9<\/strong>. portion<\/em> ] Or lot<\/strong>; in Deu 12:12<\/span> with inheritance<\/em>.<\/p>\n his people<\/em> ] LXX removes Jacob<\/em> to this line, and to the end of the following adds Israel<\/em>. In that case his people<\/em> is superfluous both to the sense and to the rhythm.<\/p>\n lot<\/em> ] Lit. measuring-rope<\/em>, i.e. scale<\/em> or range<\/em>; cp. Deu 9:26<\/span>, Psa 105:11<\/span>.<\/p>\n Deu 32:9<\/span><\/p>\n The Lords portion is His people.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n A choice portion<\/strong><\/p>\n 1<\/strong>. <\/em><\/strong>The text teaches us that the Church of God is the Lords own peculiar and special property. The earth is the Lord s, and the fulness thereof: the world, and they that dwell therein. By creation, as well as by providence, Jehovah is the Sovereign possessor of the entire universe. Let none venture to dispute His claims, or say that He is not the great owner of all things, for thus saith the Lord, Behold, all souls are Mine. But He has a special property in His Church. As a king may have ample possessions, to all of which he has undoubted right, but still he has royal crown-lands which are in a very special sense his own; so hath the Lord of all a peculiar interest in His saints. As Osborne, and Balmoral, and Windsor belong to our sovereign by a tenure which differs from his title and claim to the United Kingdom, so the Church is the peculiar heritage of the King of kings. The Lords portion is His people. How are they His?<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> We answer, first, by His own sovereign choice. He did so ordain to make His chosen and set His love upon them.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> They are not only His by choice, but by purchase.<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> They are also His by conquest. Old Jacob, when he lay a-dying, gave to Joseph one portion above his brethren, which he had taken out of the hand of the Amorite with his sword and with his bow. The Lord Jesus can truly say of His people, that He hath taken them out of the hand of the Amorite with His sword and with His bow. Thy conquering hand, O Jesus, when nailed to the Cross, rent away Thy childrens chains. We are indeed the conquered captives of His omnipotent love.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>In the second place, the text shows that the saints are the objects of the Lords especial care. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth,–with what object?–to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him. The wheels of providence are full of eyes; but in what direction are they gazing? Why, that all things may work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>The text includes the idea that the Church is the object of the Lords special joy, for a mans portion is that in which he takes delight. See what terms He uses; He calls them His dwelling place. In Jewry is God known, His name is great in Israel, in Salem also is His tabernacle, and His dwelling place in Zion. For the Lord hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for His habitation. Where is a man most at ease? Why, at home. We are expressly told that the Church is the Lords rest. This is My rest forever, here will I dwell, for I have desired it. As if all the world beside were His workshop, and His Church His rest. In the boundless universe He is busy marshalling the stars, riding upon the wings of the wind, making the clouds His chariot; but in His Church He is at rest, in Zion the Everlasting One spends His Sabbaths. Yet further, there is an unrivalled picture in the Word where the Lord is even represented as singing with joy over His people. Who could have conceived of the Eternal One as bursting forth into a song. Yet it is written, He will rejoice over thee with joy, He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing. As He looked upon the world, He spoke and said, It is very good, but He did not sing. And as He vieweth the works of providence, I hear not that He sings; but when He gazes on you, the purchase of Jesus blood, His own chosen ones, the great heart of the Infinite restrains itself no longer, but, wonder of wonders, God, the Eternal One, sings out of the joy of His soul. Truly, the Lords portion is His people.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>Our text teaches us that Gods people are His everlasting possession. He will never sell His children at a price; nor if He could have better people instead, would He change them. They are His, and they shall be His while time lasts; and when time ends, and eternity rolls on, He never can, He never will cast away His chosen people. Let us in this rejoice and be exceeding glad. The Lords portion is His people. (C. H. Spurgeon.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Lords people<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>They are a chosen people.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>They are a renewed people.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>They are a people of faith.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>They are a justified people.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>They are a people who perform good works.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Alienated from God.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Ignorant of God.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>As wanderers, going astray.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>Strangers to themselves.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>Willing slaves to Satan.<\/p>\n 6. <\/strong>Dead in sins.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>He leads them–<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> To Christ for salvation.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> To see further into the plague of their own heart.<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> Into the furnace of spiritual affliction.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>He instructs them–<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> In the plan of salvation.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> In the doctrine of the Trinity.<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> In the efficacy of Christs death.<\/p>\n (4)<\/strong> In the endearing relationship which God sustains to His people, as their Father, etc.<\/p>\n (5)<\/strong> In all the blessings of the covenant. (J. J. Eastmead.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Gods people His portion<\/strong><\/p>\n The <\/em>word portion signifies a possession which a man claims as his own, which he highly prizes, and in which he greatly delights. We cannot surf that the English are the people of God, or the French, or the Germans, or the Russians; but we may say that God has a people in England, and in France, and in Germany, and in Russia; and so on. For His real people are no longer known as Jew or Gentile, barbarian, Scythian, bond or free; but those in every nation under heaven are His who worship Him in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. These are His people; He has pleasure in them, and counts them His portion–a possession dear to Him above all others. Of course, we speak of earth. In heaven lie may have what is dearer still: but when He looks down on earth, He sees nothing so precious as those whom He has chosen to be His people, the lot of His inheritance. Let us, then, see on what grounds it is that He so highly values them. These are three: they are dear to Him–as bought by so costly a price; as regenerated by His grace on earth; as hereafter to be glorified in heaven.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>In the first place, the price paid for us. Did Christ die to redeem us from this present evil world? and shall we be conformed to the world which crucified Him?<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Further, consider how excellent true holiness is. If the Lords people are His portion, it is because they are a holy people. He rejoices over them on account of their holiness. Think, then, what a real dignity and sterling worth there must be in that which God Himself approves.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>But look beyond the end of your days here below–look to those days which will know no end. Think of the sanctity and blessedness of that state for which God is training you, and be content to be led and disciplined for it in the way that He pleases. (J. Fawcett, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Good men as the property of God<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>They have souls. One soul is more valuable than the whole world. Souls can think of and love God; the material universe cannot.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Redeemed souls.<\/p>\n The Church the portion of God<\/strong><\/p>\n By this it is not intimated that God needs us, or any creature, to add anything to His blessedness; it is impossible to suppose it. We cannot be necessary to the Lord otherwise than as we supply Him with opportunities of displaying His grace and all-sufficiency. But though it implies not anything so derogatory to God, it means something of the greatest consequence to us.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>In the first place, it implies tender care. A mans portion is the most valuable part of his substance, which he is solicitous above all things to preserve: and if it be at any time in danger, he is indefatigable till it be secured. In like manner is the Church, and every particular member of it, the charge of the providence of God.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>A portion is an object of delight. With what pleasure does the worldling survey his possessions! He leaves his intimate friend, and agreeable company, to count his beloved treasure. He walks over his fields each day with fresh pleasure; and every time sees, or thinks he sees, new beauties in the prospect around him. Yet this very imperfectly represents the delight which the Lord is described as taking in His people. Jewels, treasure, heritage, children are the endearing appellations by which they are distinguished.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>A portion implies expectation. Where much is given, much will be required. Where He has distinguished any with peculiar marks of regard, He expects works of faith and labours of love; fruitfulness in every good work, and increase in the knowledge of God. He expects that His people should be essentially different from the rest of the world; that they shine as lights in the world, and adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour in all things; and that their progress in grace and holiness be proportionable to their various advantages.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>I might here particularly show you how we came to be the portion of God.<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> But let us now, from what has been said, consider how lamentable it is that the Lords portion is so small; that, among all the human race, there should be so few to whom the words of the text may be properly applied.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> How solicitous should we be to know whether we be the Lords portion or not!<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> Let us walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called.<\/p>\n (4)<\/strong> Finally, let us rejoice in the prospect of that glorious period, when the Lord will fully possess His portion, and we shall fully possess ours. (S. Lavington.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 9<\/span>. The Lord’s portion is his people<\/B><\/I>] What an astonishing saying! As holy souls<\/I> take GOD for their portion<\/I>, so GOD takes them<\/I> for his portion<\/I>. He represents himself as happy in his followers; and they are infinitely happy in, and satisfied with, God as their portion<\/I>. This is what is implied in being a saint<\/I>. He who is seeking for an earthly portion, has little commerce with the Most High.<\/P><\/p>\n It is no wonder God had so great a regard to this people, for he chose them out of all mankind to be his peculiar portion and treasure. <\/P> <\/p>\n For the Lord’s portion [is] his people, Jacob [is] the lot of his inheritance.<\/strong> This is the reason why the Lord so early provided a portion or inheritance for the children of Israel in the land of Canaan; because they were his part, his portion, his inheritance, which he chose by lot for himself, or allotted to himself; whom he chose to be his special and peculiar people; for though all the world is his, he only reserved a part for himself, which he separated from all the rest, and considers as his portion and inheritance, see Ps 33:12<\/span>; thus the spiritual Israel of God, as they are his people, whom he has chosen, taken into covenant, given to Christ, and are redeemed and saved by him; they are his part or portion, separated by distinguishing grace from the rest of the world; and are the inheritance of Christ, who is appointed heir of all things, and is an unalienable inheritance; and is obtained by lot, or rather is measured out by a rod or line; by the line of electing grace, by which the church and people of God are circumscribed, marked out, and distinguished from others; and by the line and rule of the sacred Scriptures, which are the measure and standard of faith and practice, of worship and discipline to them.<\/p>\n 9 For the Lord’s portion is his people. This is the main point, that God was moved by nothing but His own good pleasure to make so much of this people, who had been derived from a common origin with all others: for when he says, that Jacob was the portion of Jehovah, and the lot of His inheritance, he does not mean that there was anything better in them than in others, but he assigns the reason why God preferred this one nation to the rest of mankind; viz., because He took it to Himself as His hereditary portion, which dignity depends upon His gratuitous election. <\/p>\n DISCOURSE: 232 Deu 32:9-12<\/span>. The Lords portion is his people; Jacob it the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.<\/em><\/p>\n THE declarations of God in his word are the principal source from whence we derive our knowledge of the Deity. But much may be learned also from the dispensations of his providence, both from those which are recorded in the inspired volume, and those which pass daily before our eyes: nor can we more profitably employ our thoughts than in meditating on his dealings towards the Church in general, and ourselves in particular. This Moses recommended to the Israelites just before his final departure from them. He assured them that God, as far back as the Deluge, had appointed the boundaries of the different kingdoms, with an express reference to the children of Israel; and that he had assigned to Canaan, that accursed son of Noah, and to his posterity, the land which he had marked out for his chosen people, and which they, in pursuance of his will, were now about to possess [Note: ver. 7, 8.]. And, with respect to themselves in particular, he had conducted them with astonishing kindness and condescension from their first entrance into the wilderness to that present moment.<\/p>\n His words on that occasion will naturally lead us to consider,<\/p>\n I.<\/p>\n Gods interest in his people<\/p>\n God regarded his ancient people as his portion and inheritance In precisely the same view he regards his chosen people at this day But that which our text chiefly leads us to consider, is,<\/p>\n II.<\/p>\n His tender care over them<\/p>\n This towards his ancient people is illustrated both by an appeal to fact<\/em>, and by an apt and beautiful similitude<\/em><\/p>\n [It was in the wilderness that he first formed them into a peculiar people for himself. There he took the entire charge of them, leading them in all their way, and supplying their every want. There he instructed them both by his providence and grace; shewing them by all his diversified dispensations the extreme depravity of their own hearts, and the marvellous patience and long-suffering of their God [Note: Deu 8:15-16<\/span>; Neh 9:19-21<\/span>.]. Had he even for a few days intermitted his care over them, they must all have perished; being in the midst of perils on every side, and incapable of protecting themselves against any of the dangers to which they were exposed. But he kept them even as the apple of his eye, so that no evil whatever, except what he himself sent for their correction, could assail them. An eagle is very careful of its young: and when the dam judges that her young are prepared to fly, will flutter over them, and spread abroad her wings, and stir up her nest, that one or other of her offspring may try their powers: and with such tenderness does she watch the attempt, that, if the scarcely fledged young one prove incapable of stretching its flight so as to return to its nest, she will, with incredible swiftness and skill, fly to its succour, and on her own wings bear it back in safety to its wonted home. Thus did God encourage his ancient people to soar towards heaven, and succour them effectually in every hour of need. And in all this he acted alone, there being no strange god with him, nor any that could claim the smallest measure of honour from their success. The passage of the Red Sea, the bread from heaven, and the water from the rock, the passage of Jordan, and the fall of Jericho, with a thousand other events, clearly shewed, that all that was effected for them was done by him alone<\/em>.]<\/p>\n And is he not alike attentive to his people now? Think then I pray you, Brethren, what should be our regard towards this Almighty Saviour<\/p>\n [Who was it that led his people through the wilderness in the days of old? It was the Lord Jesus Christ, the Angel of the covenant: for he it was whom they tempted [Note: Exo 23:20<\/span>; 1Co 10:9<\/span>.], and he it was whose reproach Moses counted to be of more value than all the treasures of Egypt [Note: Heb 11:26<\/span>.]. That same Jesus is still Head over all things to his Church [Note: Eph 1:22-23<\/span>.], and guides all his chosen people by his counsel, till he brings them safely to his glory.<\/p>\n I ask then with confidence should we not love him<\/em> with most intense affection? and trust in him<\/em> with unshaken affiance? and serve him<\/em> with all the powers of our souls? Methinks, there should be no bounds to our love and gratitude, no limit to our zeal in his service [Note: Deu 10:14-15<\/span>; l Sam. 12:24.]. We all see and acknowledge this in reference to the Jews, who were favoured with his viable<\/em> interposition: and how much more is it all due from us, who enjoy the substance, of which they had but the shadow! I call you then, everyone of you, to shew forth your sense of the obligations conferred upon you, and, if possible, to be as zealous in his service as he is in yours.]<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Deu 32:9 For the LORD’S portion [is] his people; Jacob [is] the lot of his inheritance.<\/p>\n Ver. 9. For the Lord’s portion.] Dear to God, though despised of the world. They are the Lord’s “inheritance,” Isa 19:25 “peculiar” ones, Exo 19:5 the people of his purchase, that comprehended all his gettings, 1Pe 2:9 his “glory,” Isa 46:13 his “ornament,” Eze 7:20 his “throne,” Jer 4:17 his “diadem,” Isa 62:3 “heirs of the kingdom,” saith St James, Jam 2:5 heads destinated to the diadem, saith Tertullian.<\/p>\n Deuteronomy<\/p>\n GOD’S TRUE TREASURE IN MAN<\/p>\n Deu 32:9 <\/strong> – Tit 2:14 .<\/p>\n \n I choose these two texts because they together present us with the other side of the thought to that which I have elsewhere considered, that man’s true treasure is in God. That great axiom of the religious consciousness, which pervades the whole of Scripture, is rapturously expressed in many a psalm, and never more assuredly than in that one which struggles up from the miry clay in which the Psalmist’s ‘steps had well-nigh slipped’ and soars and sings thus: ‘The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup; Thou maintainest my lot,’ ‘The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.’<\/p>\n You observe the correspondence between these words and those of my first text: ‘The Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.’ The correspondence in the original is not quite so marked as it is in our Authorised Version, but still the idea in the two passages is the same. Now it is plain that persons can possess persons only by love, sympathy, and communion. From that it follows that the possession must be mutual; or, in other words, that only he can say ‘Thou art mine’ who can say ‘I am Thine.’ And so to possess God, and to be possessed by God, are but two ways of putting the same fact. ‘The Lord is the portion of His people, and the Lord’s portion is His people,’ are only two ways of stating the same truth.<\/p>\n Then my second text clearly quotes the well-known utterance that lies at the foundation of the national life of Israel: ‘Ye shall be unto Me a peculiar treasure above all people,’ and claims that privilege, like all Israel’s privileges, for the Christian Church. In like manner Peter 1Pe 2:9 quotes the same words, ‘a peculiar people,’ as properly applying to Christians. I need scarcely remind you that ‘peculiar’ here is used in its proper original sense of belonging to, or, as the Revised Version gives it, ‘a people for God’s own possession’ and has no trace of the modern signification of ‘singular.’ Similarly we find Paul in his Epistle to the Ephesians giving both sides of the idea of the inheritance in intentional juxtaposition, when he speaks Eph 1:14 of the ‘earnest of our inheritance . . . unto the redemption of God’s own possession.’ In the words before us we have the same idea; and this text besides tells us how Christ, the Revealer of God, wins men for Himself, and what manner of men they must be whom He counts as His.<\/p>\n Therefore there are, as I take it, three things to be spoken about now. First, God has a special ownership in some people. Second, God owns these people because He has given Himself to them. Third, God possesses, and is possessed by, His inheritance, that He may give and receive services of love. Or, in briefer words, I have to speak about this wonderful thought of a special divine ownership, what it rests upon, and what it involves.<\/p>\n I. God has special ownership in some people.<\/p>\n <\/strong>‘The Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.’ Put side by side with those other words of the Old Testament: ‘All souls are Mine,’ or the utterance of the 100th Psalm rightly translated: ‘It is He that hath made us, and to Him we belong.’ There is a right of absolute and utter ownership and possession inherent in the very relation of Creator and creature; so that the being made is wholly and altogether at the disposal, and is the property, of Him that makes him.<\/p>\n But is that enough for God’s heart? Is that worth calling ownership at all? An arbitrary tyrant in an unconstitutional kingdom, or a slave-owner, may have the most absolute right of property over his subject or his slave; may have the right of entire disposal of all his industry, of the profit of all his labour; may be able to do anything he likes with him, may have the power of life and death; but such ownership is only of the husk and case of a man: the man himself may be free, and may smile at the claim of possession. ‘They may ‘ own<\/em>’ the body, and after that have no more than they can do.’ That kind of authority and ownership, absolute and utter, to the point of death, may satisfy a tyrant or a slave-driver, it does not satisfy the loving heart of God. It is not real possession at all. In what sense did Nero own Paul when he shut him up in prison, and cut his head off? Does the slave-owner own the man whom he whips within an inch of his life, and who dare not do anything without his permission? Does God, in any sense that corresponds with the longing of infinite love, own the men that reluctantly obey Him, and are simply, as it were, tools in His hands? He covets and longs for a deeper relationship and tenderer ties, and though all creatures are His, and all men are His servants and His possession, yet, like certain regiments in our own British army, there are some who have the right to bear in a special manner on their uniform and on their banners the emblazonment, ‘The King’s Own.’ ‘The Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.’<\/p>\n Well, then, the next thought is that the special relationship of possession is constituted by mutual love. I said at the beginning of these remarks that as concerns men’s relations, the only real possession is through love, sympathy, and communion, and that that must necessarily be mutual. We have a perfect right to apply the human analogy here; in fact, we are bound to do it if we would rightly understand such words as those of my text; and it just leads us to this, that the one thing whereby God reckons that He possesses a man at all is when His love falls upon that man’s heart and soaks into it, and when there springs up in the heart a corresponding emotion and affection. The men who welcome the divine love that goes through the whole world, seeking such to worship it, and to trust it, and to become its own; and who therefore lovingly yield to the loving divine will, and take it for their law-these are the men whom He regards as His ‘portion’ and ‘the lot of His inheritance.’ So that God is mine, and that ‘I am God’s,’ are two ends of one truth; ‘I possess Him,’ and ‘I am possessed by Him,’ are but the statement of one fact expressed from two points of view. In the one case you look upon it from above, in the other case you look upon it from beneath. All the sweet commerce of mutual surrender and possession which makes the joy of our hearts, in friendship and in domestic life, we have the right to lift up into this loftier region, and find in it the last teaching of what makes the special bond of mutual possession between God and man.<\/p>\n And deep words of Scripture point in that direction. Those parables of our Lord’s: the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son, in their infinite beauty, whilst they contain a great deal besides this, do contain this in their several ways; the money, the animal, the man belong to the woman of the house, to the shepherd, to the father. Each is ‘lost’ in a different fashion, but the most clear revelation is given in the last parable of the three, which explains the other two. The son was ‘lost’ when he did not love the father; and he was ‘found’ by the father when he returned the yearning of the father’s heart.<\/p>\n And so, dear brethren, it ever is; the one thing that knits men to God is that the silken cord of love let down from Heaven should by our own hand be wrapped round our own hearts, and then we are united to Him. We are His and He is ours by the double action of His love manifested by Him, and His love received by us.<\/p>\n Now there is nothing in all that of favouritism. The declaration that there are people who have a special relationship to the divine heart may be so stated as to have a very ugly look, and it often has been so stated as to be nothing more than self-complacent Pharisaism, which values a privilege principally because its possession is an insult to somebody else that has it not.<\/p>\n There has been plenty of Christianity of that sort in the world, but there is nothing of it in the thoughts of these texts rightly looked at. There is only this: it cannot but be that men who yield to God and love Him, and try to live near Him and to do righteousness, are His in a manner that those who steel themselves against Him and turn away from Him are not. Whilst all creatures have a place in His heart, and are flooded with His benefits, and get as much of Him as they can hold, the men who recognise the source of their blessing, and turn to it with grateful hearts, are nearer Him than those that do not do so. Let us take care, lest for the sake of seeming to preserve the impartiality of His love, we have destroyed all in Him that makes His love worth having. If to Him the good and the bad, the men who fear Him and the men who fear Him not, are equally satisfactory, and, in the same manner, the objects of an equal love, then He is not a God that has pleasure in righteousness; and if He is not a God that ‘has pleasure in righteousness,’ He is not a God for us to trust to. We are not giving countenance to the notion that God has any step-children, any petted members of His family, when we cleave to this-they that have welcomed His love into their hearts are nearer to Him than those that have closed the door against it.<\/p>\n And there is one more point here about this matter of ownership on which I dwell for a moment, namely, that this conception of certain men being in a special sense God’s possession and inheritance means also that He has a special delight in, and lofty appreciation of, them. All this material creation exists for the sake of growing good men and women. That is the use of the things that are seen and temporal; they are like greenhouses built for the great Gardener’s use in striking and furthering the growth of His plants; and when He has got the plants He has got what He wanted, and you may pull the greenhouse down if you like. And so God estimates, and teaches us to estimate, the relative value and greatness of the material and the spiritual in this fashion, that He says to us in effect: ‘All these magnificences and magnitudes round you are small and vulgar as compared with this-a heart in which wisdom and divine truth and the love and likeness of God have attained to some tolerable measure of maturity and of strength.’ These are His ‘jewels,’ as the Roman matron said about her two boys. The great Father looks upon the men that love Him as His jewels, and, having got the jewels, the rock in which they were embedded and preserved may be crushed when you like. ‘They shall be Mine,’ saith the Lord, ‘My treasures in that day of judgment which I make.’<\/p>\n And so, my brother, all the insignificance of man, as compared with the magnitude and duration of the universe, need not stagger our faith that the divinest thing in the universe is a heart that has learnt to love God and aspires after Him, and should but increase our wonder and our gratitude that He has been mindful of man and has visited him, in order that He might give Himself to men, and so might win men for Himself.<\/p>\n II. <\/strong> That brings me, and very briefly, to the other points that I desire to deal with now. The second one, which is suggested to us from my second text in the Epistle to Titus, is that this possession, by God, of man, like man’s possession of God, comes because God has given Himself to man.<\/p>\n The Apostle puts it very strongly in the Epistle to Titus: ‘The glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us that He might purify unto Himself a people for a possession<\/em> .’ Israel, according to one metaphor, was God’s ‘son,’ begotten by that great redeeming act of deliverance from the captivity of Egypt Deu 32:6 – Deu 32:19. According to another metaphor, Israel was God’s bride, wooed and won for His own by that same act. Both of these figures point to the thought that in order to get man for His own He has to give Himself to man.<\/p>\n And the very height and sublimity of that truth is found in the Christian fact which the Apostle points to here. We need not depart from human analogies here either. Christ gave Himself to us that He might acquire us for Himself. Absolute possession of others is only possible at the price of absolute surrender to them. No human heart ever gave itself away unless it was convinced that the heart to which it gave itself had given itself to it.<\/p>\n And on the lower levels of gratitude and obligation, the only thing that binds a man to another in utter submission is the conviction that that other has given himself in absolute sacrifice for him. A doctor goes into the wards of an hospital with his life in his hands, and because he does, he wins the full confidence and affection of those whom he treats. You cannot buy a heart with anything less than a heart. In the barter of the world it is not ‘skin for skin,’ but it is ‘self for self’; and if you want to own me, you must give yourself altogether to me. And the measure in which teachers and guides and preachers and philanthropists of all sorts make conquests of men is the measure in which they make themselves sacrifices for men.<\/p>\n Now all that is true, and is lifted to its superlative truth, in the great central fact of the Christian faith. But there is more than human analogy here. Christ is not only self-sacrifice in the sense of surrender, but He is sacrifice in the sense of giving Himself for our redemption and forgiveness. He has not only given Himself to us, He has given Himself for us. And there, and on that, is builded, and on that alone has He a right to build, or have we a right to yield to it, His claim to absolute authority and utter command over each of us.<\/p>\n He has died for us, therefore the springs of our life are at His disposal; and the strongest motives which can sway our lives are set in motion by His touch. His death, says this text, redeems us from iniquity and purifies us. That points to its power in delivering us from the service and practice of sin. He buys us from the despot whose slaves we were, and makes us His own in the hatred of evil and the doing of righteousness. Moved by His death, we become capable of heroisms and martyrdoms of devotion to Him. Brethren, it is only as that self-sacrificing love touches us, which died for our sins upon the Cross, that the diabolical chain of selfishness will be broken from our affections and our wills, and we shall be led into the large place of glad surrender of ourselves to the sweetness and the gentle authority of His omnipotent love.<\/p>\n III. <\/strong> The last thought that I suggest is the issues to which this mutual possession points. God owns men, and is owned by them, in order that there may be a giving and receiving of mutual services of love.<\/p>\n ‘The Lord’s portion is His people.’ That in the Old Testament is always laid as the foundation of certain obligations under which He has come, and which He will abundantly discharge. What is a great landlord expected to do to his estate? ‘What ought I to have done to my vineyard?’ the divine Proprietor asks through the mouth of His servant the prophet. He ought to till it, He ought not to starve it, He ought to fence it, He ought to cast a wall about it, He ought to reap the fruits. And He does all that for His inheritance. God’s honour is concerned in His portion not being waste. It is not to be a ‘garden of the sluggard,’ by which people who pass can see the thorns growing there. So He will till it, He will plough it, He will pick out the weeds, and all the disciplines of life will come to us, and the ploughshare will be driven deep into the heart, that ‘the peaceable fruit of righteousness’ may spring up. He will fence His vineyard. Round about His inheritance His hand will be cast, within His people His Spirit will dwell. No harm shall come near thee if thy love is given to Him; safe and untouched by evil thou shalt walk if thou walk with God. ‘He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of Mine eye.’ The soul that trusts Him He takes in charge, and before any evil can fall to it ‘the pillared firmament must be rottenness, and earth be built on stubble.’ ‘He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.’ ‘The Lord’s portion is His people,’ and ‘none shall pluck them out of His hand.’<\/p>\n And on the other side, we belong to God in Christ. What do we owe Him? What does the vineyard owe the husbandman? Fruit. We are His, therefore we are bound to absolute submission. ‘Ye are not your own.’ Life, circumstances, occupations, all-we hold them at His will. We have no more right of property in anything than a slave in the bad old days had in his cabin and patch of ground. They belonged to the master to whom he belonged. Let us recognise our stewardship, and be glad to know ourselves His, and all events and things which we sometimes think ours, His also.<\/p>\n We are His, therefore we owe absolute trust. The slave has at least this blessing in his lot, that he need have no anxieties; nor need we. We belong to God, and He will take care of us. A rich man’s horses and dogs are well cared for, and our Owner will not leave us unheeded. Our well-being involves His good name. Leave anxious thought to masterless hearts which have to front the world with nobody at their backs. If you are God’s you will be looked after.<\/p>\n We are His, therefore we are bound to live to His praise. That is the conclusion which one Old Testament passage draws. ‘This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise’ Isa 43:21. The Apostle Peter quotes these words immediately after those from Exodus, which describe Israel as ‘a people for God’s own possession,’ when he says ‘that ye should show forth the praise of Him who hath called you.’ Let us, then, live to His glory, and remember that the servants of the King are bound to stand to their colours amid rebels, and that they who know the sweetness of possessing God, and the blessedness of yielding to His supreme control, should acknowledge what they have found of His goodness, and ‘tell forth the honour of His name, and make His praise glorious.’ Let not all the magnificent and wonderful expenditure of divine longing and love be in vain, nor run off your hearts like water poured upon a rock. Surely the sun’s flames leaping leagues high, they tell us, in tongues of burning gas, must melt everything that is near them. Shall we keep our hearts sullen and cold before such a fire of love? Surely that superb and wonderful manifestation of the love of God in the Cross of Christ should melt into running rivers of gratitude all the ice of our hearts.<\/p>\n ‘He gave Himself for me!’ Let us turn to Him and say: ‘Lo! I give myself to Thee. Thou art mine. Make me Thine by the constraint of Thy love, so utterly, and so saturate my spirit with Thyself, that it shall not only be Thine, but in a very deep sense it shall be Thee, and that it may be “no more I that live, but Christ that liveth in me.”‘<\/p>\n lot = line. Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6, because the inheritance was allotted by a cord or line. Compare 1Ch 16:18. Psa 16:6; Psa 19:4. Mic 2:5. <\/p>\n the Lord’s: Deu 26:18, Deu 26:19, Exo 15:16, Exo 19:5, Exo 19:6, 1Sa 10:1, Psa 78:71, Psa 135:4, Isa 43:21, Jer 10:16, Jer 51:19, Eph 1:18, 1Pe 2:9, 1Pe 2:10 <\/p>\n lot: Heb. cord, Mic 2:5 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Exo 34:9 – take us Deu 4:20 – a people Deu 9:26 – which thou hast redeemed 2Sa 20:19 – the inheritance 1Ki 8:53 – separate Psa 16:5 – The Lord Psa 21:7 – most Psa 74:2 – thine Psa 94:14 – forsake Isa 5:2 – fenced it Isa 19:25 – and Israel Isa 43:1 – thou art mine Isa 43:4 – precious Amo 3:2 – only Zec 2:12 – inherit Act 27:23 – whose 1Pe 5:3 – heritage<\/p>\n Deu 32:9. The Lords portion is his people Highly prized and loved by him, Exo 19:5-6. As if he had said, The Israelites are that portion of mankind whom God was pleased to redeem out of bondage, and to make his peculiar people. It is no wonder, therefore, that he has so great a regard for them, and takes special care of them.<\/p>\n For the LORD’s portion [is] his people; Jacob [is] the lot of his inheritance. 9. portion ] Or lot; in Deu 12:12 with inheritance. his people ] LXX removes Jacob to this line, and to the end of the following adds Israel. In that case his people is superfluous both to the sense and to … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 32:9”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5776\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I.<\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>What is said of the Lords people?<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Where God finds His people when He calls them.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>The special care which the Lord takes of His people.<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>Now, when a man pays a great price for anything, he must have esteemed it very valuable before he could be induced to give so much for it; and in like manner, we argue very correctly when we say that the fact of Gods giving His Son to save the world was a proof how strongly His bowels yearned over manhood, how precious they were in His sight. But this is not the exact feature of the case before us, which we are proposing to consider. We are not speaking of that love of God to the world which led Him to give His Son to save it; but of His love to those who are so purchased and saved. And here also, if we look at the manner of men, we well know that what a man has laboured hard for, and purchased dear, he prizes accordingly; he surveys the acres which, at the expense of much toil, he has made his own, with very different feelings from those of his heir, into whose hands they fall without any care or expense on his part, and who perhaps dissipates what his predecessor had acquired. It is this latter case which illustrates the love that God bears to His people, He loves them because so much has been paid for them; He would not that the souls should perish for which Christ died; His soul would be grieved at the loss of that which the counsels of His wisdom and the treasures of His love had been expended to procure.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>When a man, at a very high price, has purchased a tract of waste land, which, on account of the scenery, the air, and the capabilities of the soil, he destines for his future residence, he surveys what has now become his property with much interest. But in its present state he cannot view it with entire satisfaction; he cannot dwell in the morass, nor take up his abode in the one mean hovel that stands on the premises; but he will not let the large sum which he has paid be lost. He therefore causes the whole to be surveyed, lays down a plan of improvement, and fixes on the site of his intended dwelling. After a while the scene is changed, the bog is reclaimed, furze and brushwood, and all unsightly objects are swept away, trees are planted, the grounds are tastefully laid out, and a beautiful mansion is erected. The proprietor now looks at it with other eyes than before, is delighted with the loveliness which he beholds, and gladly fixes his abode there. It is thus that the Lord at first beholds those whom He has purchased by the death of His Son. The mere fact of Christs having died for them makes no more change in their character than a mans having paid the purchase of a bleak common converts it into a scene of loveliness. No; much has to be done with the soil of the heart, as well as with the soil of the ground; and He who undertakes the work is a skilful operator, and is sure to succeed. But here the parallel ceases; our illustration leaves us–it can help us no further. How man acts upon the inert soil, we can understand; but cannot understand how God acts upon the mind. The process of education comes the nearest to it; for, as we teach children by books, and stimulate them by rewards and punishments, so God deals with His people in a way of instruction and discipline.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>If, then, the people of God is His portion here below; if such is the excellence of real holiness, that, imperfect as their holiness is, their heavenly Father sees nothing to be compared to it, nothing worthy to be mentioned with it, in the whole compass of our globe–what a portion will His ransomed ones be to Him, when every remainder of sin shall be done away; when He shall see in them the full resemblance of their elder Brother, His well-beloved Son, and be well pleased with them, even as He is well pleased with Him! And now let me, in conclusion, show you that all the considerations which move God to take us for His portion should be so many arguments to induce us to follow after holiness.<\/p>\n
I.<\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>They are amongst His most valuable property.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>They are amongst His most gratifying property. (Homilist.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
GODS REGARD FOR HIS PEOPLE<\/strong><\/p>\n
[When he brought his people into Canaan, he divided the land amongst the twelve tribes, assigning to each by lot their destined inheritance. Thus amongst all the people upon the face of the earth he chose, as it were by lot, (the whole disposal whereof is of the Lord,) the descendants of Abraham as his<\/em> portion. Even amongst these he selected only a part, adopting Isaac, and not Ishmael, and still further limiting his choice to Jacob and his posterity, whilst he withheld this privilege from Esau. These<\/em> he chose, not because they were either more numerous or more holy than other people; for they were the fewest of all people, and a stiff-necked generation from first to last. He loved them purely because he would love them [Note: Deu 7:6-8<\/span>.], and, having set them apart for himself, he ordained them to be his own portion and his own inheritance.]<\/p>\n
[He has a people still, whom he chose from before the foundation of the world [Note: Jer 31:3<\/span>; Eph 1:4<\/span>.], and predestinated to the adoption of children to himself [Note: Rom 8:29<\/span>.], and accounts as his peculiar treasure above all people upon the face of the earth [Note: Exo 19:5<\/span>.]. Respecting all who truly believe in Christ it is said, Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people [Note: 1Pe 2:9<\/span>.]: and from these, as from an inheritance, does God expect a revenue of praise and glory, such as he receives not from the whole world besides [Note: 1Pe 2:9<\/span>.]. It is of his own purpose and grace alone that he has called them to this honour, without being influenced by any goodness in them [Note: 2Ti 1:9<\/span>.]: his choice of them was wholly irrespective of their works, past, present, or future [Note: Tit 3:5<\/span>.]: he loved them, and not they him [Note: 1Jn 4:10<\/span>.]: he chose them, and not they him [Note: Joh 15:16<\/span>.]: for his own sake, and not theirs, he has vouchsafed to them his grace, that to all eternity they may be monuments of his sovereign love and mercy [Note: Isa 43:21<\/span>.].]<\/p>\n
[Where did he find any of us, my Brethren, but in a waste howling wilderness, where we must have inevitably perished) if he of his own sovereign grace and mercy had not come to our relief? And how has he led us about even to the present hour, not in the way that would have been most pleasing to flesh and blood, but in the way which he knew would be most conducive to our good, and to the glory of his own name! In this way he has conveyed to our minds such instruction as we could not by any means have so well received in any other way. By his word and by his Spirit he has imparted to us much knowledge of himself: but by his various dispensations, and especially those of a more afflictive nature, he has led us into discoveries of his perfections, which we could never otherwise have obtained. Oh! what views has he given us of our own deserts and of his own tender mercy towards us! In fact, we may, in his dealings with his people in the wilderness, see as in a glass all that is passing in the Church at this day, and all that is passing in our own hearts: and our heavenly rest will be infinitely the more endeared to us from our recollection of all our troubles by the way, and of the infinite wisdom and power and love by which we have been led in safety through them.]<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nFuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"