Psa. 119:57 You are my portion, O LORD;
I have said that I would keep Your words.
Psa. 119:58 I entreated Your favor with my whole heart;
Be merciful to me according to Your word.
David starts with a strong statement. God is his portion. To understand this statement, we must remember that when Israel got to the promised land, each tribe received an allotment of land Joshua 13-22. This land was to be their inheritance. It was to stay in the family – Num 36:7-9, and God instituted the “Jubilee Year” every 50 years where the property would return to its original family or owner. All the tribes received land except the tribe of Levi – Duet 10:9. That was the tribe that God chose to be the priesthood. God was their inheritance.
David was from the tribe of Judah. He had land that he inherited from his family. The word “portion” in Hebrew can mean inheritance or source. So David is making a declaration. More than claiming that God is his inheritance, he is also stating that God is his source. Most of the time, we see God as a source, but few understand that He is also our inheritance.
It is not hard to entreat God’s favor when He is your source. So David gets bold in Psalm 23 and says:
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
Psa. 119:59 I thought about my ways,
And turned my feet to Your testimonies.
Psa. 119:60 I made haste, and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.
It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance – Rom 2:4. So Paul asks the question before he makes the statement: “Do you despise the richness of His goodness, forebearness, and longsuffering?” David is simply doing the same thing. He is thinking about his ways and makes a decision. So I must turn my way around to your ways. I love that he states in Psalm 1:
Blessed is the man that walks not in the way of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the circle of the scornful. He does not linger in sin before he acts. Instead, he makes sure he acts quickly.
Too many people flirt with sin and stay too long. You cannot play with fire and remain unburned.
Psa. 119:61 The cords of the wicked have bound me,
But I have not forgotten Your law.
Psa. 119:62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You,
Because of Your righteous judgments.
David continues to identify the things that distract him. Yet, he knows that the answer to overcoming wickedness is the Law of God. Even if it means getting up at midnight, and he will do so to live in freedom. David starts his day with thanksgiving.
Count your blessings one by one; we use to sing. Thankfulness is the antidote against greed and the lust of the flesh. Thankfulness is the posture of the heart that says: I am content, You are enough. God knows what we need before we ask. So can we start by thanking Him for what we have?
Psa. 119:63 I am a companion of all who fear You,
And of those who keep Your precepts.
Psa. 119:64 The earth, O LORD, is full of Your mercy;
Teach me Your statutes.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom – Prov 1:7. Soloman says that the fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride, and the evil way – Prov 8:13. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death – Prov 14:27 and David says in Psalm 25:14 – the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.
His companions are those with the same heart and mind as he has. Paul says that bad company corrupts good manners – 1 Cor 15:33. Who are your friends? Are you like David that was selective about who his friends were?
