The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their food in its season.
Psalm 145 praises God as King. Verse 15 turns the whole creation into one upward look: every eye lifted, waiting for food from a hand that never closes. It raises two questions. Why does God feed "in due season" and not at once, and whose eyes are these?
The verse describes something happening right now, at every moment. One writer compares God to the sun, which never stops pouring out light and heat.
The sun is always giving forth its abundance of light and heat and fruit-producing power. Our Sun gives out to His creatures in just the same way. "You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing." We easily forget that every living creature depends on Him for its existence at every moment of its life.
The reach of "all" goes past people. The next verse names who eats. God "opens His hand to satisfy the desire of every living thing, which of course means humans, animals, birds, fish and insects" (L M Grant).
The verse just before speaks of God upholding those who fall. The waiting eyes here belong to those same creatures.
By the power of that covenant name, Jehovah upholds all who fall. He raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all His creatures wait on Him, dependent for the food that keeps their existence going. So He provides for the satisfaction and desire of every living thing.
The promise is not a full storehouse but food at the right time. Being helpless is no barrier to it.
Since God is both powerful and gracious, He uses this power and grace to uphold, raise up and restore those who fall and are bowed down (v. 14). So all who look to Him in hope will find Him faithful, however helpless they are in themselves. He provides their food at the time of need (v. 15).
One writer reads this psalm as a song of the coming kingdom. He sets that day against today.
Now it is the witness of the Spirit that "no one understands; no one seeks for God" (Rom. 3:11), but the eyes of all will wait on Him when the glorious majesty of His kingdom has become a visible truth (verse 15). His sun does indeed shine now on the just and the unjust alike… But then men will know their Keeper and their Blesser. They will lean on their Maker. The living God will be the satisfying portion of every living thing (verse 16).
Jesus once fed a crowd on a hillside. He told the people to sit down, then took the loaves in His own hands.
After He Himself had told the people to sit down on the ground… the Lord took the loaves in His hands. Now every eye would fasten on Him. 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? "Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom… 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. 145:13-16).
If the verse is true, then eating is never a neutral act.
God knows our needs. He is a faithful Creator and He remembers how He has made us. He has given us bodies that need food, and He has provided it. 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.
- Dependence — Every living creature relies on God for its life, moment by moment.
- Waiting — The upward look belongs to those who fall and cannot rise. Helplessness does not shut you out of this table. It is why you are at it.
- Season — God supplies at the time of need, not before it. He proves His faithfulness in the timing, not in a full storehouse.
- Reach — Humans, animals, birds, fish and insects eat from the same open hand. "All" leaves out nothing that lives.
- Result — Today most eyes look elsewhere. In God's kingdom every eye will look up, and every living thing will find Him its satisfying portion. So let each mouthful now humble you and make you thankful.
Thou openest thy hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
At the centre of David's psalm of praise stands one picture: God's hand opening. The promise attached to it is wide. It covers not just His people, but everything alive. How far does that reach today, and what will it look like when His kingdom fills the earth?
The open hand belongs to a portrait of the King. One writer takes verses 13 to 20 as the third part of the psalm, and sets this kingdom against every other:
Thirdly the psalmist celebrates the glory and blessedness of the kingdom of the Lord. The kingdoms of men pass away, and while they last they show earthly pride and power used just as the ruler pleases. This kingdom, by contrast, is an everlasting kingdom, marked by the grace of the Lord who stoops down. He lifts up the fallen, raises the crushed, and provides for the need of every living thing. He listens to the cry of all who call on Him. He fulfils the desire of those who fear Him, and preserves all who love Him, but deals in judgment with those who oppose Him.
Later in the psalm God fulfils the desire of those who fear Him. Here the desire belongs to everything alive. One writer takes that at face value, and looks ahead to the day when the earth overflows:
That coming day will show it most plainly: God opens His hand to satisfy the desire of every living thing. That of course means humans, animals, birds, fish and insects (v. 16). So the millennium will overflow with abundance. And God will not set righteousness aside when He meets His creatures' needs, though they do not deserve such care. For the cross of Christ has wonderfully established His righteousness, joined to the grace of His great heart.
Another writer looks back at the two verses before this one, and finds the covenant name of God behind the whole scene:
So it is Jehovah, in the power of that covenant name, who upholds all who fall. He raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all His creatures wait on Him, since they depend on Him for the food that keeps them alive. So He provides for the satisfaction and desire of every living thing.
The supply is so steady that we stop noticing it. One writer names what we overlook:
The sun is always pouring out its abundance of light and heat and power to make things grow. Our Sun gives to His creatures in just the same way. "You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing." We easily forget that every living creature depends on Him for its existence at every moment of its life.
The manna — the bread that fed Israel in the desert — looks like the greater miracle. One writer weighs it against the daily work of the open hand:
Was the manna really more than His feeding all His creatures every day and every hour? "You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing." The Creator's stores are so vast, and in His providence He meets the creature's need so easily. But the Father's name carries far deeper wonders. That name reveals all the riches of grace. "My Father gives you the true bread from heaven."
The Lord showed that same hand when He fed the crowd with the loaves. One writer notes what everyone there could see: "All the people would know that their food was coming to them from His hand" (The Bible Treasury).
Today God's gifts arrive and few people name the Giver. One writer marks the coming change: not a bigger supply, but people who know where it comes from:
Today His sun shines on the just and the unjust alike... But then people will know their Keeper and their Blesser. They will rest on their Maker. The living God will be the satisfying portion of every living thing (verse 16).
One writer finds a privilege here for God's people:
He delights to meet the need of all. He opens His hand, and satisfies the desire of every living thing. And more than that, it is His joy to make His people the channel of His heart. Through them His grace, His kindness and His sympathy flow out to all. How precious this is! What a privilege to hand out His gifts, and to show what His goodness is like!
- The hand opens — here is a King whose kingdom never ends. His grace lifts the fallen and feeds the crushed, unlike the proud kingdoms of men that pass away.
- The hand reaches all — people, animals, birds, fish, insects. Every creature waits on Him for the food that keeps it alive.
- The hand never closes — every creature depends on Him at every moment. The supply is so steady that we forget it.
- The hand holds more — feeding every creature every hour is a greater work than the manna. Greater still is the Father's gift of the true bread from heaven.
- The hand shares its work — He makes His people the channel of His kindness, so that His open hand shows in theirs.