Psa 104:27-29 | TDavid | STEP | EXPOSITION Verse 27 . These wait all upon thee. They come around thee as fowls around the farmer's door at the time for feeding, and look up with expectation. Men or marmots, eagles or emmets, whales or minnows, they alike rely upon thy care. That thou mayest give them meat in due season; that is to say, when they need it and when it is ready for them. God has a time for all things, and does not feed his creatures by fits and starts; he gives them daily bread, and a quantity proportioned to their needs. This is all that any of us should expect; if even the brute creatures are content with a sufficiency we ought not to be more greedy than they. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Verse 27 . -- There are five things to be observed in God's sustaining all animals . His power, which alone suffices for all: "These wait all upon thee." Wisdom, which selects a fitting time: "That thou mayest give them their meat in due season." His majesty rising above all: "That thou givest them they gather," like the crumbs falling from the table of their supreme Lord. His liberality, which retains nothing in his open hand that it does not give: "Thou openest thine hand." His original goodness that flows down to all: "They are filled with good," that is, with the good things that spring from thy goodness. --Le Blanc. Verse 27 . -- That thou mayest give them their meat in due season; or , in his time; every one in its own time which is natural to them, and they have been used to, at which time the Lord gives it to them, and they take it; it would be well if men would do so likewise, eat and drink in proper and due time, . Christ speaks a word in season to weary souls; his ministers give to every one his portion of meat in due season; and a word spoken in due season, how good and sweet is it? . --John Gill. Verse 27. -- These, Lord, all wait on thee, that thou their food may it give them; Thou to their wants attendest; They gather what thou sendest; Thine hand thou openest, all their need supplying, Over lookest not the least, the greatest satisfying. When thou dost hide thy face a sudden change comes over them Their breath in myriads taken, They die no more to awaken; But myriads more thy Spirit soon createth, And the whole face of nature quickly renovateth. The glory of the Lord, changeless, endures for ever; In all his works delighting, Nor even the smallest slighting; Yet, if he frown, earth shrinks with fear before him, And, at his touch, the hills with kindling flames adore him, --John Burton. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 27 . -- Trace the analogy in the spiritual world. The saints waiting, ; their sustenance from the opened hand, ; their trouble under the hidden face; their death if the Spirit were gone, ; their revival when the Spirit returns, .

Psalms 104:27-29

EXPOSITION

Verse 27. These wait all upon thee. They come around thee as fowls around the farmer's door at the time for feeding, and look up with expectation. Men or marmots, eagles or emmets, whales or minnows, they alike rely upon thy care.

That thou mayest give them meat in due season; that is to say, when they need it and when it is ready for them. God has a time for all things, and does not feed his creatures by fits and starts; he gives them daily bread, and a quantity proportioned to their needs. This is all that any of us should expect; if even the brute creatures are content with a sufficiency we ought not to be more greedy than they.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 27. -- There are five things to be observed in God's sustaining all animals. His power, which alone suffices for all: "These wait all upon thee." Wisdom, which selects a fitting time: "That thou mayest give them their meat in due season." His majesty rising above all: "That thou givest them they gather," like the crumbs falling from the table of their supreme Lord. His liberality, which retains nothing in his open hand that it does not give: "Thou openest thine hand." His original goodness that flows down to all: "They are filled with good," that is, with the good things that spring from thy goodness. --Le Blanc.

Verse 27. -- That thou mayest give them their meat in due season; or, in his time; every one in its own time which is natural to them, and they have been used to, at which time the Lord gives it to them, and they take it; it would be well if men would do so likewise, eat and drink in proper and due time, Ecclesiastes 10:17. Christ speaks a word in season to weary souls; his ministers give to every one his portion of meat in due season; and a word spoken in due season, how good and sweet is it? Isaiah 7:4 Luke 7:12 Proverbs 15:23. --John Gill.

Verse 27. --

These, Lord, all wait on thee, that thou their food may it give them; Thou to their wants attendest; They gather what thou sendest; Thine hand thou openest, all their need supplying, Over lookest not the least, the greatest satisfying.

When thou dost hide thy face a sudden change comes over them Their breath in myriads taken, They die no more to awaken; But myriads more thy Spirit soon createth, And the whole face of nature quickly renovateth. The glory of the Lord, changeless, endures for ever;

In all his works delighting,

Nor even the smallest slighting;

Yet, if he frown, earth shrinks with fear before him,

And, at his touch, the hills with kindling flames adore him, --John Burton.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 27. -- Trace the analogy in the spiritual world. The saints waiting, Psalms 5:27; their sustenance from the opened hand, Psalms 5:28; their trouble under the hidden face; their death if the Spirit were gone, Psalms 5:29; their revival when the Spirit returns, Psalms 5:30.

EXPOSITION

Verse 28. That thou givest them they gather. God gives it, but they must gather it, and they are glad that he does so, for otherwise their gathering would be in vain. We often forget that animals and birds in their free life have to work to obtain food even as we do; and yet it is true with them as with us that our heavenly Father feeds all. When we see the chickens picking up the corn which the housewife scatters from her lap we have an apt illustration of the manner in which the Lord supplies the needs of all living things -- he gives and they gather.

Thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good. Here is divine liberality with its open hand filling needy creatures till they want no more: and here is divine omnipotence feeding a world by simply opening its hand. What should we do if that hand were closed? There would be no need to strike a blow, the mere closing of it would produce death by famine. Let us praise the open handed Lord, whose providence and grace satisfy our mouths with good things.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 28. -- That thou givest them they gather. This sentence describes The Commissariat of Creation. The problem is the feeding of "the creeping things innumerable, both small and great beasts," which swarm the sea; the armies of birds which fill the air, and the vast hordes of animals which people the dry land; and in this sentence we have the problem solved, "That thou givest them they gather." The work is stupendous, but it is done with ease because the Worker is infinite: if he were not at the head of it the task would never be accomplished. Blessed be God for the great They of the text. It is every way our sweetest consolation that the personal God is still at work in the world: leviathan in the ocean, and the sparrow on the bough, may be alike glad of this; and we, the children of the great Father, much more.

The general principle of the text is, God gives to his creatures, and his creatures gather. That general principle we shall apply to our own case as men and women; for it is as true of us as it is of the fish of the sea, and the cattle on the hills: "That thou givest them they gather."

Verse 28. -- Gather. The verb rendered "gather" means to pick up or collect from the ground. It is used in the history of the manna (Exodus 16:1,5,16), to which there is obvious allusion. The act of gathering from the ground seems to presuppose a previous throwing down from heaven. --J.A. Alexander.

Verse 28. -- Thou openest thine hand. The Greek expositors take the opening of the hand to indicate facility. I am of opinion that it refers also to abundance and liberality, as in Ps 145:16: -- "Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing." Using this same formula, God commands us not to close the hand, but to open it to the poor. -- Lorinus.

EXPOSITION

Verse 29. Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled. So dependent are all living things upon God's smile, that a frown fills them with terror, as though convulsed with anguish. This is so in the natural world, and certainly not less so in the spiritual: saints when the Lord hides his face are in terrible perplexity.

Thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. The breath appears to be a trifling matter, and the air an impalpable substance of but small importance, yet, once withdrawn, the body loses all vitality, and crumbles back to the earth from which it was originally taken. All animals come under this law, and even the dwellers in the sea are not exempt from it. Thus dependent is all nature upon the will of the Eternal. Note here that death is caused by the act of God, "thou takest away their breath"; we are immortal till he bids us die, and so are even the little sparrows, who fall not to the ground without our Father.

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Verse 29. -- They are troubled. They are confounded; they are overwhelmed with terror and amazement. The word "troubled" by no means conveys the sense of the original word -- !ab, bahal -- which means properly to tremble; to be in trepidation; to be filled with terror; to be amazed; to be confounded. It is that kind of consternation which one has when all support and protection are withdrawn, and when inevitable ruin stares one in the face. So when God turns away, all their support is gone, all their resources fail, and they must die. They are represented as conscious of this; or this is what would occur if they were conscious. --Albert Barnes.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 29. --