God’s Word for You
Psalm 119:57 My portion
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Wednesday, June 19, 2024
57 You are my portion, O LORD;
I have said I will keep your words.
Almost all translations, including the ancient Greek and Latin, translate the word heleq as “portion.” All of our lexicons agree with this. But Mitchell Dahood (Anchor Bible Commentary) presents a case for “Creator.” He cites Jeremiah 10:16, where “He who is the heleq (Creator?) of Jacob” would be paired with “he is the Maker of all.” (NIV and EHV translate “Portion” in Jeremiah). “Creator” or “portion” might work equally well in a few other passages (Lamentations 3:24; perhaps Job 38:24), but the Jeremiah passage deserves a second look, and perhaps a footnote in our translations. This is far from always the case. For example, David says, “You are my refuge, my portion (heleq) in the land of the living” where “Creator” would not work even as an alternative (Psalm 142:5).
If the reader will permit me to apply both possibilities here: How marvelous and humbling that our portion is indeed the Creator of the Universe! To say that our portion is the LORD himself is no less than saying that our Creator is the LORD himself, but take care, O Christian, to understand the difference: The LORD is the Maker and Creator all; he will be the Judge of all mankind on the Last Day. But the LORD is the portion only of those with faith in him. He is your portion, O Christian, even in your hardest days: “I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him’” (Lamentations 3:24).
My portion in the physical world is small. This is true for all of us, whether you are homeless and living by the creek where you once played as a child, or whether you own a massive ranch as big as a small county. Man’s physical portion in the world is only a temporary one. But for the Christian, the LORD God is our true portion. He is our portion forever, and our inheritance forever.
This is stated in the verse as a creed, a confession of faith. It is followed by a promise that the author (and, we pray, the reader) has made: “I will keep your words.” This second part is not a creed or a confession of faith, but it is the response of the Christian to God’s love for us. This is the promise we make as confirmands. It is also the essential content of the promise we make when we accept divine calls. But shouldn’t it also be what is on our mind when we marry, when we take a military oath, take a political office, or take other godly oaths, or, for that matter, when we become parents, bring our children to be baptized, or when anyone takes on a new job, or begins and ends each day in God’s grace? This is the essence of Paul’s words: “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). What I do in the world is not important at all compared with who I am. A mother, a goat herd, an apprentice painter, the guy who makes popcorn at the theater, a college professor, or a child selling lemonade on the corner: Who we are is Christians; children of God. The rest is simply how we show our faith. In this way there is no difference in God’s eyes between a pastor and a tailor. Do what you do to God’s glory, because he is your portion.
About the final word in the verse: Sometimes a Bible reader will ask the question: Is there a difference between “the word of God” and “the words of God”? There are fewer examples of the plural, but they occur: Numbers 24:4; 2 Samuel 7:28; Psalm 138:4, and so on. The difference is almost always one of emphasis. “Word of the Lord” often refers to a revelation from God speaking to one of his people in person (Genesis 15:1). “Word of God” usually refers to the whole content of the Bible: “You nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition” (Matthew 15:6). “Words of God” or “Words of the Lord” also mean the word of God, but not necessarily the Bible (Jeremiah 36:11). Often this means something spoken more privately, although many of these “words” end up quoted in the Scriptures anyway (Revelation 19:9). The exception is when “The Words” is a reference to “the Ten Words” the Ten Commandments (Exodus 34:28).
This last case is probably what we have here in the Psalm, so that “I will keep your words” means “I will keep your commandments.” Solomon said: “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
To keep God’s commandments is to desire to follow God’s holy will. But his will today is that you would put your faith in Jesus for your forgiveness. “He will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures.”
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.