15Eyes of all upon You wait and
One giving to them their food in its time.
16One opening Your hand and One
satisfying a desire to all of living.
My fairly literal translation is pretty rough. I grew up on
the KJV, so, with a little modernizing, it comes out:
“The eyes of all wait upon You, O
LORD, and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand and satisfy
the desires of every living thing.”
These two simple little verses have been holding me in
amazement. I have repeated to myself for years those words, “You open Your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” Every time we sit down to eat,
it is the Lord who has actually provided the food. That is why we thank Him for
it. I would suggest it is even some sort of a step of Christian growth to really
realize that, to really believe it, and to learn to be grateful to Him for it.
However, it has never really struck me – “every living thing.” “The eyes of all wait upon You.” What does the rest
of the Bible teach us? “Look at the birds of the air; they do
not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them… See how
the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his
splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field…” (Matt.5:26-30).
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to
the ground outside your Father's care” (Matt. 10:29).
Notice carefully, “your heavenly Father
feeds them” and “how God clothes the grass of the field.” Notice that “not one”
sparrow “will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.” I could multiply
other verses, but the Bible would have us know that it is God Himself who feeds
birds and dresses flowers. Our God is aware of every single sparrow. “Every living thing!”
I have never really seen before this picture
that the Lord is intimately aware of every living thing and carefully watching
over them. He feeds them, He clothes them, He knows when they fall! That means
that every second of every day, in His amazing infinity, He is aware of the
needs of every living thing in our universe and lovingly caring for them –
every single one, whether they are people or kangaroos or amoebas. Every living
thing. Every single being to whom He has given life, He is watching over like a
gardener tending to his plants.
He is so great, He can give to each one
complete and total personal attention, even while doing the same for all
others! The thought of it is completely mind-boggling. Of course He can do it –
He’s God!
I guess I’ve always thought of it as if He
set all of this in motion and it just happens. What is mean is like bacteria
are constantly eating each other and multiplying. Certainly I have believed that
God is aware of such things. Nothing escapes His omniscient, all seeing Eyes. Of
course. I guess I just didn’t think He needed to be like personally involved in
it. Yet that is exactly what the Bible would teach us. He is intimately
involved with and watching over every single living thing in all the universe!
What we learn is that He is a faithful
Creator! It is of course Him who gives life to every living thing. I’m sure we
all believe that. But we must then realize that, having given them life, He
goes on intimately concerned about each one!
I should insert that, obviously He allows
them to die, He allows them to eat each other, He allows humans to be very
cruel to each other and to animals, to get sick, to get hurt, to die. Someone
may object, “That isn’t very loving, is it?” But of course that is very, very
short-sighted. We live in a fallen world. We’re the ones who brought death and
misery into this world, not God. What we must believe is that He is very
lovingly, very kindly providing us with the very best possible care He can give
– in our fallen world. And what is the greatest reproof to this objection? What
does He give us when there is no sin? Heaven. Absolute, total, endless bliss in
a world of gold streets and perfect peace. You see, He is quite capable of providing
that for us now, but again, it’s our fault, not His, that our world is a place
of pain and brokenness.
Back to His amazingness!
It is mind-boggling to think He cares for me
like that – that He is intimately, personally, constantly hovering over me, so
to speak, watching my every move, aware of my every need and desire – that He
is doing it because that is who He is – the faithful Creator who guards over
His every single creation, big or small.
While realizing this amazingness, I’ve also
been pondering how this explains many things. This is precisely why each of us
as parents has this driving compulsion in us to care for our children. Any
decent person who has ever been a parent knows exactly what I’m talking about. Once
a child is ours, our souls literally rise and fall on their happiness. Why is
that? It is God-likeness! We are made in His image and so we automatically care
intimately about our children – just like Him!
It is one of the pains of being the parent
of an adult child – that I no longer can be the one “caring” for them. I see
their needs. I see them hurting, doing without, suffering one way or another,
and it just about kills me. With a small touch of God’s wisdom, I know most of
the time I just have to let it go. I need to let them live their own lives.
Even if I tried, I can’t fix their every trouble. But it still hurts. Now I
really know why.
The same is true of plants and pets.
Somewhere in Proverbs it says, “A good man is kind to his animals.” Why is
that? Because they have come under his care and now, like God, he has this
thing going on inside him that he doesn’t want them to suffer. He wants them to
be happy and comfortable. Same with plants. There is a strange joy and
satisfaction in planting something, watching it grow, tilling it, caring for
it, and seeing it prosper. Actually it isn’t “strange” at all. It is God-likeness!
The person who finds themselves “fussing” over their plants isn’t being “weird.”
They’re being God-like.
This also only reinforces something I’ve
been saying for years: “If you were the only person who ever lived, Jesus would
still go to the Cross for you.” Yes, He would. Because that is who He is. He cares
personally and intimately for every, single living thing He created. He cares
for you just as if you were the only person who ever lived! No wonder it’s
true that He died “not only for our sins, but also for the sins of all the
world!”
What a completely amazing God He is!
I keep studying and He keeps amazing me.
May I be even more aware every day that it
is Him who feeds and clothes me and gives me air to breathe. May I allow His
faithful, caring heart to become mine too – that I might see others through His
personal, intimate loving concern. I obviously can’t do what He does. I can’t
care simultaneously for every living thing in an entire universe. But maybe I
can learn to more genuinely care for those I can.
Wow. Infinite, caring concern.
“The eyes of all
wait
upon You,
O LORD,
and You give them their food in due season.
You open
Your hand
and satisfy
the desires
of every
living thing.”
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