Psalm 119:57

Psalm 119:57

You are my portion, Lord

We come now to the eighth letter of the Hebrew alphabet and it is “Heth”. Many scholars reckon that the exact meaning is unknown although there are similar words that suggest “to bring fear and terror” or, “one who depletes or exhausts.” One source describes anyone who causes “Heth” as a leech!

The next few verses do not seem to be linked to fear and dread or to leeches! In fact, they describe the author’s willing dependency upon the Lord. When he describes the Lord as his portion, he is referring to the inherited land titles of the Israelites. After Joshua had conquered Canaan, you will remember that the land was divided up between the various tribes and families; each man had his “portion” where he would establish a family home and start to develop ways of supporting his dependants. The only people who missed out on this deal were the priests and Levites who were given no land but were appointed to oversee and carry out the religious rituals of the people. They were supported by gifts and tithes from the community and so they could not claim to own a “portion.” Our psalm writer is quite possibly a Levite then, for he states, “You are my portion, Lord.”

Some of us have land and buildings and may consider ourselves to be reasonably wealthy but the equation remains the same; if we have the Lord, we are rich beyond measure. Ownership of property in this world is only temporary, we are stewards for a very short time and then the Deeds pass to our successors. If we have a true appreciation of our wealth in Christ then, like the psalmist, we will seek to obey His words!

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