These all look unto thee, that thou mayest give their food in its season
Psalm 104 walks through the whole created world — light, water, mountains, grass, birds, sun and moon, and the sea. At verse 27 it draws all of them into one shared habit: every living thing looks upward for its next meal. So who feeds the world, and what does that say about the God who made it?
Verse 27 sits inside a psalm with one subject. One writer sets it beside the psalm just before it.
Psalm 103 reviews God's moral dealings with the people. Psalm 104 reviews His dealings with creation, celebrating Jehovah, the God of Israel, in connection with creation.
Just before verse 27 the psalm moves from sea creatures to the ships crossing the water. Even those, one writer notes, live on the same care.
Even the ships, for the purposes of those concerned (and how wide these interests are all over the world!), were as dependent on God's care as any of the objects this Psalm looks at. It takes in the heavens and the earth, the mountains, the valleys, the springs, the grass … the birds and the wild goats, the sun and the moon, the king of wild beasts and the king of creation, before the great and wide sea comes before us.
The food comes in season, matched to need. One writer weighs what a single day of that costs in the sea alone.
The creatures He has made, whether on earth or in the sea, depend on Him for their food. How much food do all the creatures of the sea need for even one day? But God supplies their needs and they have no lack.
The "all" includes animals that live by killing other animals. One writer draws this out in his notes on the book of Job, where Job was feeling Satan's attacks.
What a state man would be in if he had to provide food for even one class of these creatures for a single day. Only of God can it be said, "These all look to you, to give them their food in due season"... God not only tolerates but cares for these creatures which prey on others. They are part of His wise plan — once put under man's hand and subject to him, but now turned against him as enemies. So Satan, whose attacks Job was feeling, was only the creature of God's will. Even his hostility worked out God's purposes.
The looking described here never stops, because the need never stops.
The sun is always pouring out its abundance of light and heat and fruit-producing power. Just so our Sun pours out to His creatures... We easily forget that every living creature depends on Him for its existence during every moment of its life.
That includes the reader, and it turns an ordinary meal into evidence.
Every mouthful we eat declares our dependence on God, and should humble us before Him. We could not live without His provision for our daily needs. Knowing this would keep us from independence of God and from uncontrolled appetites. It would keep us thankful to Him every day of our lives.
The psalm was not written about a perfect world.
The true God gives to all life and breath and all things. Even in a ruined world this active goodness went out to all alike... What a comment Psalm 104 is on God's sustaining goodness!
A hungry crowd once sat on the ground and watched Jesus take the loaves in His hands.
All the people would know that their food was coming to them from His hand. Would David's song of praise have occurred to any of them? "The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing" (Ps. 145:15-16; also Ps. 104:27).
- Look — Everything alive looks upward for food. Each creature depends on Him for its existence in every moment of its life.
- Season — The food comes on time, in its season. Feeding the sea's creatures for one day is beyond us. God does it, and they lack nothing.
- Reach — "These all" covers sun and moon, birds, wild goats and sea life. Even the ships depend on God's care.
- Wisdom — God feeds the hunters too. They are part of a wise plan in which even a hostile power serves His purposes.
- Response — Every mouthful declares our dependence. It should humble us, curb our appetites, and keep us thankful — and Christ showed that open hand when He fed the crowd.
That thou givest unto them, they gather; thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good.
Psalm 104 sings its way through the whole of creation — light, waters, mountains, grass, lions, the sea. Here every living thing takes its food straight from God's open hand — so who really feeds the world?
One writer sets this psalm beside the account in Genesis 1:
In Genesis 1 we have the record of creation; in this psalm the song of creation. The psalm in its main outline follows the story of creation. The record shows creation at its beginning. The song shows creation in its present life and activity.
Every verb in verse 28 is present tense — You give, they gather, You open. One writer makes the same point about the whole psalm:
The psalmist does not think of the Creator only in His past work as the Originator of all, but in His present work as the Sustainer of His creation. So the psalmist says that God sends the springs. He does not mean only that God sent them in the past; He sends them now. The psalmist also says that God waters the hills and makes the grass grow. It is the present sustaining mercy of the Creator that fills the soul with praise.
"They gather" describes creatures with no stores of their own. They live on what God hands out. One writer finds a picture of this constant giving in the sun:
The sun is always giving out its abundance of light and heat and power to make things grow. Our Sun gives to His creatures in just the same way. … We are apt to forget that every living creature depends on Him for its existence during every moment of its life.
Notice which creatures God feeds, and then imagine taking the job over yourself:
Beasts and birds of prey might seem worthless, or even harmful, and yet He cares for them with unerring wisdom. Shall He fail to watch over His child who knows and trusts Him? … Think of the confusion man would face if he had to provide food, for a single day, for even one class of these creatures. Only of God is it true: "These all look to you, to give them their food in due season." And again: "The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God." … God not only tolerates, but cares for these creatures which prey upon others.
The hand stays open even where sin has done its damage, and it does not sort the deserving from the undeserving:
The true God gives to all life and breath and all things. Even in a ruined world this active goodness went out to all alike. … What a comment Psalm 104 is on God's sustaining goodness!
The same hand feeds us. One writer turns that into a daily habit of mind:
God knows our needs. He is a faithful Creator and He remembers how He has fashioned us. He has given us bodies. They need food, and He has provided it. Every mouthful we eat declares our dependence upon God, and should humble us before Him. We could not live without His provision for our daily needs. Knowing this would keep us from living as though we did not need God. It would guard us from unrestrained appetites and keep us thankful to Him every day of our lives.
Commentators say this is true now, but not yet seen in full:
This psalm expands on Psalm 103, emphasising the great power of God in all creation. Of course this is true now. But in the millennium it will be shown much more fully to all mankind. By then they will have learned to give God His place of infinite majesty.
Another writer points to what stands in the way, and to what must change first:
Men have worshipped the creature more than the Creator. They still refuse to look at the works of their own hands with willing reference to God. They refuse in the same way to look at the great features of the natural world, and at the secrets of her wealth they can reach. Only when Satan is bound will they willingly own Him as the one Possessor of wisdom and power.
- One hand. The psalm sings of a Creator who still opens His hand today. He does not only make; He sustains.
- Open hand. Creatures earn nothing and seize nothing. They gather what God hands out, depending on Him every moment of their lives.
- Wide hand. The supply reaches every class of creature, predators included. No man could manage it for even a single day.
- Generous hand. Even in a ruined world the giving continues, and it goes out to all alike. It is a standing witness to God's sustaining goodness.
- Your hand receives. Every mouthful you eat comes from that same hand. That should keep you humble, thankful, and glad to depend on God.