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. Num 18:20
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The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore
will I hope in him. Lam 3:24
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The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore
will I hope in him. Lam 3:24
And the Lord spake unto Aaron,.... What is said, being what concerned the tribe of Levi, at the head of which Aaron was, even concerning the maintenance of the Levites:
Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land; in the land of Israel when they come to possess it, as the rest of the tribes had:
Neither shalt thou have any part among them; any part of the land when it is divided by lot, as it was in the times of Joshua, when taken from the Canaanites; no tract of land was peculiarly assigned to them as were to the other tribes, as fields, nor vineyards; they had cities appointed them, and they had houses and fields devoted to the Lord which fell to them, and others they had by gift or legacy, or by purchase, as had Jeremiah the priest and Barnabas the Levite, Jer_32:9 Act_4:36; but they had no share in the distribution of the land of Canaan at the time of the division of it among the tribes; no, not even in the spoil of the cities of the land of Canaan, when they were conquered; this Maimonides (n) says they were warned not to take; and a son of Levi that took any part of the spoil was to be beaten; but the spoil of other lands, subdued by the kings of Israel, they might take, as other Israelites did: the reason of all this was, because they had a sufficient provision made for them in another way, and that they might not be entangled in worldly affairs, or spend their time in the culture of fields and vineyards, but wholly give themselves to the service of God in his house:
I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel; in things temporal, the offerings, tithes, first-fruits. which were given to the Lord, being bestowed upon them; and in things spiritual, they being employed in the work and service of God, and having a peculiar nearness to him, and communion with him: so all that are made priests unto God, as all believers in Christ are, 1Pe_2:5, have God for their portion and inheritance; God, in his persons and in all his perfections, and under every character, as the God of nature, providence, and grace, is the portion of his people; and a rich, large, and satisfying portion he is, and which is inexhaustible, and will endure for ever; he is their portion in life and at death, in time and to all eternity. (John Gill)
1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land; in the land of Israel when they come to possess it, as the rest of the tribes had:
Neither shalt thou have any part among them; any part of the land when it is divided by lot, as it was in the times of Joshua, when taken from the Canaanites; no tract of land was peculiarly assigned to them as were to the other tribes, as fields, nor vineyards; they had cities appointed them, and they had houses and fields devoted to the Lord which fell to them, and others they had by gift or legacy, or by purchase, as had Jeremiah the priest and Barnabas the Levite, Jer_32:9 Act_4:36; but they had no share in the distribution of the land of Canaan at the time of the division of it among the tribes; no, not even in the spoil of the cities of the land of Canaan, when they were conquered; this Maimonides (n) says they were warned not to take; and a son of Levi that took any part of the spoil was to be beaten; but the spoil of other lands, subdued by the kings of Israel, they might take, as other Israelites did: the reason of all this was, because they had a sufficient provision made for them in another way, and that they might not be entangled in worldly affairs, or spend their time in the culture of fields and vineyards, but wholly give themselves to the service of God in his house:
I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel; in things temporal, the offerings, tithes, first-fruits. which were given to the Lord, being bestowed upon them; and in things spiritual, they being employed in the work and service of God, and having a peculiar nearness to him, and communion with him: so all that are made priests unto God, as all believers in Christ are, 1Pe_2:5, have God for their portion and inheritance; God, in his persons and in all his perfections, and under every character, as the God of nature, providence, and grace, is the portion of his people; and a rich, large, and satisfying portion he is, and which is inexhaustible, and will endure for ever; he is their portion in life and at death, in time and to all eternity. (John Gill)
1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
The Assured Foundation of the Soul’s Hope
(Lam_3:24)
(Lam_3:24)
The hope of the prophet began to dawn amidst the deepest gloom when he remembered that God answered prayer (Lam_3:21); but now it is strengthened and confirmed when he is assured of the constancy of the Divine mercy. Israel’s hope of help from Egypt, or from any of her professed allies, was shattered, that she might be taught to seek refuge alone in God. Amid the wreckage of all earthly hopes the soul finds a sure foundation for hope and confidence in the unchangeable mercy and faithfulness of God.
The Lord’s portion is His people.
1. The Church of God-the Body of Christ is the Lord’s own peculiar and special property. As a king may have ample possessions, to all of which he has undoubted right, but still has royal demesnes and crown-lands which are in a very special sense his own, so hath the Lord of all a peculiar interest in His saints. They are His by sovereign choice, by purchase and by conquest.
2. The saints are the objects of the Lord’s especial care. The Lord is the eternal watcher of the universe and never sleeps; yet in a very distinct sense He is the guardian of His Church.
3. The Church-the Body of Christ is the object of the Lord’s special joy. I do not read that God delighteth in the cloud-capped mountains or in the sparkling stars, but I do read that He delighteth in the habitable parts of the earth, and His delights are with the sons of men.
4. God’s people are His everlasting possession. He will never sell His people at any price, nor, if He could have better people instead, would He change them. They are His for ever.
II. The Lord is my portion.
1. True believers hare the Lord as their sole portion. St. Augustine was wont very often to pray, “Lord, Give me thyself.” A less portion than this would be unsatisfactory.
2. As God is our only portion, so He is our own portion. Do not be satisfied with generals; come to particulars. Men go to hell in bundles, but they go to heaven separately.
3. The Lord is to His people an inherited portion. We owe it to the fact of our birth—a child of God by being born in the image of His Song of Solomon
4. This heritage is ours by choice. We have chosen God to be our portion. Better to have Christ and a fiery faggot than to lose Him and wear a royal robe.
5. God is His people’s settled portion. The covenant of day and night may be broken, the waters may again cover the earth, sooner than the decrees of grace be frustrated. The Lord is my all-sufficient portion. God fills Himself. If He is all-sufficient in Himself, He must be all-sufficient for us. (C. H. Spurgeon)
The Lord’s portion is His people.
1. The Church of God-the Body of Christ is the Lord’s own peculiar and special property. As a king may have ample possessions, to all of which he has undoubted right, but still has royal demesnes and crown-lands which are in a very special sense his own, so hath the Lord of all a peculiar interest in His saints. They are His by sovereign choice, by purchase and by conquest.
2. The saints are the objects of the Lord’s especial care. The Lord is the eternal watcher of the universe and never sleeps; yet in a very distinct sense He is the guardian of His Church.
3. The Church-the Body of Christ is the object of the Lord’s special joy. I do not read that God delighteth in the cloud-capped mountains or in the sparkling stars, but I do read that He delighteth in the habitable parts of the earth, and His delights are with the sons of men.
4. God’s people are His everlasting possession. He will never sell His people at any price, nor, if He could have better people instead, would He change them. They are His for ever.
II. The Lord is my portion.
1. True believers hare the Lord as their sole portion. St. Augustine was wont very often to pray, “Lord, Give me thyself.” A less portion than this would be unsatisfactory.
2. As God is our only portion, so He is our own portion. Do not be satisfied with generals; come to particulars. Men go to hell in bundles, but they go to heaven separately.
3. The Lord is to His people an inherited portion. We owe it to the fact of our birth—a child of God by being born in the image of His Song of Solomon
4. This heritage is ours by choice. We have chosen God to be our portion. Better to have Christ and a fiery faggot than to lose Him and wear a royal robe.
5. God is His people’s settled portion. The covenant of day and night may be broken, the waters may again cover the earth, sooner than the decrees of grace be frustrated. The Lord is my all-sufficient portion. God fills Himself. If He is all-sufficient in Himself, He must be all-sufficient for us. (C. H. Spurgeon)
THE PSALMS OF INHERITANCE
IT IS a wonderful thing when we can look upon God as being our portion, when we can lay our hand upon all His nature and say there is nothing in God which will not in some way contribute to my strength and joy. It makes one think of the early days of the settlement of emigrants in the Far West of Canada or Australia. The settler and his family would slowly travel forward, with their implements and seeds, till they reached the plot of ground allocated to them by the government. At first the family would encamp on the edge of it, then they would prospect it, and go to and fro over its acres with a sense that it all belonged to them, though it needed to be brought under cultivation. In the first year, within the fence hastily constructed, the farmer and his sons would begin to cultivate some small portion of their newly-acquired territory. This would yield the first crops; next year they would press the fences farther out, until at the end of a term of years the whole would have been brought under cultivation.
So it is with the mighty Nature of God. when first we are converted and led to know Him for ourselves, we can claim to apprehend but a small portion of the length and depth and breadth and height of His Love; but as the years go slowly on, amid the circumstances of trouble and temptation and the loss of earthly things, we are led to make more and more of God, until the immensity of our inheritance, which can never be fully explored or utilized, breaks upon our understanding. No wonder that the Psalmist breaks forth into thanksgiving in Psa_16:6-7, and Psalm 91.
The devout soul rejoices in God as his great Inheritance. When He is always present to our mind, when we are constantly making use of Him, when we find ourselves naturally turning to Him through the hours of the day, then such quiet peace and rest settle down upon us that we cannot be moved by any anxiety of the present or future. Death itself will make no difference, except that the body which has obscured our vision will be left behind, and the emancipated soul will be able more fully to expatiate in its inheritance, which is incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading.
(Our Daily Walk)
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
So it is with the mighty Nature of God. when first we are converted and led to know Him for ourselves, we can claim to apprehend but a small portion of the length and depth and breadth and height of His Love; but as the years go slowly on, amid the circumstances of trouble and temptation and the loss of earthly things, we are led to make more and more of God, until the immensity of our inheritance, which can never be fully explored or utilized, breaks upon our understanding. No wonder that the Psalmist breaks forth into thanksgiving in Psa_16:6-7, and Psalm 91.
The devout soul rejoices in God as his great Inheritance. When He is always present to our mind, when we are constantly making use of Him, when we find ourselves naturally turning to Him through the hours of the day, then such quiet peace and rest settle down upon us that we cannot be moved by any anxiety of the present or future. Death itself will make no difference, except that the body which has obscured our vision will be left behind, and the emancipated soul will be able more fully to expatiate in its inheritance, which is incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading.
(Our Daily Walk)
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
