God's inheritance in all nations.
Bishop Perowne translates this, "For thou hast all the nations for thine inheritance." Bishop Wordsworth says, "All nations are thine inheritance. Thou gavest a special inheritance to Israel; but all lands are thy Canaan, and all will be judged by thee." The term "inheritance" is used in a somewhat unusual way, and what we regard as its precise meaning is not to be pressed. The idea in the mind of the psalmist was that God is the rightful Sovereign of the whole earth, and therefore he may be asked personally to correct the evils of his representatives. An "inheritance" is here viewed as something which comes to a man, and is absolutely his, over which he has entire control. Israel was God's inheritance because entirely in his control. But those called gods, judges, princes, had nothing that was theirs in any such sense. But every land and every people is, in this way, God's inheritance. And when the subordinate servants fail anywhere, appeal can be made to the absolute Ruler and Judge. Aglen puts the point of the verse in this way: "It is as if, despairing of the amending of the corrupt magistrates, the poet, pleading for Israel, takes his case out of their hands, as Cranmer in the play takes his case out of the hands of the council, and entrusts it to the great Judge of the world, to whom, as a special inheritance, Israel belonged, but who was also to show his claim to the submission and obedience of all nations." The point to work out is this—when we are troubled by thoughts of the injustice and untrustworthiness of men in whom we ought to be able to confide, we may find consolation in large comprehensive views of the supremacy of God—our God—over all the earth. In this way we get helpful impressions of—
I. GOD'S EXPERIENCE. These failures that surprise and alarm us are no surprise to the God of the whole earth. He has had to deal with such things and such people over and over again. He knows how to deal with such cases.
II. GOD'S INTERVENTION. When we see God as having all nations for his inheritance, we realize that he must, through long ages, and he must still, be constantly engaged in righting things; holily interfering with wilful men, putting confused things straight. Then we are reassured. He can put right what perplexes us.—R.T.