Provisions and light

                                                              

The delightfulness of God is apparent in His many blessings to us. David has reminded us of His lovingkindness, His justice, and His inviting love and protection. Now, he reminds us of more:

They feast on the abundance of your house;
    you give them drink from your river of delights. (Psalm 36:8)

The Hebrew word used here that is translated "abundance" literally means "fatness." The scholars say it means the best portion of the meat from the sacrifices offered at the temple. In our modern terms, picture a tender prime rib, or a delicious porterhouse steak . . . . the very best.  Many years ago, my grandad was an inspector with a huge meat company. He traveled the United States and visited factories, ensuring that the company always had a consistently high-quality product. As little kids, we learned terms like "marbling" and "prime" and "choice." Believe it or not, these terms had just as much to do with the amount of fat in the cuts of meat, as it did with the quality control used in preparing and distributing them! And honestly, if you were to try to cook (even if you tried "low and slow") a piece of meat with little or no fat in it, you would find it tougher and harder to get through. The flavor and the tenderness actually has a lot to do with the fat. Hence, the terms abundance in this verse. 

To really appreciate the river metaphor in the verse, we have to remember where these people lived. 

They lived in a desert!

A spring was wonderful. A flowing river was especially awesome! 

It meant not just refreshment, but life -- you could have all you wanted to drink. You could cool off by bathing in it. You could irrigate your crops from it. Your flocks and herds could drink from it. The word here "delights" at the end of the verse actually means "Eden." Perhaps David is reminding his listeners of the garden of Eden, which had four rivers flowing through it. 

God's provisions for His people are both abundant and delightful. David is communicating that God blesses us and we feast on all of the delightful things that we want or need. This doesn't mean that we believers will always dine on T-bone steaks and have everything we desire. but it does reinforce the idea that He will care for and provide for us! Is this our concept of God? Do we see His lovingkindness and faithfulness as incredible, as immense? Do we think of His righteousness as impressive? Is His love precious and inviting to us?  Do we thank Him daily for the abundance of delightful things He provides? 

For with you is the fountain of life;
    in your light we see light. (vs. 9)

The fountain of life. Not just the physical life nurtured by that flowing river that we just talked about, but also spiritual life. This sounds a lot like another verse:

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 

(John 1:4)

Jesus, Himself, is the source of eternal life for His children. An unending supply. He never, ever runs dry. Jesus is also the source of our light. Spiritually, we are all like the man in John who was born blind. In our natural, sinful state, we can't see the glory and beauty of God and His many delights, because Satan has clouded our minds with sin. Remember that Jesus told Peter he did not arrive at his understanding of Jesus' identity as the Messiah all alone. God revealed it to him. And Paul said:

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (II Corinthians 4:4)

It's God Who provides us with life (both physical and spiritual) and it is He Who provides us with light. David wants all who listen to know that sin deceives the sinner, and he wants us to turn away from the flattery and futility of sin to the immense delightfulness of God. 

Let's determine in ourselves to seek Him as the source of every blessing. We will find that each day He becomes more delightful, more personal, more real to us.