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Psalms 50:12

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

The world is mine, and the fullness thereof - Ye cannot, therefore, give me any thing that is not my own.

Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

If I were hungry, I would not tell thee - I should not have occasion to apply to you; I should not be dependent on you.

For the world is mine - The earth; all that has been created.

And the fulness thereof - All that fills the world; all that exists upon it. The whole is at his disposal; to all that the earth produces he has a right. This language is used to show the absurdity of the supposition that he was in any way dependent on man, or that the offering of sacrifice could be supposed in any way to lay him under obligation.

Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary
To obey is better than sacrifice, and to love God and our neighbour better than all burnt-offerings. We are here warned not to rest in these performances. And let us beware of resting in any form. God demands the heart, and how can human inventions please him, when repentance, faith, and holiness are neglected? In the day of distress we must apply to the Lord by fervent prayer. Our troubles, though we see them coming from God's hand, must drive us to him, not drive us from him. We must acknowledge him in all our ways, depend upon his wisdom, power, and goodness, and refer ourselves wholly to him, and so give him glory. Thus must we keep up communion with God; meeting him with prayers under trials, and with praises in deliverances. A believing supplicant shall not only be graciously answered as to his petition, and so have cause for praising God, but shall also have grace to praise him.
Ellen G. White
The Acts of the Apostles, 337

By this system of benevolence the Lord sought to teach Israel that in everything He must be first. Thus they were reminded that God was the proprietor of their fields, their flocks, and their herds; that it was He who sent them the sunshine and the rain that developed and ripened the harvest. Everything that they possessed was His; they were but the stewards of His goods. AA 337.1

It is not God's purpose that Christians, whose privileges far exceed those of the Jewish nation, shall give less freely than they gave. “Unto whomsoever much is given,” the Saviour declared, “of him shall be much required.” Luke 12:48. The liberality required of the Hebrews was largely to benefit their own nation; today the work of God extends over all the earth. In the hands of His followers, Christ has placed the treasures of the gospel, and upon them He has laid the responsibility of giving the glad tidings of salvation to the world. Surely our obligations are much greater than were those of ancient Israel. AA 337.2

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Ellen G. White
Christian Service, 168

The Lord still moves upon the hearts of kings and rulers in behalf of His people. Those who are laboring for Him are to avail themselves of the help that He prompts men to give for the advancement of His cause. The agents through whom these gifts come, may open ways by which the light of truth shall be given to many benighted lands. These men may have no sympathy with God's work, no faith in Christ, no acquaintance with His word; but their gifts are not on this account to be refused.—The Southern Watchman, March 15, 1904. ChS 168.1

The Lord has placed His goods in the hands of unbelievers as well as believers; all may return to Him His own for the doing of the work that must be done for a fallen world. As long as we are in this world, as long as the Spirit of God strives with the children of men, so long are we to receive favors as well as to impart them. We are to give to the world the light of truth, as revealed in the Scriptures; and we are to receive from the world that which God moves upon them to give in behalf of His cause.—The Southern Watchman, March 15, 1904. ChS 168.2

Although now almost wholly in the possession of wicked men, all the world, with its riches and treasures, belongs to God. “The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof.” “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, saith the Lord of hosts.” “Every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains; and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; for the world is Mine, and the fulness thereof.” O that Christians might realize more and still more fully that it is their privilege and their duty, while cherishing right principles, to take advantage of every heaven-sent opportunity for advancing God's kingdom in this world.—The Southern Watchman, March 15, 1904. ChS 168.3

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Ellen G. White
Counsels on Stewardship, 72

God has laid His hand upon all things, both man and his possessions; for all belong to Him. He says, I am the owner of the world; the universe is Mine, and I require you to consecrate to My service the first fruits of all that I, through My blessing, have caused to come into your hands. God's word declares, “Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits.” “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase.” This tribute He demands as a token of our loyalty to Him. CS 72.1

We belong to God; we are His sons and daughters,—His by creation, and His by the gift of His only-begotten Son for our redemption. “Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” The mind, the heart, the will, and the affections belong to God; the money that we handle is the Lord's. Every good that we receive and enjoy is the result of divine benevolence. God is the bountiful giver of all good, and He desires that there shall be an acknowledgment, on the part of the receiver, of these gifts that provide for every necessity of the body and the soul. God demands only His own. The primary portion is the Lord's, and must be used as His entrusted treasure. The heart that is divested of selfishness will awaken to a sense of God's goodness and love, and be moved to a hearty acknowledgment of His righteous requirements.—The Review and Herald, December 8, 1896. CS 72.2

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Ellen G. White
Counsels on Stewardship, 303

There were but very few of us to carry forward the work at first, and it was very necessary for us to be of one mind in order to have the work advance with order and uniformity. When we saw the importance of being in the unity of faith, our prayers were answered, and Christ's prayer was answered that we should be one as He was one with the Father. We were as destitute of means as you are here in these kingdoms, [Written in Europe.] and we frequently went hungry, and suffered from cold for want of proper clothing. But we saw that the truth must advance, and we must have means to carry it forward. We then sought the Lord most earnestly that he would open ways that we might reach the people in the different cities and towns, and my husband and myself would have to work with our hands to get means to carry us from place to place, to open the treasures of faith to others. We could see that the Lord of heaven was preparing the way before us in the work. CS 303.1

My husband has worked at handling stone till the skin was worn from his fingers, and the blood started from the wounds, that he might get means to carry him from place to place to speak to the people the words of truth. This is the way the work went in the beginning, and our petitions must now ascend to the God of heaven as they did then, that He will open the way, and the truth find access to hearts. The gold and the silver are the Lord's. The cattle upon the thousand hills are His; but He wants you to move forward in faith just as far and as fast as you can. The Lord's blessing will rest upon those who do to the very best of their ability.... CS 303.2

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Ellen G. White
The Desire of Ages, 434

If Jesus had paid the tribute without a protest, He would virtually have acknowledged the justice of the claim, and would thus have denied His divinity. But while He saw good to meet the demand, He denied the claim upon which it was based. In providing for the payment of the tribute He gave evidence of His divine character. It was made manifest that He was one with God, and therefore was not under tribute as a mere subject of the kingdom. DA 434.1

“Go thou to the sea,” He directed Peter, “and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for Me and thee.” DA 434.2

Though He had clothed His divinity with humanity, in this miracle He revealed His glory. It was evident that this was He who through David had declared, “Every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains; and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof.” Psalm 50:10-12. DA 434.3

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