlights the notion that true satisfaction and fulfillment come solely from God, surpassing worldly possessions or honors. David resolves to keep God’s words, signifying a deep allegiance to the word of God. They emphasize that acknowledging God as one’s portion involves a reciprocation of commitment, promising to obey His commandments. This intimate relationship illustrates a believer’s desire for guidance and a fulfilling connection with our Father amidst life’s challenges.
Note: Psalm 119 is an acrostic pattern. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet; each of the 22 sections is given a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and each line in that section begins with that letter. Today, we’re looking at verse 57, which is in the 8th section, which is called “Heth ח”. According to the hebrews4christians.com website has this letter listed as “CHET where the NKJV lists it as “HETH”, the letter Heth ח is the 8th letter of the Aleph-Bet, having the numeric value of eight. The pictograph for Heth ח looks like a wall or fence, whereas the classical Hebrew script is constructed of the preceding two letters, Vav and Zayin joined at the top with a thin connecting line.
Hebrewtoday.com list this as the letter “HET” and has this to say:
The Hebrew letter Het is associated with a number of positive character traits. For example, the Hebrew word “hohma” (חוכמה), meaning “wisdom” begins with the letter Het, as does the word “hasidut” (חסידות), which means “righteousness,” and “hen” (חן) meaning “grace.” The numerical value of the letter Het is eight, which is often associated with super-spirituality or holiness, as it is one more than seven, which represents the holy realm of the Sabbath. When Jewish boys are circumcised and enter into their faith’s holy ancient covenant, it is commanded to be performed on the eighth day.
……..Bill
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Commentaries:
Thomas Brooks
“Thou art my portion, O LORD.” Luther counsels every Christian to answer all temptations with this short saying, “Christianus sum,” I am a Christian; and I would counsel every Christian to answer all temptations with this short saying, “The Lord is my portion.” O Christian, when Satan or the world shall tempt thee with honors, answer, “The Lord is my portion;” when they shall tempt thee with riches, answer, “The Lord is my portion;” when they shall tempt thee with preferments, answer, “The Lord is my portion;” and when they shall tempt thee with the favors of great ones, answer, “The Lord is my portion;” yea, and when this persecuting world shall threaten thee with the loss of thy estate, answer, “The Lord is my portion:” and when they shall threaten thee with the loss of thy liberty, answer, “The Lord is my portion;” and when they shall threaten thee with the loss of friends, answer, “The Lord is my portion;” and when they shall threaten thee with the loss of life, answer, “The Lord is my portion.” O, sir, if Satan should come to thee with an apple, as once he did to Eve, tell him that “the Lord is your portion;” or with a grape, as once he did to Noah, tell him that “the Lord is your portion;” or with a change of raiment, as once he did to Gehazi, tell him that “the Lord is your portion;” or with a wedge of gold, as once he did to Achan, tell him that “the Lord is your portion;” or with a bag of money, as once he did to Judas, tell him that “the Lord is your portion;” or with a crown, a kingdom, as once he did to Moses, tell him that “the Lord is your portion.”
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Matthew Henry
We may hence gather the character of a godly man.
1. He makes the favor of God his felicity: Thou art my portion, O Lord! Others place their happiness in the wealth and honors of this world. Their portion is in this life; they look no further; they desire no more; these are their good things, Luke 16:25. But all that are sanctified take the Lord for the portion of their inheritance and their cup, and nothing less will satisfy them. David can appeal to God in this matter: “Lord, thou knowest that I have chosen thee for my portion, and depend upon thee to make me happy.”
2. He makes the law of God his rule: “I have said that I would keep thy words; and what I have said by thy grace I will do, and will abide by it to the end.” Note, those that take God for their portion must take him for their prince, and swear allegiance to him; and, having promised to keep his word, we must often put ourselves in mind of our promise, Ps 39:1.
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Albert Barnes
Thou art my portion, O Lord – This begins a new division of the psalm, indicated by the Hebrew letter Cheth (ח ch), which may be represented in English by “ch.” On the meaning of the language here, see the notes at Psalms 16:5. God was to him what other people seek in wealth, honor, pleasure, fame. To him, God was all and in all. He asked nothing else.
I have said – I have formed the purpose, and have expressed it. It is the deliberate and settled design of my life.
That I would keep thy words – That I would obey thee at all times; that I would keep all thy commandments.
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Charles Spurgeon
“Thou art my portion, O LORD.” A broken sentence. The translators have mended it by insertions, but perhaps it had been better to have left it alone, and then it would have appeared as an exclamation,—”My portion, O Lord!” The poet is lost in wonder while he sees that the great and glorious God is all his own! Well might he be so, for there is no possession like Jehovah himself. The form of the sentence expresses joyous recognition and appropriation: “My portion, O Jehovah!” David had often seen the prey divided and heard the victors shouting over it; here he rejoices as one who seizes his share of the spoil; he chooses the Lord to be his part of the treasure. Like the Levites, he took God to be his portion, and left other matters to those who coveted them. This is a large and lasting heritage, for it includes all, and more than all, and it outlasts all; and yet no man chooses it for himself until God has chosen and renewed him. Who that is truly wise could hesitate for a moment when the infinitely blessed God is set before him to be the object of his choice? David leaped at the opportunity and grasped the priceless boon. Our author here dares exhibit the title deeds of his portion before the eye of the Lord himself, for he addresses his joyful utterance directly to God, whom he boldly calls his own. With much else to choose from, for he was a king, and a man of great resources, Ire deliberately turns from all the treasures of the world, and declares that the Lord, even Jehovah, is his portion.
“I have said that I would keep thy words.” We cannot always look back with comfort upon what we have said, but in this instance, David had spoken wisely and well. He had declared his choice: he preferred the word of God to the wealth of worldlings. It was his firm resolve to keep—that is, treasure up and observe—the words of his God, and as he had aforetime solemnly expressed it in the presence of the Lord himself, so here he confesses the binding obligation of his former vow. Jesus said, “If a man love me, he will keep my words, “and this is a case which he might have quoted as an illustration; for the Psalmist’s love to God as his portion led to his keeping the words of God. David took God to be his Prince as well as his Portion. He was confident as to his interest in God, and therefore, he was resolute in his obedience to him. Full assurance is a powerful source of holiness. The very words of God are to be stored up; for whether they relate to doctrine, promise, or precept, they are most precious. When the heart is determined to keep these words, and has registered its purpose in the court of heaven, it is prepared for all the temptations and trials that may befall it; for, with God as its heritage, it is always in good case.
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Enduring Word
You are my portion, O LORD: These are the words of a satisfied soul. The psalmist is satisfied with the portion received, and that portion is the LORD Himself. (Guzik)
i. “The psalmist is saying that, like the Levites, he wants his portion of divine blessing to be God himself since nothing is better and nothing will ever fully satisfy his or anyone else’s heart but God himself. To possess God is truly to have everything.” (Boice)
ii. We understand this in the broader context of this psalm. The LORD Himself is satisfaction to the psalmist because God has come to him through His word. It isn’t as if the word of God is in one place, and the psalmist must go to another place for experience of and satisfaction in God. He can say, “You are
my portion, O LORD, and I receive that portion as You meet me in Your word and I live it out.” (Guzik)
iii. Thomas Brooks – quoted in Spurgeon – said that we could answer every temptation with the reply, “The Lord is my portion.” If He truly is our portion, we don’t need to look for satisfaction in fleshly pursuits.
iv. “He is an exceedingly covetous fellow to whom God is not sufficient; and he is an exceeding fool to whom the world is sufficient. For God is an inexhaustible treasury of all riches, sufficing innumerable men; while the world has mere trifles and fascinations to offer, and leads the soul into deep and sorrowful poverty.” (Thomas Le Blanc, cited in Spurgeon)
I have said that I would keep Your words: This promise would be an empty vow without the empowering of God in our lives. When we have a close connection with God and receive and enjoy Him as our portion, we also receive strength to keep His words. (Guzik)
i. “But if we take the Lord as our portion, we must take him as our king…. Here is the Christian complete – taking the Lord as his portion, and his word as his rule.” (Bridges)
ii. He was public in this statement of his intentions. “I have said; I have not only purposed it in my own heart, but have professed and owned it before others, and I do not repent of it.” (Poole)
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John Gill
[Thou art] my portion, O Lord,…. Which he chose and preferred to all others; to the riches, honours, and profits of this world; the grant of which was made to him in the covenant of grace; the first discovery of it was from the Lord himself; and the choice and claim were made under the influence of his grace; and a great act of faith it is to assert this, and a wonderful blessing to enjoy it. This is a large portion indeed, immense and inconceivable, soul-satisfying, safe, and forever! see Psalm 73:26;
I have said that I would keep thy words; keep his commandments, lay up his promises, observe his doctrines, profess and retain them; this he determined within himself to do, under a sense of the love of God to him, in being his portion and inheritance. Some render the words, in connection with the former, thus, “my portion, O Lord, I said, [is],” or “[shall be], to keep thy words”; it is the part and portion of some to preach the word, and of others to hear it; and of all to keep or observe it, its precepts, promises, and truths. Aben Ezra gives the sense of them thus,
“This I said to many, perhaps they will keep thy words.”
Namely, that the Lord was his portion, which he thought might induce them to an observance of them, as he had done.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“Thou art my portion, O LORD.” The sincerity of this claim may be gathered because he speaks by way of address to God. He doth not say barely, “He is my portion,” but challengeth God to his face:
“Thou art my portion, O LORD.” Elsewhere it is said, “The Lord is my portion, saith my soul“ (Lam 3:24). There he doth not speak it by way of address to God, but he adds, “saith my soul;” but here to God himself, who knows the secrets of the heart. To speak thus of God to God, argues our sincerity, when to God’s face we avow our trust and choice; as Peter, “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee“ (John 21:17).—Thomas Manton.
“Thou art my portion, O LORD.” God is all sufficient; get him for your “portion,” and you have all; then you have infinite wisdom to direct you, infinite knowledge to teach you, infinite mercy to pity and save you, infinite love to care and comfort you, and infinite power to protect and keep you. If God be yours, all his attributes are yours; all his creatures, all his works of providence, shall do you good, as you have need of them. He is an eternal, full, satisfactory portion. He is an ever-living, ever-loving, ever-present friend; and without him, you are a cursed creature in every condition, and all things will work against you.—John Mason, 1694.
“Thou art my portion, O LORD” If there was a moment in the life of David in which one might feel inclined to envy him, it would not be in that flush of youthful victory, when Goliath lay prostrate at his feet, nor in that hour of even greater triumph, when the damsels of Israel sang his praise in the dance, saying, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands;” it would not be on that royal day, when his undisputed claim to the throne of Israel was acknowledged on every side and by every tribe; but it would be in that moment when, with a loving and trustful heart, he looked up to God and said, “Thou art my portion.” In a later Psalm (Psa 142), which bears with it as its title, “A prayer of David, when he was in the cave, “we have the very same expression: “I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.” It adds immeasurably to such an expression, if we believe it to have been uttered at a time when every other possession and inheritance was taken from him, and the Lord alone was his portion.—Barton Bouchier.
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Cross-References
Psalm 16:5 (KJV)
5 The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup:
Thou maintainest my lot.
Lamentations 3:24 (KJV)
24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
Numbers 18:20 (KJV)
20 And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.
Psalm 73:25 (KJV)
25 Whom have I in heaven but thee?
And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
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Closing Thoughts
But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head. Psalm 3:3 NKJV
ח HETH – Hurrying to God with all my heart.
57
You are my portion, O Lord;
I have said that I would keep Your words.
58
I entreated Your favor with my whole heart;
Be merciful to me according to Your word.
59
I thought about my ways,
And turned my feet to Your testimonies.
60
I made haste, and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.
61
The cords of the wicked have bound me,
But I have not forgotten Your law.
62
At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You,
Because of Your righteous judgments.
63
I am a companion of all who fear You,
And of those who keep Your precepts.
64
The earth, O Lord, is full of Your mercy;
Teach me Your statutes.
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