"He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness."—Psa. 107:9
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled" (Matt. 5:6). Though thou hast not so much righteousness as thou wouldst, yet thou art blessed, because thou hungerest after it; desire is the best discovery of a Christian, actions may be counterfeit; a man may do a good action for a bad end. So did Jehu. Actions may be compulsory: a man may be forced to do that which is good, but not to will that which is good. These hungerings after righteousness proceed from love; a man doth not desire that which he doth not love; if thou didst not love Christ, thou couldst not hunger after Him.
The hypocrite doth not so much desire the way of righteousness as the crown of righteousness: his desire is not to be made like Christ, but to reign with Christ. This was Balsam's desire, "Let me die the death of the righteous" (Num. 23:10). This is the hypocrite's hunger; a child of God desires Christ for Himself. To a believer, not only heaven is precious, but Christ is precious (1 Peter 2:7).
Hypocrites' desires are but desires, they are lazy and sluggish. "The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labor" (Prov. 21:25). But true desire is quickened into endeavor, "With my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek Thee early" (Isa. 26:9).
If we do not thirst here we shall thirst when it is too late; if we do not thirst as David did, "My soul thirsteth for God" (Psa. 42:2), we shall thirst as Dives did for a drop of water.
"They shall be filled." God never bids us seek Him in vain. "He hath filled the hungry with good things" (Luke 1:53). "He satisfieth the longing soul" (Psa. 107:9). God will not let us lose our longing.
A man may hunger after the world and not be filled; the world is fading, not filling. A man may be filled and not satisfied. A sinner may take his fill of sin, but it is far from satisfaction, "The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways" (Prov. 14:14). This is such a filling as the damned in hell have, they shall be full of the fury of the Lord; but he that hungers after righteousness shall be satisfyingly filled. "My people shall be satisfied with My goodness" (Jer. 31:14).
God can fill the hungry soul. "With Thee is the fountain of life" (Psa. 36:9). The cistern may be empty and cannot fill us. But the fountain is filling. The fullness of God is an infinite fullness, it knows neither bounds nor bottom. It is a constant fullness, "Thou art the same" (Psa. 102:27). God can never be exhausted, His fullness is overflowing and ever-flowing.
God fills the hungry soul out of His tender compassion. When the multitude had nothing to eat, Christ was moved with compassion. Let the hungry soul think this, though I am full of wants, yet my God is full of bowels.
God will fill the hungry that He may fulfill His word. "Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled" (Luke 6:21). Hath the Lord spoken and shall it not come to pass? As "His compassions fail not" (Lam. 3:22), so He will not suffer His "faithfulness to fail" (Psa. 89:33). If the hungry soul should not be filled, the promise should not be fulfilled.
God will fill the hungry because He Himself hath stirred up the hunger. As in case of prayer, when God prepares the heart to pray, He prepares His ear to hear (Psa. 10:17). So in the case of spiritual hunger, when God prepares the heart to hunger, He will prepare His hand to fill.
God keeps open house for hungry sinners (Isa. 55:1-2).
There is no such thing as blind fate, but there is a Providence that guides and governs the world. "The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD" (Prov. 16:33).... Providence is God's ordering all issues and events of things, after the counsel of His will, to His own glory.... The wheels in a clock seem to move contrary one to the other, but they help forward the motion of the clock, and make the alarum strike; so the providences of God seem to be cross wheels; but for all that they shall carry on the good of the elect.... God is not like an artificer that builds a house, and then leaves it, but like a pilot He steers the ship of the whole creation.
"The eye of the LORD is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine" (Psa. 33:18-19). God by His providential care shields off dangers from His people, and sets a lifeguard of angels about them (Psa. 34:7). God's providence keeps the very bones of the saints (Psa. 34:20). It bottles their tears (Psa. 56:8). It strengthens the saints in their weakness (Heb. 11:34). It supplies all their wants out of its alms-basket (Psa. 23:5). "Verily thou shalt be fed" (Psa. 37:3). If God will give His people a kingdom when they die, He will not deny them daily bread while they live.
God, who bounds everything else, is Himself without bounds. He sets bounds to the sea; Huc usque'; "Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further"; He sets bounds to the angels; they, like the cherubims, move and stand at His appointment (Ezek. 10:16), but He is infinite without bounds. He who can span the heavens, and weigh the earth in scales, must needs be infinite (Isa. 40:22). "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" (Jer. 23:24). The humble heart is His throne, in regard to His gracious presence (Isa. 57:15); and heaven is His throne, in regard to His glorious presence (Isa. 66:1); and yet neither of these thrones will hold Him, for the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him.