Psalm 145:16, “You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.”
God Himself “hand feeds” every living thing. Every organelle, every microbe, every ant and beetle, every jungle and forest animal, every creature in the ocean and in the sky and on the land, every human being ever to have lived, and every one of the myriad orders of angelic beings – everything that lives is more dependent on YHWH than a child in the womb is dependent on its mother. He opens His hand and satisfies the desires of every living thing….
However, it would seem that the deepest desires of humanity – and of all other living things, to whatever capacity and in whatever way they express it – is not met. We are cursed, we are dying, we are mortal, we are splintered and shattered, tumbling down from birth to death, passing away like a mist, unable to progress past a ceiling set in place at the Fall….and we all know it. Oh yes, desires are met…..desires for food and clothing, for pleasure and friendship and love…..but the meeting of these desires is inherently fleeting…..how can you meet the desires of the morning mist if its desire is to never evaporate? No matter how good the first hours of morning are for it, it will melt away……and in the same way, all life dies.
All of our pleasures, all of our joys, all of our gladness follows the path of mortality: it builds, climaxes, and then dies. The reunion is wonderful, but then they leave. The marriage gives us great gladness, but then she dies. The song is beautiful, but then it ends. The food is delicious, but then it’s gone. All of this life’s joy, from the profound beauties to the daily treats, all of it is mortal joy, dying joy, fleeting joy. And our hearts groan and ache, telling us that it should not be so. Yes, our desires are met. But no, they are not – in the deepest sense – satisfied.
But there is an answer….and it is just what this verse says. Oh yes, He opens His hand and satisfies our desires in the sense that He provides for us – and for all life……..But in opening His hands He also satisfies that deeper desire, the groaning of the Fall, the ache of mortality….
On the cross…..on the cross, God Incarnate opened His hands and satisfied – ultimately and infinitely – the deepest desire of every living thing. He opened His hands and received in them the curse of our sins….He opened His hands and they were pierced by the wrath we deserved….He opened His hands and poured out His life like living water through the gashes that justice tore. And in doing so, He drew us up out of the mortal rut carved by our sins and achieved the final satisfaction of ALL the deep desires that He had seeded in the souls of every living thing….Romans 8:19-24. When Sin was broken, death slain, wrath absorbed, and forgiveness purchased on the cross, God Himself broke down the walls of our dank prison cell and let in the fresh air of eternal Spring.
The day is coming when – because of His opened hands – our mortal, dying joys will be swallowed up by life’s exponential, unending increase. This is what our hearts are groaning for and, in Christ, this is exactly what awaits us. 2 Cor.5:2-5
