Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 119:111
Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage forever: for they [are] the rejoicing of my heart.
111. Israel through its sins had forfeited the land promised to it for an eternal inheritance (Gen 13:15; Exo 32:13), and never wholly recovered it; but the godly Israelite has an eternal inheritance in the law of which no enemy can deprive him.
the rejoicing of my heart ] Cp. Jer 15:16.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thy testimonies – Thy law; thy revealed will; the revelation which thou hast given considered as thy solemn testimony as to what is true and right.
Have I taken as an heritage for ever – As my inheritance; as my property; as that which I consider to be of real and permanent value. The Hebrew word used here – nachal – means to receive as a possession; to acquire; to possess as wealth; and then, to inherit. It is usually applied to the possession of the promised land as an inheritance. Here it means that the law of God was to him as such a possession. He regarded it as one does a rich inheritance. He chose it as his portion above all things else.
For they are the rejoicing of my heart – My happiness is in them. I find constant comfort in them. See Psa 119:77, Psa 119:92. Compare the notes at Psa 1:2.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 119:111-112
Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.
—
The Christians privilege, joy, and life
I. The Christians privilege. Thy testimonies. The blessings here offered are–forgiveness of sin; reconciliation with God, and communion with Him; peace of conscience; the guidance of Gods Holy Spirit through life.
II. The Christians joy is the evidence of his privilege: he lays claim to the spiritual blessings of which the Gospel testifies, because they are the very joy of his heart.
III. The Christians life (verse 112). When we speak of claiming Gods testimonies as our heritage, it is evident that we look upon the Bible as a book of promises: when, as in the present case, we speak of fulfilling Gods statutes, then we regard the same book as a book of rules for the conduct of life. Now the servant of God regards it in both these points of view.
1. His diligence and care.
2. His perseverance. Alway, even unto the end. (J. S. Pratt.)
The Bible the book for all time
I. Shown by the past growth. In every century this Book has been assailed by critics of various kinds. The various forms of criticism have often helped men and have helped the Church to a better understanding of their own book. But the critics have gone while the books are here. May we not say of the Bible what was said about the Church to the King of France, when Henry
IV. threatened to persecute the French Protestants? Sire, it is the part of the Church, on whose behalf I speak, to endure blows and not to give them; but let me remind your majesty that the Church is an anvil that has worn out a great many hammers. May we not say of the Bible that it is an anvil that has worn out a great many hammers? and I venture to think it will wear out a great many more.
II. Shows by the future growth. There is nothing in the Bible provincial in tone, merely local in character, and restrictive in its application. There is a Divine system in the Book, just as there is in nature. If you wander through the woods when the wild flowers are out, it seems as if they were growing at random, in no order; yet botanists will tell you that there is among them a Divine order in the class and genera of these flowers that seem so wild. And when you look up to the sky on some starlight night it seems as if there were but points of light scattered at random over the face of the sky, and yet we know that there is such Divine order in the starry firmament that you can predict the times of planets and follow the course of nature with the utmost accuracy. And so there is in this Book a Divine system, but very different from our mechanical system, which men very soon outgrow. We know very well that, though men change and times alter, it will always be true that the pure in heart shall see God: it will always be true that self-sacrifice is a nobler thing than self-indulgence, whether a man lives under a republic or under a limited monarchy; it will always be true that integrity and uprightness are nobler than selfish meanness and trickery. The very qualities upon which this Book lays stress are fundamental to the noblest human nature, and cannot be affected by any change of time which the centuries may bring.
III. Shown by the unalterable fact. The main fact in this Book is one which time cannot alter; it is the great fact of the life and character of Him who is the brightness of the Fathers glory, and the express image of His Person.
IV. Shown by the unchanging need. The tragic quality of life, the burden of weary hearts, the trials of the way–all these continue. Manhood is ennobled by the old virtues, stained with the old sin and burdened with the old sorrows, and so long as that is true they will want some one on whom to loan the weary, burdened heart–some one who can say to them, Son, daughter, be of good cheer; thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven. (John Brown, D. D.)
The believers heritage of joy
I. Make a map of this estate.
1. A heritage of truth in the testimonies of God.
2. Gods covenant is our heritage.
3. The greatest testimony of God in all the world is Jesus Christ; and we are complete in Him, He is all and in all to us.
II. Take possession of the estate.
1. By a deliberate choice.
2. By faith–a personal grip.
3. By holy diligence.
III. Consider the holding.
1. It is a perpetual holding. It is not dependent upon any one life; it is dependent upon three lives, and those three lives are the life of the Father, the life of the Son, and the life of the Holy Ghost; and they are all eternal, and so shall the joy and the wealth of every believer be. We have taken this inheritance for ever.
2. Sometimes we possess certain things which are ours, completely ours, but then they are not ours for ever, because they fade; but our inheritance will never fade or pass away.
3. There is no way of taking this heritage except taking it for ever. That conversion which is not radical and thorough is of no use.
IV. Enjoy the possession. First, David had taken Gods testimonies to be his possession, for they had made him glad; and, secondly, that was the reason why he took them to be his possession, because they made him glad. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The gate to the heritage
I. An inheritance suggests the past. The heir, as he looks at the bundles of deeds and certificates, as he inspects the various tenements, and walks abroad over the acres of pasture and forest, or examines the vast mining or manufacturing establishments, sees in these the results of a long and laborious past. In like manner the testimonies of God point us back of themselves. A mountain, with its crags, and peaks, and forests, may be a picturesque object to the eye, or a good standpoint for an outlook; but it will have a far deeper interest for us if we know with what throes the strata piled themselves up, what powers of the air cut the peaks into those fantastic shapes, if we can read the stories of earthquake, and fire, and deluge, and iceberg written upon those rocks. So, it is not enough that we receive and enjoy the testimonies of God. We do not truly inherit them if we fail to study them. Their value to us lies largely in their history. If we sit down with the apostles words, all things are yours, and begin to examine our heritage, we shall be led irresistibly back to the past. For instance, what a heritage of years we shall find wrapped up in that sentence; years that have yielded their rich result to the present. How slowly God has suffered our heritage of experience, and tradition, and example to accumulate: how prodigal He has been of time. And, in the growth of these long, weary centuries, what a rich variety of testimonies God has accumulated. How many laws of conduct, for instance, have taken shape in the various situations in which the men of the Bible history have been placed; how many shining examples of distinct virtues–patience in Job, faith in Abraham, etc. And, once more, it is always an affecting thought to an affectionate son, that his fathers estate was accumulated with toil, and self-denial, and suffering. It comes almost with the power of a reproach to his sensitive heart, that he is to inherit in comfort and tranquillity that which recalls so much struggle, and pain, and anxious thought. And this fact attaches in a peculiar sense to Gods heritage of testimony. Beyond any other book, the Bible has evolved itself out of sorrow. That is the reason why it responds to the instincts of the race as no other book does or can. The heritage of Gods testimony in the Word is a veritable battle-ground, its greenest and most fruitful fields moistened with blood, and covering the relics of the slain.
II. But let us look now at this heritage as it stands related to the future. From the associations and memories of the past, the heir turns to study what capacity for development there is in the estate; to examine the investments and to see how they promise. He may be disappointed; he may find that a good part of the estate has become unproductive, and can never be made to yield what it did in his fathers time, or he may find that it contains sources of wealth of which his father never dreamed. The psalmist, in thus inspecting the heritage of Gods testimonies, is evidently well satisfied with the prospect, though he takes the longest possible outlook: Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever. And we may safely share his satisfaction. The man who chooses the Word of God as his moral inheritance may do so in full confidence that it will amply meet the demands of his whole future, and of the whole future of his race. No one can read the Bible long without seeing that it is prophetic; not only in the sense of occasionally predicting the future, but in that its facts imply other facts H follow; present sockets, into which future facts are to fit. Its utterances are folded in upon themselves like a flower. You see certain petals already exposed to the light; but you see within the circle of these something more which is to unfold in its season. This heritage of the Word grows richer with time. The preacher who thinks he has exhausted a text will find another sermon in it when he goes to it again. The man who goes through his Bible for the fiftieth time finds it richest in fresh treasures. (M. R. Vincent, D. D.)
Hereditary religion
I. The claim asserted by David–Gods testimonies he asserts to be his own heritage. Speaking as a Jew, he declares with feelings of thanksgiving and triumph that he from his birth has had a rightful possession of Gods revelations. Whilst other nations have been left in darkness, some never visited with the light of truth at all, others at best having to become proselytes, they, the Israelites, knew God from their mothers womb. Now, in examining into the cause of Davids thankfulness, we are brought across the broad subject of ancestral religion. How far and on what grounds is it a matter of gratitude to God that we in this kingdom have not had to hear, late in life for the first time, the proclamation of the Name of the Lord, but have been born and bred in the midst and under the influence of Christian institutions? If we had not received it as a heritage we might never have enjoyed it at all. Which of us is certain that if he had met Christ face to face in the valleys of Judah we should not have despised Him?
II. David claims Gods testimonies as his inheritance, not for the brief period of this mortal life, but for ever; as though implying that they would hereafter form the source of his joy and triumph. The Divine Word and testimonies are to remain for an inheritance of delight to the saints. What is this? Why, it is that the knowledge and contemplation of God and His attributes shall form the eternal occupation and pleasure of the blessed in heaven. For ever! aye, when our present tastes and feelings shall have long passed away, and we stand upon the shores of another land whose features we cannot surmise, and hear other sounds whose echo imagination cannot catch; when He that sitteth on the throne shall have made all things new, still, if among the saved, shall we throw ourselves upon the old revelations of God, and cleave to them as the noblest of the things prepared for those that love Him, and so find the words of David, words of earth, still true when earth is no more: Thy testimonies have I claimed as mine heritage for ever. (Bp. Woodford.)
The Divine Word –
I. As an inheritance.
1. It is the most enjoyable.
2. It is the most extensive.
3. It is the most enduring.
II. As an inheritance only personally attained. Earthly inheritances often come to men irrespective of effort or choice. But he who would enjoy this inheritance must choose it and win it by his own struggles under God. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 111. As a heritage] In Ps 119:57 he says, God is my portion, chelki. In this he says, Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage, nachal. To these he was heir; he had inherited them from his fathers, and he was determined to leave them to his family for ever. If a man can leave nothing to his child but a Bible, in that he bequeaths him the greatest treasure in the universe.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I have chosen them for my chief portion, from which I will never part.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
111, 112. These he joyfullytakes as his perpetual heritage, to perform the duties and receivethe comforts they teach, evermore.
SAMECH.(Ps 119:113-120).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever,…. The Scriptures, which testify of Christ and of his grace, and of the mind and will of God, are a portion of themselves; and a goodly heritage they are, better than thousands of gold and silver, preferable to all worldly inheritances; as they have been to many, who have forsaken all for Christ and his Gospel. These, like an inheritance, have been transmitted from father to son, from one age of the church to another, in successive generations; nor shall they depart from her, nor from her seed and seed’s seed, from henceforth and for ever; they are an inheritance which will continue for ever, De 33:4. These David chose and took, as for his counsellors, so for his portion and inheritance; and a wise and good choice he made; he chose the good part that should never be taken away; his reason for it follows:
for they are the rejoicing of my heart; the doctrines in them, the promises of them, when read or heard explained, gave him a sensible pleasure; revived his heart, and cheered his spirits, supported him under all his troubles, and caused him to go on his way rejoicing; see
Jer 15:16.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
111 Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart. 112 I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end.
The psalmist here in a most affectionate manner, like an Israelite indeed, resolves to stick to the word of God and to live and die by it.
I. He resolves to portion himself in it, and there to seek his happiness, nay, there to enjoy it; “Thy testimonies (the truths, the promises, of thy word) have I taken as a heritage for ever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart.” The present delight he took in them was an evidence that the good things contained in them were in his account the best things, and the treasure which he set his heart upon. 1. He expected an eternal happiness in God’s testimonies. The covenant God had made with him was an everlasting covenant, and therefore he took it as a heritage for ever. If he could not yet say, “They are my heritage,” yet he could say, “I have made choice of them for my heritage; and will never take up with a portion in this life,” Psa 17:14; Psa 17:15. God’s testimonies are a heritage to all that have received the Spirit of adoption; for, if children, then heirs. They are a heritage for ever, and that no earthly heritage is (1 Pet. i. 4); all the saints accept them as such, take up with them, live upon them, and can therefore be content with but little of this world. 2. He enjoyed a present satisfaction in them: They are the rejoicing of my heart, because they will be my heritage for ever. It requires the heart of a good man to see his portion in the promise of God and not in the possessions of this world.
II. He resolves to govern himself by it and thence to take his measures: I have inclined my heart to do thy statutes. Those that would have the blessings of God’s testimonies must come under the bonds of his statutes. We must look for comfort only in the way of duty, and that duty must be done, 1. With full consent and complacency: “I have, by the grace of God, inclined my heart to it, and conquered the aversion I had to it.” A good man brings his heart to his work and then it is done well. A gracious disposition to do the will of God is the acceptable principle of all obedience. 2. With constancy and perseverance. He would perform God’s statutes always, in all instances, in the duty of every day, in a constant course of holy walking, and this to the end, without weariness. This is following the Lord fully.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
111. I have thy testimonies as an inheritance for ever. He again confirms the sentiment, which cannot be too often repeated, That the law of God was more precious to him than all the pleasures, riches, and possessions, of the world. I have said, that it is not in vain that these things are so often repeated; for we see how violently the men of the world boil to gratify their unruly lusts, with what multiplied anxieties they are agitated, while they are unceasingly coveting innumerable objects; and, in the meantime, scarcely one in a hundred is, in a moderate degree, aiming to apply his mind to the study of the Divine law. The prophet, then, to stir us up by his own example, asserts, that he took such pleasure in God’s, testimonies as to esteem nothing more precious. It is love only which leads us to set a value on any object; and, therefore, it is requisite, in order to our observing the Divine law with the reverence due to it, that we begin with this delight in it. It is not wonderful, if God’s testimonies convey to our minds a joy, which, causing us to reject and despise all other things, holds our affections fast bound to them. What can be sweeter than to have heaven opened to us, that we may come freely into the presence of God, when, adopting us to be his children, he pardons our sins? What can be more desirable than to hear that he is so pacified towards us, as to take upon himself the care of our life? This I have thought good to observe briefly, that we might not think it strange to find David rejoicing so greatly in God’s law. The similitude of inheritance is of frequent occurrence in the Scriptures; and we apply the designation of inheritance to that which we hold in the highest estimation, so that we are contented to be deprived of all other things, provided we retain the safe and full possession of that one thing. Accordingly, the prophet intimates, that whatever good things he had obtained he accounted them as adventitious, and that the truths revealed in God’s word alone were to him as an inheritance. Without the Divine word all other things were in his estimation as nothing; so that he could willingly leave to others, riches, honors, comforts, and pleasures, provided he possessed this incomparable treasure. It is not meant to say that he; altogether despised the temporal benefits which God bestows, but his mind was not bound fast to them.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Psa 119:111 Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they [are] the rejoicing of my heart.
Ver. 111. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage ] Perpetui nec unquam alienaudi patrimonii vice, A patrimony that I prize, and will never part with, since I hold it from thee as a child of thy grace.
For they are the rejoicing of mine heart
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Thy testimonies: Psa 119:14, Psa 119:127, Psa 119:162, Psa 16:5, Deu 33:4, Isa 54:17, Act 26:18, Col 1:12, Heb 9:15, 1Pe 1:4
for they: Psa 119:74, Psa 119:92, Psa 119:174, Psa 19:8, Jer 15:16, 1Pe 1:8
Reciprocal: Deu 4:45 – These Deu 30:19 – choose life Jos 24:15 – as for me 1Ki 2:3 – testimonies 2Ch 15:15 – rejoiced 2Ch 34:31 – and his testimonies Neh 8:12 – because Psa 17:15 – I will Psa 19:7 – testimony Psa 40:16 – love Psa 93:5 – Thy Psa 104:34 – meditation Psa 118:15 – voice Psa 119:30 – chosen Psa 119:72 – better Psa 119:95 – but I Psa 119:117 – and I will Psa 119:119 – therefore Psa 119:167 – soul Psa 119:173 – for Psa 122:1 – was glad Pro 1:30 – General Pro 2:2 – thou Pro 2:10 – General Pro 3:14 – General Pro 22:18 – it is Pro 24:14 – shall the Isa 56:4 – choose Luk 10:42 – chosen Luk 18:30 – manifold more Act 8:28 – and sitting Act 8:39 – and he Rom 7:22 – I delight
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 119:111-112. Thy testimonies have I taken, &c. I have chosen them for my portion, a portion which I will never relinquish. I have inclined my heart That is, I have complied with the motions of thy Spirit, inclining my heart to perform thy statutes Though the inclination of the heart to good, is the work of God, yet man is said to perform it when he listens to the call, and obeys the motions of his grace.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
119:111 Thy testimonies have I taken as an {e} heritage for ever: for they [are] the rejoicing of my heart.
(e) I esteemed no worldly things, but made your word my inheritance.