Psalms 17:14

From men [which are] thy hand, O Lord,.... Some understand these words, with what follows, as independent of the former, and of another set of men, even of good men; so the Targum, "and the righteous

From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of

Which are thy hand, wherewith thou dost correct me. Men of the world, i. e. who prosper in and set their hearts upon this vain and transitory world, and neither have, nor choose, or desire any other portion or felicity, as it follows. Whose belly, i.e. mind or appetite, as that word is used, . With thy hid treasure, i.e. not only with common mercies, as food and raiment; but with thy choicest and most precious good things, such as men use to hide or keep in their treasures, with extraordinary wealth and glory, and all the delights and of the present life. They are full of children; when many of the faithful servants are barren, these are blessed with a numerous posterity. Or, their children are filled or satisfied as well as their parents. There is abundantly enough, both for them and for their children, and to spare for their children’ s children, as it follows.

Psalms 17:14 From men [which are] thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, [which have] their portion in [this] life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid [treasure]: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their [substance] to their babes.Ver. 14. From men which are thy hand] This, saith one, is David’ s Litany, From those men, &c., good Lord, deliver me. God’ s hand they are called, as before God’ s sword. Titus, son of Vespasian, being extolled for destroying Jerusalem, said, I have only lent God my hand, but he hath done the work. From men of the world] Heb. From mortals of this transitory world, qui sunt mundani, mundum spirant et sapiunt, the inhabitants of the earth, and of the sea, as opposed to the citizens of the New Jerusalem, Revelation 12:12; such as having incarnated their souls (as that Father speaketh) are of the earth, speak of the earth, and the earth heareth them, John 3:31, mind earthly things only, as if they were born for no other purpose. Terrigenae fratres animam habentes triticeam, as those stall fed beasts in the gospel. A mortuis i.e. impiis qui sunt mortui in vita eorum (R. Gaon). Which have their portion in this life] And they love to have it so; saying, with the prodigal, "Give me the portion that belongeth to me." They crave it, and they have it, but with a vengeance ( Munera magna quidem misit, sed misit in hamo), as the Israelites had quails to choke them, and afterwards a king to vex them, a table to be a snare to them, &c. By the way observe, that wicked men have a right to earthly things (a man must needs have some right to his portion; what Ananias had was his own while he had it, Acts 5:4), and it is a rigour to say, they are usurpers. As when the king gives a traitor his life, he gives him meat and drink that may maintain his life; so it is here; neither shall wicked men be called to account at the last day tbr possessing what they had, but for abusing that possession. As for the saints who are heirs of the world, with faithful Abraham, and have a double portion, even all the blessings of heaven and of earth, conferred upon them, though here they be held to strait allowance, let them live upon reversions, and consider that they have right to all, and shall one day have rule of all, Revelation 3:21 Mendicato pane hic vivamus, annon hoc pulchre sarcitur? &c. What though we here were to live upon alms, saith Luther, is there not a good amends made us, in that here we have Christ the bread of life in his ordinances, and shall hereafter have the full fruition of him in heaven?

(14) Of the world.—Literally, of time. Heb., cheled, “that which creeps on,” an expression anticipating the New Testament use of world. (Comp. Job 21:7-14.) Their portion in this life—contrasts with Psalms 16:5. Thy hid treasure.—That which thou hast stored up, which is sometimes in a good sense (Psalms 31:19; Proverbs 13:22), sometimes in a bad (Job 21:19). But ought we not to translate— “With thy treasure thou fillest their womb: They are full of children.” These two lines are thus in close parallelism, while the last clause of the verse, “and leave,” &c, answers to “which have their portion in this life.”

Verse 14. From men of the world, which have] ממתים מחלד mimethim mecheled, from mortal men of time; temporizers; men who shift with the times, who have no fixed principle but one, that of securing their own secular interest: and this agrees with what follows - which have their portion in this life; who never seek after any thing spiritual; who have bartered heaven for earth, and have got the portion they desired; for thou fillest their belly with thy hid treasure. Their belly - their sensual appetites - is their god; and, when their animal desires are satisfied, they take their rest without consideration, like the beasts that perish. Their portion in this life] בחיים bachaiyim, in lives, probably meaning heritable lands and estates; for they leave them to their children, they descend to posterity, and every one has his life portion in them. They are lands of lives. They are full of children] Have a numerous offspring, whom they educate in the same principles, and to whom they leave a large earthly patrimony, and who spend it as their fathers have done, and perhaps even more dissolutely. Often covetous fathers lay up riches, which profligate sons scatter to all the winds of heaven. I have seen many instances of this.

14. from men of the world] Men whose aims and pleasures belong to the ‘world that passeth away’: those who in N.T. language are ‘of the world’ (John 15:19), ‘sons of this age’ (Luke 16:8; Luke 20:34-35), ‘who mind earthly things’ (Philippians 3:19). They are further described as those whose portion is in [this] life. Jehovah Himself is the portion of the godly (Psalms 16:5); these men are content with a portion of material and transitory things. See Psalms 49:6 ff.; Psalms 73:3 ff.; Wis 2:6 ff. The sense is still better given by the rendering of R.V. marg., From men whose portion in life is of the world. God deals with them according to their own base desires. They care only for the satisfaction of their lower appetites (Philippians 3:19), and so He “who maketh His sun to rise on the evil and the good” fills their belly with His store of blessings, gratifies the animal part of their nature (Job 22:18; Luke 16:25). They are full of children] Better, They are satisfied with sons, the universal desire of men in Oriental countries being to see a family perpetuating their name (Job 21:8; Job 21:11); and leave their superabundance to their children; their prosperity continues through life, they have enough for themselves and to spare for their families.

From men which are thy hand - Margin, “From men by thy hand.” Here the rendering in the common version would be still more harsh than in the previous verse, since it is at least unusual to call men

14. Thy hand—By thy hand; same as by thy sword, Psalms 17:13. Men of the world—The word “world,” here, comes from the idea of time, duration, and means the passing world, this temporary state of things, same as áéùí.