Psalm 81:10 I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt: open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. I. THE ONLY SOURCE OF FULL SATISFACTION FOR HUMAN LIFE. 1. There is a recognition here of the vastness of human need. "Open thy mouth wide." Man has — and this is one of the evidences of his greatness — a vast capacity for desire. The mouth of desire in man is not satisfied though all the treasures of the earth be poured into it. 2. The words imply that man's vastest desires are not awakened until they are consciously turned God-ward. Israel will open its mouth "wider "if it turn to God than if it forsake Him. There is enough of desire for God in every man to make this world unsatisfying, but in the worldling this desire is Undeveloped and shrivelled. The life that is fixed in God expands, and its desires become richer and vaster. God fills us, not by lessening our desires, but by enriching them. 3. The words imply that nothing less than personal union with God can satisfy the life. "I will fill it." II. THE CONDITION OF RECEIVING FROM GOD. "Open thy mouth wide." Probably the figure is taken from the feeding of young birds in the nest by the parent bird. The picture is one of simple dependence and trust. Proud self-sufficiency shuts out the fulness of God. The first step to strength is to realize our own helplessness, simply to "open the mouth wide," that God may fill it. III. THE MEASURE OF RECEIVING. "Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it "According to the capacity for reception, so is the gift. We have to recognize natural differences of capacity. As an eaglet differs from smaller birds, so men differ from men. All are not, and cannot be, Isaiahs and Pauls. But, on the other hand, a man's receptive power may have its development hindered by his own worldliness or negligence. His spiritual desires may be narrower than they ought to be. Faith, love, and hope grow larger through service. (J. Thomas, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. |
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