By Your hand, O Lord, save me from men, from the men of this world, whose portion is in this life. You fill their belly with Your treasures. their sons also are satisfied, and they leave what remains to their children.
David describes people whose entire hope and portion are limited to this life. They may have material abundance, be satisfied, provide for their family, and even leave an inheritance to their children. The verse does not teach that wealth itself is sin. Even the good things they have ultimately come from God’s providence. The problem is that they find all their satisfaction and hope only in the goods of this world and seek nothing beyond it. A person can have much in this life and at the same time remain deprived of eternal blessings. The believer’s main portion is not the goods of this world; his chief treasure is the Lord Himself. Therefore he receives temporary goods with gratitude, but does not make them his final security and hope. Leaving a material inheritance to one’s family can be a good deed, but more valuable than that is to pass on the inheritance and personal example of knowing God, trusting Him, and living in righteousness. If a person’s whole life is limited only to possessions, worldly achievements, and the pleasures of this life, then even the greatest abundance cannot be compared with the eternal good that a person finds in God. However great temporary goods may be, they are immeasurably small in comparison with the eternal.