Sunday, November 30, 2014

Psalm 34:10

Copyright Ó 2014 J. Neely
Psalm 34:10

10 The young lions [kaphiyr] do lack [ruwsh], and suffer hunger [ra`eb]: but they that seek [darash] the LORD [Yahovah] shall not want [chacer] any good [towb] thing.   KJV-Interlinear

10 The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.   ESV

Do you know the three levels of grace provision?  Young lions are not only young but full of energy and speed and strength and should for all intents and purposes have an easy life as far as obtaining their needs.  But often times, they are unable to furnish for themselves and they go hungry.

Young lions also refers to the very young who are dependent on the older lions to provide the food and resources that the young ones require.  And too, even the older lions are unable to provide for themselves let alone the young ones, so hunger is always near.

Young lions also refers to the animal kingdom, which is dependent on the laws of nature.  The young rule, the old fade away.  The victims are always at the mercy of the predator and so forth.

And then we get to the principle of this verse as far as it relates to us as people.

God in the older and is always able to provide for anyone and everyone.  If something is lacking, then it is for some other reason, but never related to Gods ability, for God has infinite ability and infinite resources.  God is never lacking in provisions.

We as people can choose to follow the rules of nature and live as nature lives, dependent on the natural laws that govern nature, meaning that we depend on our luck or our abilities or our talents and so forth.  And that always leads to some degree of success, as well as always resulting in our ultimate final failure.

Or, we can choose to seek God.  And here is the key to this verse and passage.

Seeking God does not mean simply being alive and here.  It means an active pursuit of truth and knowledge and understanding and growth as God has defined our purpose in life, not as we desire and certainly not at our convenience.  Seeking requires instruction and learning, which most people do not pursue, unfortunately.

For those who seek, then there is always provision, and never lacking.

God offers three levels of grace provision for humanity.

The first is common grace, which applies to all of humanity, believer as well as unbeliever.  God provides us all with an environment, air to breathe, economies, relationships as in marriage, divine establishment principles that hold this worlds social order together, and so forth. He also provides for salvation to everyone.

The second is spiritual grace where God provides more grace for believers only.  The spiritual world applies to the saved and not to the unsaved.  This primarily makes doctrine available to believers for their spiritual edification and growth to maturity.  Most believers remain at this level simply because the lack the desire to advance through legitimate learning.


Then there is greater grace which applies to spiritually mature believers only.  Much if not all of Gods blessings fall into this category of people.  Few in number to say the least, but for are those who ‘seek’ God for all of the right reasons and who persevere through the thick and thin of life in order to remain in Gods eyes, never lack.