He chooses our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob whom he loved.
Parallel Translations
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He chooses our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob whom he loved.
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He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.
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(47-5) He chooseth our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob whom He loveth. Selah
Cross-references (18)
Passages linked to Psalms 47:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Peter 1:4 to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you,
- Amos 6:8 “The Lord Yahweh has sworn by himself,” says Yahweh, the God of Armies: “I abhor the pride of Jacob, and detest his fortresses. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.
- Nahum 2:2 For Yahweh restores the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the destroyers have destroyed them, and ruined their vine branches.
- Amos 8:7 Yahweh has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “Surely I will never forget any of their works.
- Deuteronomy 7:6-8 For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth. Yahweh didn’t set his love on you nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples; but because Yahweh loves you, and because he desires to keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, Yahweh has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
- Isaiah 60:15 “Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no one passed through you, I will make you an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.
- Jeremiah 3:19 “But I said, ‘How I desire to put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations!’ and I said, ‘You shall call me “My Father”, and shall not turn away from following me.’
- Hosea 14:4 “I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from him.
- Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
- 1 John 4:9-10 By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
- Deuteronomy 11:12 a land which Yahweh your God cares for. Yahweh your God’s eyes are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.
- Psalms 16:3 As for the saints who are in the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.
- Ezekiel 20:6 in that day I swore to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.
- Malachi 1:2 “I have loved you,” says Yahweh. Yet you say, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” says Yahweh, “Yet I loved Jacob;
- Matthew 25:34 Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
- 1 Corinthians 3:22-23 whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come. All are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
- Ephesians 1:18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
- Deuteronomy 33:3 Yes, he loves the people. All his saints are in your hand. They sat down at your feet. Each receives your words.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 4. He hath chosen our inheritance for us. The…
4. He hath chosen our inheritance for us. The inspired poet here celebrates more distinctly the special grace which God, in his goodness, had bestowed upon the chosen and holy seed of Abraham. As he passed by all the rest of the word, and adopted to himself a people who were few in number and contemptible; so it was proper that such a signal pledge of his fatherly love should be distinguished from his common beneficence, which is extended to all mankind without distinction. The word chosen is therefore peculiarly emphatic, implying that God had not dealt with the children of Abraham as he had been accustomed indiscriminately to deal with other nations; but that he had bestowed upon them, as it were by hereditary right, a peculiar dignity by which they excelled all others. The same thing is expressed immediately after by the word glory Thus then the prophet enjoins the duty of thanksgiving to God, for having exalted, in the person of Jacob, his chosen people to the highest degree of honor, so that they might boast that their condition was distinguished from that of all other nations. He shows, at the same time, that this was entirely owing to the free and unmerited favor of God. The relative pronoun whom is put instead of the causal particle for or because, as if the Psalmist had attributed the cause of this prerogative by which they were distinguished to God himself. Whenever the favor of God towards the Jews is commended, in consequence of his having loved their fathers, this principle should always be kept in mind, that hereby all merits in man are annihilated. If all the excellence or glory of the holy patriarch depended purely and simply upon the good pleasure of God, who can dare to arrogate any thing to himself as peculiarly his own? If God then has given us any thing above others, and as it were by special privilege, let us learn to ascribe the whole to the fatherly love which he bears towards seeing he has chosen us to be his flock. We also gather from this passage that the grace which God displays towards his chosen is not extended to all men in common, but is a privilege by which he distinguishes a few from the great mass of mankind.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain God hath chosen us above all other nations, to…
God hath chosen us above all other nations, to enjoy a most glorious inheritance.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 47:4 He shall choose our inheritance for us,…
Psa 47:4 He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.
Ver. 4. He shall choose our inheritance for us] Or, He hath chosen. Of his free grace he espied out the land of Canaan for his people Israel, flowing with milk and honey, and such as was the glory of all lands, Eze 30:6; and as much, yea, much more hath he done for the whole Israel of God, both of Jews and Gentiles, by electing them to an inheritance immortal, undefiled, reserved in heaven for them, 1Pe 1:4.
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The excellency (or high glory) of Jacob whom he loved] i.e. All those high and honourable privileges wherein Jacob once, and now all the faithful, may well glory and rejoice, {see Rom 9:4-5} having as great both abundance and assurance of God’s grace and goodness as Jacob ever had.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain He shall choose, i.e. he will appoint and bestow…
He shall choose, i.e. he will appoint and bestow upon us. This verb of the future tense may seem to agree well with the Gentiles, because this blessing was not now present, but future, and so the sense designed by the Holy Ghost may be this: Though at present we are wicked and wretched creatures, and strangers to the commonwealth of Israel, yet there is a time coming wherein God will choose or take us into the number of his children by gracious adoption. But futures are variously rendered; and accordingly the vulgar Latin, Syriac, and Arabic render this word. He hath chosen. The Chaldee renders this and the following words, He will take pleasure in us, so as to give us our inheritance. Our inheritance; either the land of Canaan; or heaven, which was typified by that land; or rather, God himself, who is called his people’s portion or inheritance, as Psa 16:5; 73:26, and elsewhere, or the presence, and worship, and blessing of God. This God had chosen for the Israelites, and resolved to choose or set apart for the Gentiles. The excellency, or glory; wherein Jacob gloried and excelled all other people. See Eze 24:21; Amo 6:8; 8:7.
Of Jacob; either,
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1. Of the person of Jacob; who, though he never had the possession of the land of Canaan, yet had the Lord, and his presence and blessing, for his inheritance. Or rather,
2. Of the people of Jacob or Israel, who are frequently called Jacob, as Num 23:7,10,23; Psa 14:7; 44:4, &c., for these did actually enjoy the promised inheritance of Canaan, and the presence of God in his sanctuary.
Whom he loved: this he adds, partly as the reason why he chose such a noble inheritance for them, not for any peculiar worth in them more than in other people, but only for his free love to them, as he declareth, Deu 7:7,8; 9:5; and partly as an evidence of the excellency of this inheritance, because it was chosen for his beloved people.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain God is gone up with a shout,.... That is,…
God is gone up with a shout,.... That is, the Son of God, who is truly and properly God, equal to the Father, having the same perfections; God manifest in the flesh, the Word that was made flesh, and dwelt among men on earth; who in the next clause is called "Lord" or "Jehovah", being the everlasting "I AM", which is, and was, and is to come; he having done his work on earth he came about, went up from earth to heaven in human nature, really, locally, and visibly, in the sight of his apostles, attended by angels, and with their shouts and acclamations, which are here meant;
the Lord with the sound of the trumpet; which circumstance, though not related in the account of Christ's ascension in the New Testament, yet inasmuch as the angels say he shall descend in like manner as he ascended, and that it is certain he will descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God; so that if his ascent was as his descent will be, it must be then with a shout, and the sound of a trumpet, Act 1:10. This text is applied to the Messiah by the ancient Jewish writers (d).
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(d) Bemidbar Rabba, s. 15. fol. 218. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Chuse - He will appoint and bestow upon us.…
Chuse - He will appoint and bestow upon us. Inheritance - The presence and worship, and blessing of God. This God had chosen for the Israelites and resolved to chuse or set apart for the Gentiles. Of Jacob - Of the people of Jacob or Israel, who are frequently called Jacob, for these did actually enjoy the presence of God in his sanctuary. Loved - Not for any peculiar worth in them, but for his free love to them, as he declareth, Deut. vii, 7, 8.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 47:4. He shall choose our inheritance for us…
Psa 47:4. He shall choose our inheritance for us — The Syriac, Arabic, and Latin, render the word יבחר, jibchar, here used, in the past time, he hath chosen, which, if understood of God’s choosing Canaan for the Israelites, and placing them in it, is certainly more proper, being according to the matter of fact. The word, however, is in the future tense, and if interpreted of the Gentiles, who were to be called into God’s church, and to receive the blessings of grace and glory for their inheritance, the more proper rendering is that of our translators, He shall choose, or, he will appoint, and bestow upon us, our inheritance — That is, the inheritance intended for us, designed to be ours, namely, God himself, who is the portion of his people, or the presence, worship, and blessing of God. This God had chosen for the Israelites, and had resolved to choose, or set apart, for the Gentiles. The excellency of Jacob — Or, his glory, or boast, as גאון, geon, also means; that wherein he gloried and excelled all other people, namely, not Canaan, but God’s sanctuary, the ordinances of his worship, and his presence and blessing. See Eze 24:21; Amo 6:8; Amo 8:7. He may mean the person of Jacob, who, though he never had the actual possession of Canaan, yet had the Lord, and his presence and blessing, for his inheritance. Or, rather, he means the people of Israel, who are frequently called Jacob; for these did actually enjoy both the promised inheritance of Canaan and the presence of God in his sanctuary. Whom he loved — This he adds, partly as the reason why he chose such a noble inheritance for them, which was not any peculiar worth in them, more than in other people, but only for his free love to them, as he declares, Deu 7:7-8; and Deu 9:5; and partly as an evidence of the excellence of this inheritance, because it was chosen for his beloved people.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain He shall choose our inheritance for us - He…
He shall choose our inheritance for us - He has chosen or selected the land which we inherit. Of all the countries which compose the world, he has chosen “this” to be the inheritance of his own people, or the place where they should dwell. The thought in this verse is based on the idea so common in the writings of the Hebrews, that their country was the glory of all lands - the place of all on earth most desirable to dwell in. It is in view of this fact that they are here called on to praise God, and to rejoice in him.
The excellency of Jacob - literally, “the pride - גאון gâ'ôn - of Jacob.” Septuagint, “beauty” - καλλονὴν kallonēn. So the Vulgate, “speciem.” The meaning is, that it was a land of which Jacob, the ancestor of the people, might be proud, or which he did boast of. It was ever regarded as an honor among the Jews that they dwelt in a land which had been the abode of the prophets; and especially was anything regarded as of value that could be traced to Jacob; that bad been once in his possession; or that could be regarded as his gift. Compare Joh 4:12.
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Whom he loved - As one of the patriarchs. Perhaps special allusion is here made to “Jacob” rather than to Abraham and Isaac, because the land came actually into the possession of the Hebrew people in the time of Jacob’s sons. It was divided among the descendants of his sons, the twelve tribes, bearing their names; and thus Jacob was most naturally referred to as having been in possession of the land. Abraham and Isaac dwelt in the land as strangers and pilgrims Heb 11:9-10, Heb 11:13, having no possession there, not even of a burying-place except as they purchased it (compare Gen 23:12-16); and the land actually came into the possession of the nation only in the family of Jacob.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain He shall . . . inheritance--the heathen to be…
He shall . . . inheritance--the heathen to be possessed by His Church (Psa 2:8), as Canaan by the Jews.
excellency of Jacob--literally, "pride," or, that in which he glories (not necessarily, though often, in a bad sense), the privileges of the chosen people--
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whom he loved--His love being the sole cause of granting them.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) The excellency of Jacob.—This phrase, which literally means…
(4) The excellency of Jacob.—This phrase, which literally means the loftiness of Jacob, is used in Nah_2:2 of the national glory, in Eze_24:21 of the Temple, but in Amo_6:8 has a bad sense, “the pride of Jacob.” Here, as the text stands, it is to be understood of the country. (Comp. Isa_13:19.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain He shall choose our inheritance for us; rather, he…
He shall choose our inheritance for us; rather, he chooseth, or hath chosen, our inheritance for us. God originally chose Canaan as the inheritance of his people, (Gen_12:1-7) and gave it to Abraham.
Later on, he enlarged the gift, making the boundaries such as they became under David and Solomon. (Gen_15:18) The excellency of Jacob whom he loved. The Holy Land is called "the excellency of Jacob," or "the pride of Jacob," on account of its beauty, and the excellence and variety of its productions. (see Deu_8:7-9 2Ki_18:22)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 4. While as yet we see not all…
Ver. 4. While as yet we see not all things put under him, we are glad to put ourselves and our fortunes at his disposal. He shall choose our inheritance for us. We feel his reign to be so gracious that we even now ask to be in the fullest degree the subjects of it. We submit our will, our choice, our desire, wholly to him. Our heritage here and hereafter we leave to him, let him do with us as seemeth him good. The excellency of Jacob whom he loved. He gave his ancient people their portion, he will give us ours, and we ask nothing better; this is the most spiritual and real manner of clapping our hands because of his sovereignty, namely, to leave all our affairs in his hands, for then our hands are empty of all care for self, and free to be used in his honour. He was the boast and glory of Israel, he is and shall be ours. He loved his people and became their greatest glory; he loves us, and he shall be our exceeding joy. As for the latter days, we ask nothing better than to stand in our appointed lot, for if we have but a portion in our Lord Jesus, it is enough for our largest desires. Our beauty, our boast, our best treasure, lies in having such a God to trust in, such a God to love us. Selah. Yes, pause, ye faithful songsters. Here is abundant room for holy meditation
"Muse awhile, obedient thought,
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Lo, the theme's with rapture fraught;
See thy King, whose realm extends
Even to earth's remotest ends.
Gladly shall the nations own
Him their God and Lord alone;
Clap their hands with holy mirth,
Hail him MONARCH OF THE EARTH.
Come, my soul, before him bow,
Gladdest of his subjects thou;
Leave thy portion to his choice,
In his sovereign will rejoice,
This thy purest, deepest bliss,
He is thine and thou art his."
Ver. 4. He shall choose. Futures are variously rendered; and accordingly the vulgar Latin, Syriac, and Arabic, render this word, He hath chosen. Matthew Poole.
Ver. 4. He shall choose our inheritance for us. It is reported of a woman who, being sick, was asked whether she was willing to live or die; she answered, "Which God pleases." But, said one, if God should refer it to you, which would you choose? "Truly, "replied she, "I would refer it to him again." Thus that man obtains his will of God, whose will is subjected to God. We are not to be troubled that we have no more from God, but we are to be troubled that we do no more for God. Christians, if the Lord be well pleased with your persons, should not you be well pleased with your conditions? There is more reason that you should be pleased with them, than that he should be pleased with you. Believers should be like sheep, which change their pastures at the will of the shepherd; or like vessels in a house, which stand to be filled or emptied at the pleasure of their owner. He that sails upon the sea of this world in his own bottom, will sink at last into a bottomless ocean. Never were any their own carvers, but they were sure to cut their own fingers. William Secker.
Ver. 4. He shall choose our inheritance for us, means that he who knows what is better for us than ourselves, hath chosen, that is, hath appointed, and that of his own good will and mercy towards us, our inheritance; not only things meet for this life, as lands, and houses, and possessions, etc., but even all other things concerning the hope of a better life, to wit, a kingdom that cannot be shaken, an everlasting habitation, and inheritance which is immortal and undefiled, and fadeth not away, reserved for us in heaven. John Boys.
Ver. 4. The excellency (or glory) of Jacob, whom he loved; that is, even all those excellent things that he gave and promised to Jacob, wherein he might glory and rejoice. The faithful mean, that they had as great, both abundance and assurance of God's grace and goodness, as ever Jacob had. Thomas Wilcocks.
Ver. 4. It may be thou art godly and poor. It is well; but canst thou tell whether, if thou wert not poor, thou wouldst be godly? Surely God knows us better than we ourselves do, and therefore can best fit the estate to the person. Giles Fletcher.
Ver. 4. This comprehends time and eternity. It is a matter of fact, of holy acquiescence, of desire, of thankfulness.
Ver. 4.
1. God is willing to choose our inheritance for us in time and eternity.
2. His choice is better than oursthe excellency of Jacob.
3. He will leave us to the consequences of our own choice.
4. He will help us in obtaining that which he chooses for us. G. R.
Psalms 47:5*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain He shall choose our inheritance for us: the excellency…
Psa_47:4
He shall choose our inheritance for us: the excellency of Jacob whom He loved.
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He shall choose our inheritance for us
How fond our children are, and the younger they are the more so, of saying, I mean to be. And then each one tells what his or her choice is. A soldier, a farmer, a cottage girl, and so on. And we let them talk on.
We know the world is hard and rough,
But time will teach that soon enough.
Nevertheless, our path in life is chosen for us. We do not have our own way. There is sweet music in the words of our text. Livingstone, in his fever, far away from any tender hand or kindly care, in poison-haunted jungles of the African wilderness, borne in from day to day, his end seemingly very near, and left by his servants unconscious in his tent while they went to seek other aid; they found him when they came back on his knees by his bedside, but dead--so had he passed away and died in sight of his promised land. He had not received the promise, but he was satisfied, and crowned his life with a consecration of prayer. That was his way of saying, He shall choose our inheritance for us. It is, if a funeral, not the less a triumphant song. Every life must be a triumph that passes out in prayer. Lifes present discords will constitute its great harmony by and by. For--
I. The joy of life is to feel that it is not a scheme of fatalism, a mere reign of law. He shall choose our inheritance for us. This is a strange word to come from an Eastern psalmist, for such men were mainly fatalists, as they are to this day. But the Bible proclaims the freedom of man, and that the universe is governed, not by infinite chance, but by infinite choice.
II. The divine choice proves itself by divine love. The excellency of Jacob whom He loved. Huxley tells us that man is justified by verification. But it is not only true that man is justified by faith, but God is also. Choice is another word for love. Love runs along the line of our lives, so that in the end God is justified by verification after all. Jacob was the proof of that love of His. God chooses for us, and His choice is love. Once upon a time in a family I know of there were four children, sons; their names were Little Faith, Dont-care, Honest Doubt, and Great-heart. One day their father called them to him and said, Children, our family has a house called Beautiful, a great way off. I am going there now: you will attend to my estates down here, and you will follow me by and by; and to find your way take this map, study it--it shows you the way, follow its directions and follow me, and you shall safely arrive at the house Beautiful. Now, when the father was gone, the brothers began to talk over and to dispute about the fathers will. Dont care said he was comfortable where he was; should take and stock a farm and lead a merry life; let them go after the house Beautiful who chose, he should not. Little Faith said he did not know however he should find the way. He could not understand maps. Honest Doubt said that, like Little Faith, he too was a bad hand at maps, and, though he knew father loved them, and his will was just, like him, yet he had so much doubt about the whole matter that, until he had more certainty, he could not believe. But Great-heart said, Brothers, I mean to go; and, Little Faith and Honest Doubt, if you will go with me, any little help I can give you shall have. As to you, Dont-care, you always were a bad one. But, brothers, if the way seems doubtful, you know we can look on the map together, and you, Honest Doubt, will perhaps keep us from being deceived; and you, Little Faith, shall help to keep us prayerful and humble, so let us start and cheer each other. And they did so, and the last I heard of them was that on their way they were singing, He shall choose our inheritance for us. And without fail those three brothers will reach the Beautiful Home. Then--
III. There is divine consolation in these words. They are personal. For each one of us, be we who we may. (E. Paxton Hood.)
Submission to Divine appointment
I. God has the right of supreme control. He is our Creator, Benefactor, Lawgiver, Preserver, Redeemer and Judge.
II. His choice is the result of eternal wisdom. We cannot descry the future, but God sees the end from the beginning. We are fallible, but God never errs. Things with us are often bounded by time; God always includes eternity.
III. He loves all his sincere followers.
IV. It preserves us from taking an improper course. Quietness and confidence in God is our best preservative in the path of integrity. When Israel lost their confidence, they swerved.
V. It is the happiest state of mind on earth. Take a few cases--Bereavement (Gen_43:14); Affliction (Job_1:21); Uncertainty (Act_21:13-14); Death (2Pe_1:14).
VI. He works all things for his own glory. Improvements--
1. Let the sinful wanderer adopt the sentiment, and from that day he will be blessed.
2. Let the Lords own children learn to say, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Thou shalt choose our inheritance for us. (Evangelical Preacher.)
The providence of God
I. What the text expresses.
1. A belief of the providence of God. This belief is supported by the strongest arguments: by what we daily see of the instincts and appetites of living creatures; by the gravitation of matter, or the tendency of all heavy bodies to the earth; by many wonderful events, that happen contrary to what might be expected from the appearances of things; the discovery of secret wickedness, etc.
2. Providence has a peculiar concern for good men, and is exercised towards them with special care, tenderness and love.
3. Hearty consent to Gods determinations. Not only a belief that He will choose for His people, but an entire, cheerful acquiescence in His choice. This temper includes the important virtues of humility, patience and contentment. It includes a frame of spirit suited to a persuasion of an over-ruling providence. This persuasion is expressed and strengthened by daily, fervent prayer; and there is to be nothing in the actions or words contrary to it or inconsistent with it: no impatience, fretfulness, or discontent allowed; no unlawful methods used to mend our circumstances, or extricate us out of any difficulty. And if the rebel heart is disposed to murmur, it must be checked and restrained by resolution, watchfulness and prayer.
II. A recommendation to cultivate this temper.
1. We are not able to choose for ourselves. Our knowledge is limited to a few objects, and we see those imperfectly. We cannot look into futurity, and have many false biases upon our judgment. We have often found ourselves mistaken, and been forced to acknowledge, that we have made a bad choice. If God would study a close, quick and certain way of being revenged upon a man, He needs but open His stores and bid him choose for himself.
2. God is most fit to choose for us. For His understanding is infinite, His wisdom perfect, His judgment unerring. No case can possibly arise which will puzzle Him; nor can He have any bias upon His mind to act wrong.
3. God hath chosen well for us already, and therefore we should trust Him. This appears from the many favours He hath bestowed upon us, and the goodness and mercy that have followed us all our days.
4. Our minds can never be easy till we leave it to God to choose for us. God will have His choice, whether we leave it to Him or no (Isa_46:10).
III. Concluding reflections.
1. Let us own Gods choice in every agreeable circumstance of life.
2. Let us humbly acquiesce in whatever is disagreeable.
3. Let us never allow ourselves to be anxious about future events. In order to support a patient, composed, cheerful spirit, let us live near to God by the daily exercise of fervent prayer; and especially pray that He would fulfil in us the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power; and help and cure the remainder of unbelief, which is the foundation of all our sorrows, fears and anxiety. (Job Orion, D. D.)
Christian resignation
Nothing so destroys all the comfort of life as the spirit of discontent with the dispensations of Divine providence. It is as a curse at the root of every earthly good, and it is, at the same time, a barrier in the way of all improvement in religion. Therefore it is our duty to fortify our minds by these considerations, which will help to maintain within us the opposite disposition of a perpetual and unreserved submission to the will of God. We would speak, accordingly--
I. Of the nature of the grace of resignation.
1. Our text is a profession of it, but its words are not to be applied to our state in the world to come. That inheritance is left to our own choice. God will help us, but it is not necessary that He should choose for us.:For there are but two conditions in the future--not a multitude, which might distract: and they are of the most contrasted character. On the one side is all evil, and on the other all good, so that the decision is easy. The choice, therefore, is left to ourselves.
2. Nor can the text be applied to aught that essentially affects the decision of that state, but only to those things in which men may innocently differ from each other. It is only to these diversities which are strictly non-essential as to the decision of our everlasting destiny that any man is capable of being properly resigned. Such are the distinctions
(1) of rank and property.
(2) Of prosperity and adversity.
(3) Personal affliction and sorrow.
(4) Endowments of mind, means of improvement, opportunities of usefulness--with regard to all such things the Christian will say, The Lord shall choose, etc.
3. But great virtues are often found to border on dangerous extremes: therefore we need to guard the definition of such virtues very carefully.
(1) Therefore this grace of resignation is not to be confused with Stoicism. The effect of pure religion is not to convert flesh hire stone, but stone into flesh. Its object is not to stupefy or destroy, but rather to refine and exalt the feelings of our nature. Job felt deeply his sorrows, but it is expressly said, In all this he sinned not. And so with our Lord.
(2) Nor does resignation prohibit our praying against any evil that is feared, or for good that may be desired. See Paul and his thorn in the flesh.
(3) Nor does it necessitate that we are to sit still and do nothing to help ourselves. The text refers to Israels possession of Canaan, but still they had to do much ere it became theirs.
II. The propriety and advantages of this grace. (J. Crouther.)
Gods conduct of our affairs
Allusion seems to be here made to the division of the earth among Noahs sons after the deluge (Deu_32:7-9). And like division by lot was observed in regard to the land of Canaan. Though the lot was cast into the lap, the whole disposing thereof was of the Lord. And still God graciously interferes in our affairs.
I. The manner of Gods control.
1. The constant interference on the part of God regards everything relative to our condition in this finite state of being. All form parts of the Divine choosing, however hard it may be to reconcile superior deter-ruination with the free and unrestrained choice which every individual makes for himself. This superintendence is as extensive as it is minute. He telleth the number of the stars, and He counteth the hairs of our head. In its operation it touches the springs of human determination, without at all infringing on individual liberty; and directs man to the choice, while man chooses for himself.
2. It includes the special regards which God pays to tits own people. This people have I formed for Myself, etc.
3. The Divine Spirit chooses our lot, by leading, directing, and regulating the choice we make for ourselves; not by a powerful and immediate control of the will, but by implanting those principles in the mind which, in their voluntary exercise, will form a choice agreeably to the Divine mind. It is God that worketh in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
II. The propriety and advantage of leaving the choice of our inheritance to God. This is indeed nothing more than cheerfully recognizing the just exercise of His own prerogative: He will eventually do it, whether we will or not. But it is best voluntarily to leave it with God, because--
1. It is infinitely wise and fit that He should choose our inheritance for us. To show the propriety of such a disposition, Jeremiah drew his followers to the potters field (Jer_18:2-6).
2. This arrangement is infinitely best for ourselves. The task of first forming a human soul for glory, and then bringing that soul to its possession, is what none but God Himself could accomplish. (Robert Hall, A. M.)
A wise desire
I. The glorious fact. As for the worldling, God gives him anything, but for the Christian, God selects the best portion. He gives the worldling husks; but He stops to find out the sweet fruits for His people.
I. And, first, let ms ask, must we not all of us admit an over-ruling Providence, and the appointment of Jehovahs hands, as to the means whereby we came into this world? What circumstances were those in our power which led us to elect a certain person to be our parent? Had we anything to do with it? Did not God of Himself appoint our parents, native place and friends? And that we were born with healthy body and sound mind. If you have full possession of all your faculties and limbs, you must acknowledge and confess that there was the decree of God in it. And, still further, how much of the finger of God must we discern in our temper and constitution? I suppose no one will be foolish enough to say that we are all born with the same natural temperament and constitution.
2. I will ask any sensible man--above all, any serious Christian--whether there have not been certain times in his life when he could most distinctly see that indeed God did choose his inheritance for him. Look back and see how the hand of God was in your affairs, and by varied and often strange means allotting you your place and work. I can see a thousand chances, as men call them, all working together, like wheels in a great piece of machinery, to fix ms just where I am. Verily, it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. Then look at the lives of the great saints told of in the Bible and see this truth plainly shown. Joseph; Moses; Daniel. And how many are the Bible declarations in the matter (Isa_45:6-7; Job_14:5; Pro_16:33; Jer_21:25).
II. A prayer. He shall choose our inheritance for us. Dry doctrine is of little use. It is not the doctrine which helps us; it is our assent to the doctrine. But there are some of you who, if it were not the truth, would say you wish to have it so, for you would say in your prayer, Thou shalt choose my inheritance for me.
1. First, Thou shalt choose my mercies for me. And others would choose their employments; but it is far best to leave the choosing to God. If there were two angels in heaven, said a good man, supposing there were two works to be done, and one work was to rule a city, and the other to sweep a street crossing--the angels would not stop a moment to say which they would do. They would do whichever God told them to do. Gabriel would shoulder his broom and sweep the crossing cheerfully; and Michael would not be a bit prouder in taking the sceptre to govern the city. So with a Christian. But there is nothing that we oftener want to choose than our crosses. None of us like crosses at all; but all of us think everybody elses trials lighter than our own. Crosses we must have, but we often want to be choosing them. Oh! says one, my trouble is in my family. It is the worst cross in the world--my business is successful; but if I might have a cross in my business, and get rid of this cross in my family, I should not mind. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 47:4 Jacob’s descendants: Jacob was the father of all…
47:4 Jacob’s descendants: Jacob was the father of all Israelites (Gen 32:28); the name Jacob often represents the nation of Israel. • God loves and commits himself to Jacob (see Pss 78:68; 127:2; see Rom 11:28).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.