All of your works will thank you, Lord, and your faithful followers will praise you. They will speak of the glory of your kingdom; they will give examples of your power. They will tell about your mighty deeds and about the majesty and glory of your reign. For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations. The Lord always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does. The Lord helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads. The eyes of all look to you in hope; you give them their food as they need it. When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing. – Psalm 145:10-16 (NLT)
When I hear the word “needy”, I think of my cat, Hemingway.
My orange-and-white ball of fur embodies the idea of neediness in every way. Every morning around 6am, he wakes me up by licking my arm. If I don’t respond right away, his licks get more frantic and the meowing begins. If I ignore him still, he’ll lick my face (which I hate). Inevitably, I get out of bed, crack open a fresh can of cat food and refill his water bowl. If he runs out of food during the middle of the day, he hops in my lap, put his nose close to mine, cocks his head to one side and gently touches my face with his paw until I give him more food. Talk about needy!
As consistent and reliable as I am in supplying the needs of my cat now, there is no guarantee that I’ll always be able to do so. I may become sick or financially unable to provide him with what he needs. But we don’t have to worry about that with God.
Verses 15 reminds us that God always give us what we need in His perfect timing: “You give them their food as they need it.” The Treasury of David Commentary describes it this way:
Like a flock of sheep the creatures stand around the Lord as their great Shepherd; all eyes are to his hand expecting to receive their food; nor are they disappointed, for when the hour comes suitable provender is ready for each creature. Observe the punctuality of the Lord in giving food at meal-time, – in the season when it is due. This he does for all, and each living thing has its own season, so that the Lord of heaven is feeding his great flock both by day and by night, during every moment of time.
Our distress comes when we confuse our wants with our needs. Or when we feel like our needs are not being met according to our timetable. Like my cat does to me, we may paw at God when it appears He has delayed in meeting our needs. We get more and more insistent as time goes on.
But verse 16 tells us that God always satisfies our hunger and thirst. We don’t need to worry that He’s forgotten us or that He’s late. He’s on His way with whatever we need for the survival of our soul, and we will be satisfied.
Image courtesy of UnSplash.
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