Psalms 34:10

The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger. They are fierce, cunning, strong, in all the vigour of youth, and yet they sometimes howl in their ravenous hunger, and even so crafty, designing, and oppressing men, with all their sagacity and unscrupulousness, often come to want; yet simple minded believers, who dare not act as the greedy lions of earth, are fed with food convenient for them. To trust God is better policy than the craftiest politicians can teach or practice. But they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.

On behalf of the Baptist Fund for the Relief of Poor Ministers. “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.”—Psalm 34:10. RIGHT truly did Paul say, “Whereby he hath given unto us exceeding great and precious promises;” for surely this promise is exceeding great indeed. In the entire compass of God’s holy word, there is not to be found a precious declaration which can excel this in sweetness; for how could God promise to use more than all things? how could even his infinite benevolence stretch the line of his grace farther than it hath gone in this verse of the psalm?—“They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.” There is here no reserve; nothing is kept back; there is no solitary word of exception. There is no codicil in this will striking off the smallest portion of the estate; there is no caveat put in to warn us that there are domains upon which we must not intrude; a large field is laid before the children of God; a wide door is open, and no man can shut it. “They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.” Now, we shall notice, first of all, the Christian character beautifully delineated. “They that seek the Lord;’ secondly, we shall notice a promise set in a glorious light by a contrast, “they shall not want any good thing,” although the young lions do lack and suffer hunger;” and thirdly, we shall consider whether we cannot bring some evidence to prove the fulfilment of the promise. I. First, we have here a very short, but very beautiful DESCRIPTION OF A TRUE CHRISTIAN: he is said to “seek the Lord.” “They that seek the Lord (Or Jehovah, as the original has it) shall not want any good thing.” Ah! beloved, if some of us had the drawing up of this description we should have made it too narrow.

THE young lions are very strong. They are as yet in the freshness of their youth and yet their strength does not always suffice to keep them supplied. The young lions are very crafty—they understand how to waylay their game and leap upon them with a sudden spring at unawares, and yet, with all their craftiness, they howl for hunger in the woods. The young lions are very bold and furious, very unscrupulous. They are not stayed from any deed of depredation and yet for all that, freebooters as they are, they sometimes lack and suffer hunger.

On behalf of the Baptist Fund for the Relief of Poor Ministers. “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.”—Psalm 34:10. RIGHT truly did Paul say, “Whereby he hath given unto us exceeding great and precious promises;” for surely this promise is exceeding great indeed. In the entire compass of God’s holy word, there is not to be found a precious declaration which can excel this in sweetness; for how could God promise to use more than all things?

THE young lions are very strong. They are as yet in the freshness of their youth and yet their strength does not always suffice to keep them supplied. The young lions are very crafty—they understand how to waylay their game and leap upon them with a sudden spring at unawares, and yet, with all their craftiness, they howl for hunger in the woods. The young lions are very bold and furious, very unscrupulous. They are not stayed from any deed of depredation and yet for all that, freebooters as they are, they sometimes lack and suffer hunger. These are just the type of many men in the world—they are strong men, they are cunning men, they are thoroughly up to the times—smart, sharp men. If anybody could be well supplied, one would think they should be. But how many of them go to bankruptcy and ruin and, with all their cunning, they are too cunning! And with all their unscrupulousness, they manage, at last, full often, to come to an ill end. They do lack and suffer hunger. But here are the people of God—they are regarded as simpletons, such simpletons as to seek the Lord instead of adopting the maxims of universal worldly wisdom, namely, "Seek yourself!" They have given up what is called the first law of human nature—namely, self-seeking, self-pleasing, self-serving—and have come to seek the Lord, to seek to magnify Him. And what comes of their simplicity? "They shall not want any good thing." Notwithstanding their lack of power, their want of cunning and the check which conscience often puts upon them, so that they cannot do what others can to enrich themselves—yet for all that, they have a fortune ensured to them! They "shall not want any good thing." Let us look at this text, now, and together consider it thus—first, the seeking of the Lord which is here intended. And then following upon that, the promise that is given upon such seeking. I.

The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger. They are fierce, cunning, strong, in all the vigour of youth, and yet they sometimes howl in their ravenous hunger, and even so crafty, designing, and oppressing men, with all their sagacity and unscrupulousness, often come to want; yet simple minded believers, who dare not act as the greedy lions of earth, are fed with food convenient for them. To trust God is better policy than the craftiest politicians can teach or practice. But they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. No really good thing shall be denied to those whose first and main end in life is to seek the Lord. Men may call them fools, but the Lord will prove them wise. They shall win where the world's wiseacres lose their all, and God shall have the glory of it.

The young lions do lack - Instead of כפירים kephirim, the young lions, one of Kennicott’s MSS. has כבירים cabbirim, “powerful men.” The Vulgate, Septuagint, Ethiopic, Syriac, Arabic, and Anglo-Saxon have the same reading. Houbigant approves of this; and indeed the sense and connection seem to require it. My old Psalter reads: - The Ryche had nede; and thai hungerd: but sekand Lard sal noght be lessed of alle gode. That es, says the paraphrase, with outen lessyng thai sal have God; that es alle gode; for in God is al gode.

The young lions do lack and suffer hunger - That is, they often do it, as compared with the friends of God. The allusion is especially to the “young” lions who are not able to go forth themselves in search of food. Perhaps the idea is, that they are dependent on the older lions - their parents - for the supply of their needs, as the pious are dependent on God; but that the result shows their reliance to be often vain, while that of the pious never is. The old lions may be unable to procure food for their young; God is never unable to provide for the wants of his children. If their needs are in any case unsupplied, it is for some other reason than because God is unable to meet their necessities. The word “lack” here - רושׁ rûsh - means to be poor; to suffer want; to be needy: Pro 14:20; Pro 18:23. But they that seek the Lord - That seek Him as their Friend; that seek His favor; that seek what they need from Him. “To seek God” is a phrase which is often used to denote true piety. It means that we wish to know Him; that we desire His friendship; and that we seek all our blessings from Him. Shall not want any good thing - Any real good. God is able to supply every need; and if anything is withheld, it is always certain that it is not because God could not confer it, but because He sees some good reasons why it should not be conferred. The real good; what we need most; what will most benefit us - will be bestowed on us; and universally it may be said of all the children of God that everything in this world and the next will be granted that is really for their good. They themselves are often not the best judges of what will be for their good; but God is an infallible Judge in this matter, and He will certainly bestow what is best for them.