Psalm 104:27-30 NKJV
These all wait for You,
That You may give them their food in due season.
28
What You give them they gather in;
You open Your hand, they are filled with good.
29
You hide Your face, they are troubled;
You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
30
You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the earth.
Charles Spurgeon
“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.
“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.
“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.” (Alexander, cited in Spurgeon)
“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.
“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.
“Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.” The loss of their breath destroys them, and by Jehovah’s breath, a new race is created. The works of the Lord are majestically simple and are performed with royal ease—a breath creates, and its withdrawal destroys. If we read the word spirit as we have it in our version, it is also instructive, for we see the Divine Spirit going forth to create life in nature even as we see him in the realms of grace. At the flood the world was stripped of almost all life, yet how soon the power of God refilled the desolate places! In winter the earth falls into a sleep which makes her appear worn and old, but how readily does the Lord awaken her with the voice of spring, and make her put on anew the beauty of her youth. Thou, Lord, doest all things, and let glory be unto thy name.
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Enduring Word
What You give them they gather in: God feeds the animals, but does not from heaven pour food into their mouths. He provides, but they must gather in. This is a wonderful way for God’s people to think of His provision. God provides, but we must gather in. His provision is all around us, and we simply need the wisdom and effort to gather it in.
You hide Your face, they are troubled: Creation is so dependent upon God that if He were to hide His presence or take away their breath, they would soon perish. There is a real sense in which creation is much more responsive and surrendered to God than humanity.
You send forth Your Spirit, they are created: The withdrawal of God’s presence or favor means ruin for all creation, but the outpouring of His Spirit means life and renewal. (Guzik)
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Barnes
These wait all upon thee – That is, These are all dependent on thee. It does not, of course, mean that they “wait” in the sense that they are conscious of their dependence on God, but that they are “actually” dependent. The original word implies the idea of “expecting” or “hoping,” and is so rendered in the Septuagint and Vulgate. They have no other ground of expectation or hope but in thee.
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John Gill
These wait all upon thee,…. Or “hope in thee”; not only the fishes of the sea, but the beasts of the field; for to them the psalmist returns, as Aben Ezra observes; to whom hope and expectation of their food and waiting for it at the hands of God, are ascribed; the allusion seems to be to tame creatures, who come at their certain times and wait on them that have been used to give them their food; and it may instruct us to wait on the Lord, as for our daily bread, so for our spiritual food, in prayer, and in public ordinances, where and from whom we may hope and expect to have it.
Thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good; God, in whose hand all things are, and from whence all things come, opens his hand of providence, and liberally and bountifully gives, as this phrase signifies, Deuteronomy 15:11 and all his creatures are filled with his good things to their satisfaction: and thus the spiritual food which he gives his people, they gather it by the hand of faith, as the Israelites gathered the manna in the wilderness every morning, and according to their eating, what was sufficient for them; and to whom he gives liberally, even all things richly to enjoy; all things pertaining to life and godliness; Christ, and all things along with him; abundance of grace here, and glory hereafter; and they are satisfied with his good things as with marrow and fatness.
Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created,…. Thy Holy Spirit, as the Targum, who was at first concerned in the creation of all things, the heavens and the earth, and man upon it, Genesis 1:2, Job 26:13 which may be alluded to here; though it seems chiefly to intend the generation and production of creatures in the room of those that die off; that so their species may be preserved, and there may be a constant succession of them, as there is in all ages, Ecclesiastes 1:4.
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Matthew Henry
God is a bountiful benefactor to them: He gives them their meat; he opens his hand and they are filled with good. He supports the armies both of heaven and earth. Even the meanest creatures are not below his cognizance. He is open-handed in the gifts of his bounty and is a great and good housekeeper that provides for so large a family.
They are patient expects from him: They all wait upon him. They seek their food, according to the natural instinct God has put into them and in the proper season for it, and affect not any other food, or at any other time, than nature has ordained. They do their part for the obtaining of it: what God gives them they gather, and expect not that Providence should put it into their mouths; and what they gather they are satisfied with-they are filled with good. They desire no more than what God sees fit for them, which may shame our murmurings, and discontent, and dissatisfaction with our lot.
All preserved notwithstanding, in a succession (v. 30): Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created. The same spirit (that is, the same divine will and power) by which they were all created at first still preserves the several sorts of creatures in their being, and place, and usefulness; so that, though one generation of them passes away, another comes, and from time to time they are created; new ones rise up instead of the old ones, and this is a continual creation. Thus the face of the earth is renewed from day to day by the light of the sun (which beautifies it anew every morning), from year to year by the products of it, which enrich it anew every spring and put quite another face upon it from what it had all winter. The world is as full of creatures as if none died, for the place of those that die is filled up. This (the Jews say) is to be applied to the resurrection, which every spring is an emblem of when a new world rises out of the ashes of the old one.
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Clarke
These wait all upon thee — The innumerable fry of the smaller aquatic animals, as well as whales, dolphins, porpoises, and sharks, all have their meat from God. He has in his gracious providence furnished that sort of food which is suitable to all. And this provision is various; not only for every kind of fish does God provide food, but a different kind of aliment for each in its different periods of growth. Here are displayed the goodness and infinitely varied providence of God: “He giveth them their meat in due season.”
Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created — יבראון yibbareun, “They are created again.”
And thou renewest the face of the earth. — Do not these words plainly imply a resurrection of the bodies which have died, been dissolved, or turned to dust? And is not the brute creation principally intended here? Is it not on this account it is said, Psalms 104:31, “the glory of the Lord shall endure for ever, (לעולם leolam,)” to be manifest in those times which are secret, when Jehovah himself shall rejoice in his works; when the brute creation shall be delivered from the bondage of its corruption? See the notes on Romans 8:19-23.
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Geneva Bible 1560
Psalm 104:27-30
27 o All these wait upon thee, that thou maiest give them food in due season.
28 Thou givest it to them, and they gather it: thou openest thine hand, and they are filled with good things.
29 But if thou p hide thy face, they are troubled: if thou take awaie their breath, they dye and return to their dust.
30 Again if thou q send forth thy spirit, they are created, and thou renuest the face of the earth.
o God is a most nourishing Father, who provides for all creatures their daily food. p As by your presence all things have life: so, if you withdraw your blessings, they shall perish. q As the death of creatures shows that we are nothing of ourselves: so their generation declares that we receive all things of our Creator.
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Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 13:20-21 NKJV
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