Thursday, August 31st, 2023
Today, I am going to briefly break down two scriptures from Psalms. As I was reading this Psalms the other day I paused on these scriptures and just kept reading them over and over as I wrestled with them. It’s one of those passages that sounds beautiful, but our finite minds and our earthly experiences tend to hinder us from having full faith in its promises. Here is Psalms 145:15-16 in the King James Version (KJV):
15 The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. 16 Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
I am in no way trying to minimize the rest of the Bible, but if we could live out these scriptures in full faith wouldn’t that be enough for any situation on this unsanctified soil? To keep our eyes on God and trust Him for everything we need or desire really encapsulates the simplicity of what God asks for from us. Let’s look a little closer at these scriptures in the original Hebrew language. According to Strong’s the word “wait” means: to expect (with hope and patience). When it says we wait upon God it doesn’t mean we are anxiously pacing around hoping God doesn’t let us down. It means we expect him to provide, and we will wait in full hope until he does. The word hand means: a hand (the open one [indicating power, means, direction, etc.]). I love this picture. There is another Hebrew word for hand that means a closed hand, but this one is not that. This specifically means the hand that is open and ready to provide power and direction. The word satisfiest means: to fill to satisfaction. I know it sounds pretty redundant, but the words “to fill” are of added significance. God isn’t just satisfying a few of our needs and desires or even mostly satisfying them; He is truly filling them to their capacity so that there is no room left in that vessel. The last word I want to look at is desire. In Strong’s this is: goodwill, favor, benefits. There is another scripture that the Lexicon references that also uses this same Hebrew word and I think it helps to clarify this word “desire”. In Deuteronomy 33:23 it’s the word favour. Here is the full scripture in KJV:
23 And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the Lord: possess thou the west and the south.
I love the phrase, “satisfied with favour and full with the blessing of the Lord”. I think this perfectly summarizes the word “desire” in Psalms 145:16. As I read these scriptures, God is speaking to me and saying, “Satisfying your desires doesn’t mean everything will look the way your temporal eyes expect. What if I didn’t satisfy a specific desire in an exact way you thought I should? What if my goodwill and favor provided something that went even deeper and left you longing for nothing more than Me?” I want to be careful here not to turn on the name-it-and-claim-it wheel. This is not a scripture about a vending machine God who provides any material thing we went when we ask for it. Instead, the scripture says His open hand uses all power, means and direction to fill us to satisfaction. In Isaiah 55:8 it says:
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
Final Thoughts…
We have to give God the opportunity to meet our desires in a way that doesn’t look like what we think it should. It’s not because he wants to give us a cheaper, slightly used version of what we want. It’s always because He has something better that will be more beneficial in the long run or it will also fill us in some other area at the same time. Let’s give this scripture a place in our hearts and minds today. When the enemy whispers in our ear and says we will never have all we need or desire remind him that God opens His hand, the one that owns it all, and fills us to satisfaction. When the enemy lies and tells us we will miss out on some thing or some opportunity declare out lout to him that we will wait with hopeful expectation on God because He knows just when to open the door. When the enemy tells you that you are not worthy of the favor of God, shout these scriptures as loud as you need to until he can’t bear to hear it anymore. As children of the King, we are sons and daughters of the one that created it all and can use it all for our good. This isn’t just something He does some of the time or even most of the time. Every single time He touches something He leaves it in a better state than it was. We cannot even see all the ways He accomplishes this, but He does and He will continue to do so for the rest of eternity. That’s worth resting in, standing on and warring for.