Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Mga Awit 119:14

With these words Solomon warned us to display faith in the Lord and in His ability and willingness to provide our needs for us. The practical way of demonstrating this faith is the setting aside of a portion of our harvests for the Lord or those whom he has appointed to be the recipient of these “gifts.” One should not begrudge the money or food given to the poor and destitute seeing in them something that impoverishes the giver. On the contrary, one should view such gifts as insuring that one will continue to be the beneficiary of G’d’s bounty. Solomon spells this out even more clearly in Proverbs 28,27 where we read: ”He who gives to the poor will not be in need.” We must truly believe that G’d will add to our resources as a result of our demonstrating this faith by sharing what we have with others. This is the meaning of Proverbs 11,24: יש מפזר ונוסף עוד, “one man gives generously (appears to waste) and winds up with more.” Solomon also said (Proverbs 10,2) ”the treasures of wickedness are useless; whereas charity saves from death.” The author of Proverbs means that the excess accumulated by means of robbery and extortion will prove ineffectual, whereas the very giving up of part of one’s fortune to assist the poor and needy is what will prove effective in determining the individual’s fate, so much so that it may save the donor from what otherwise would have been certain death.
Our sages in Ketuvot 66 phrase it thus: מלח ממון חסר, “if someone wants to treat money as if it were salt, i.e. enduring forever, he will find that it decreases.” Others quote the proverb as ממון מלח חסד, “if someone wants his money to endure as does salt, he should use it to perform acts of loving kindness(with it).” Seeing that this is so it behooves a person to spend his money (part of it) on the performance of commandments which involve expense, especially the commandment to give charity. He who gives to the poor in fact gives to the Almighty. [I suppose the meaning is that thereby G’d will not have to trouble Himself to sustain that poor person. Ed]. Similarly, he who donates money for sacred purposes such as the Temple, etc., is only giving to G’d what belongs to G’d in the first place. David spelled this out in Chronicles I 29,14 when he said: “for everything emanated from You and that which comes from Your hand we have given to You.” All of these considerations prompted Solomon to say in the verse quoted above: “honour the Lord with your wealth.”
The expression הון used by Solomon includes all kinds of things which a person accumulates in order to keep and preserve them. The word is derived from Psalms 119,14: כעל כל הון, “as over all riches.” Other examples of the word in the Bible occur in Proverbs 30,16 ואש לא אמרה הון, “and the fire never says ‘enough’”. Fire’s appetite to devour things is never satisfied. As long as an object subject to burning is available fire is anxious to devour it.
According to a Midrashic explanation found in the Midrash Mishley on our verse, the word “fire” here refers to the fires of hell and Solomon means that there is no end to the sufferings which people who are in Gehinom have to endure. It would seem that the two verses quoted at the introduction to our Parshah both describe the need to be generous with one’s wealth in order to avoid paying for one’s miserliness by undergoing the afflictions of Gehinom. It is in order to “put G’d to the test” by fulfilling the obligation to be charitable, to give away some of one’s accumulated wealth in order to see whether indeed G’d will compensate one for doing so. This is why Solomon added at the outset: “so that the Lord will fill your barns with plenty.” The word וימלאו, “and they will be filled,” is to be understood as the result of one’s fulfilling the first half of verse 9, i.e. to honour the Lord from one’s wealth. The words: “and your vats will overflow with new wine,” are in response to the words: “from the first fruits of all your harvests” in verse 9 of that chapter. This is also why the Torah refers to “the harvest of the vineyard” in Deuteronomy 22,9.
Concerning the giving of tithes, the prophet Maleachi 3,10 has stated that if someone were to test the Lord (His promises and if they come true), the only way he is allowed to do this is by means of performing the commandment of giving charity and observing if G’d indeed will enrich him thereby rather than make him poorer. The prophet describes this as an exception to the general rule not to put G’d to the test by saying: “I will perform a certain commandment in order to be enriched materially by the reward.” Compare Deut. 6.16: “you must not put the Lord to the test.” Our sages in Taanit 9,1 have stated that the verse quoted from Malachi represents the single and solitary exception to the prohibition spelled out in Deut. 6,16. They understand the prophet’s words: “bring your tithes, etc.,” as almost an invitation to prove that G’d does reward those who diminish their wealth by sharing the harvest with the poor, as resulting in an addition to those people’s material possessions forthwith. When Solomon spoke about the positive results accruing to the individual who honours the Lord from his wealth, he too meant this not as something given on condition that G’d would reward the individual forthwith but as a statement of fact, of what would ensue as a result of such conduct by those individuals. This is why he did not preface his comments with the words: “if you do such and such.” Basically, the lesson is that although putting the Lord to the test is forbidden, the subject of tithing is an exception to this rule.

אשר אנכי מצוך היום לעשותם, “which I command you this day to perform.” Our sages in Eiruvin 22 use the superfluous word “this day,” to teach that whereas performance of the commandments is incumbent upon us “this day,” G’d does not promise that the reward will also be paid immediately, i.e. “this day.” Basically, our terrestrial world is perceived a the עולם העשיה, the world of “action,” as opposed to being the period in which one enjoys the reward for one’s actions. Solomon already alluded to this when he said in Kohelet 9,10: “for there is no action, no reasoning, no learning no wisdom in Sheol, where you are going.” His message is that it is too late to rectify after death what one has failed to rectify while alive. Once one has died one has forfeited all one’s former potential. This is why one has to perform all the good one can while on this earth and capable of exercising one’s faculties. This is what Solomon had said in the first half of the verse we just quoted, where we read: “whatever it is in your power to do, do with all your might.”
Our sages in Avodah Zarah 3 have paraphrased this thought when they said that he who labors on the Sabbath eve will have what to eat on the Sabbath, When will the one who did not trouble himself on Sabbath eve have food to eat on the Sabbath? All these considerations commit each one of us to spend as much effort to perform a so-called מצוה קלה, an easy commandment, or one that appears capable of fulfilling with little effort as that which requires great efforts on our part. We do not know which mitzvah will be rewarded more greatly. G’d did not take us into His confidence [else nobody would perform the מצות קלות.] Our sages in Avot 2,1 spelled this out quite clearly. We must not commit the error of applying our yardsticks to G’d’s thinking and deciding what in His view deserves a great deal of reward and what does not. In referring to the inadequacy of our intellect, Solomon writes in Proverbs 5,6: “she does not chart a path of life, her ways are unstable; you do not know them.” We must not overestimate the reliability of the conclusions we draw about what is good and bad by second-guessing G’d. David had a similar message in Psalms 119,14 and 16: by emphasizing the positive, i.e. the delight of accepting G’d’s law, His teaching in preference to all riches available on this earth.