“You open wide your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” Psalm 145:16
Dear Redeemer Family:
Just think, a few months ago, everyone was hoping for summer to arrive. It did! Now, some are hoping for winter! Human beings are a fickle lot. If as the Psalmist writes above, that God opens wide his hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing, then God must be very busy. Satisfying the one and then having to take it back to satisfy another. And that’s just in terms of the weather here!
But I don’t really think that the weather is what the Psalmist is getting at. Rather, I think that it is more along the lines of “Daily Bread” from the Lord’s Prayer. And the best explanation of that, of course, comes from Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. I quote from the two sections on Daily Bread from it, from an older translation:
“What does this mean? Answer: God gives daily bread indeed without our prayer, also to all the wicked; but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to know it, and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.
What then is meant by daily bread? Answer: Everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes house, home field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful rulers, good government, good weather (yes, there it is!), peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.”
Yes, I believe that is more in line with what the Psalmist is saying. These are all things that people desire. And they are all things that we should be praying for. And we do, although we may not necessarily consider them to be “Daily Bread.” But they are. And they are indeed ways in which God satisfies our human desires.
So let us remember always to pray and give thanks for God’s mercies rendered to us. For although we may not recognize it, God is always providing for us, even during the midst of a Missouri summer! Amen!
In Christ,
Pastor Rose