PRÉCIS ON THE DISCIPLINE OF TRUSTING ON GOD’S PROVISION IN THE FACE OF SCARCITY

SCRIPTURE. “Therefore I tell you, stop being worried or anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted) about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, as to what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow [seed] nor reap [the harvest] nor gather [the crops] into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by worrying can add one hour to [the length of] his life?” – JESUS OF NAZARETH, Matthew 6:25-27, Amplified

KEY TERM: “KEEPS ON FEEDING.” ‘Trephó’ [τρέφει]: “Properly, to stiffen or fatten; to cherish [with food and necessities]; to pamper, nourish; to bring up, provide for; to support, nurture; to procure beforehand; to get, collect or make ready for future use; to prepare; to procure supplies or means of defense; or to take measures for counteracting or escaping an evil.”

COMMENTARY. “There is scarcely any sin against which our Lord Jesus more warns his disciples, than disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of this life. This often insnares the poor as much as the love of wealth does the rich. ‘But there is a Carefulness about temporal things which is a Duty,’ though we must not carry these lawful cares too far.

‘Take no thought for your life.’ Not about the length of it; but refer it to God to lengthen or shorten it as He pleases. Our times are in His hand, and they are in a good hand. Not about the comforts of this life; but leave it to God to make it bitter or sweet as He pleases. Food and raiment God has promised, therefore we may expect them. ‘Take no thought for the morrow’ – For the time to come. ‘Be not anxious for the future’ – How you shall live next year, or when you are old, or what you shall leave behind you. As we must not boast of tomorrow, so we must not care for to-morrow, or the events of it. God has given us life, and has given us the body. And what can He not do for us, who did that? If we take care about our Souls and for Eternity, which are more than the body and its life, we may leave it to God to provide for us food and raiment, which are less.

‘Improve this as an encouragement to Trust in God [Key Point].’ We must reconcile ourselves to our worldly estate, as we do to our stature. We cannot alter the disposals of Providence, therefore we must submit and resign ourselves to them. Thoughtfulness for our souls is the best cure of thoughtfulness for the world. ‘Seek first the Kingdom of God and make Religion your business!’ Say not that this is the way to starve; no, it is the way to be well provided for, even in this world.

‘The Conclusion of the whole matter is:’ That it is the Will and Command of the Lord Jesus, that by daily prayers we may get strength to bear us up under our daily troubles – And to arm us against the temptations that attend them, and then let none of these things move us. ‘Happy are those who take the Lord for their God’ – And make full proof of it by trusting themselves wholly to His wise disposal. Let thy Spirit convince us of sin in the want of this disposition, and take away the worldliness of our hearts.” – MATTHEW HENRY, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 6 vols., 1708-1710; edited

DK’S REALISM. May God forgive me, but as I read this, I felt a twinge or two of, “Well, Mr. Henry, easy for you to say.” I mean, he was raised on a comparatively wealthy estate named Broad Oak. He studied Theology at the Islington Academy and was later to enjoy appointments to upstanding Presbyterian Churches with the various accoutrement of such position.

Now I don’t write that to demean the “Prince of Preachers,” but rather to reset the conversation to include the less privileged, the poor, the unemployed, the oppressed, or infirm. Especially in the American Economy of 2024-25, where markets, employment rates, and homelessness are excessive (depending on what surveys are consulted).

So, to these who have little, GOD PROMISES: “My God shall liberally supply (fill until full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” – PHILIPPIANS 4:19, AMP

So long as our hearts are right, The Promise is inviolable.