Psalm 34

10The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Lord,
Help me to understand the phrase “lack no good thing.”
Clearly, few of us become kings like David and live in mansions and have servants to attend our every whim. I have known hundreds, perhaps thousands, of faithful souls who have lived very frugally and lacked lots of “good things”. There are some good things that I don’t have. So what is this poet talking about?

Could it be the “peace that passes all understanding”? Or could it be the thing that Jesus was talking about to Martha and Mary when he talked about the better thing? Or perhaps the thing that he was saying to the rich young ruler, “one thing you lack”? Maybe it’s to be found in Jesus’ metaphor of “being born again” or being “born from above.”

It must be the ineffable or indescribable thing that happens when your grace is injected into our lives and some very good things become less important. It must have to do with the rearrangement of the priorities or the hierarchy of “good” when Jesus becomes Lord.

“The young lions suffer want and hunger” and I do not think that the poet is talking about “The King of the Jungle.” The poet is talking about the ambitions of the young, the up and coming, the young lions of commerce, or perhaps the young pastors who are determined to “make it”.

Lord, age has partly tamed the “young lion” in me but a part of him still lives in my soul. So I pray that You will keep my eye fixed on that “good thing” that is above all other good things and grant me joy in it.

PERSONAL PRAYERS:
Pray that God grace you with an experience of “The Good Thing” that is above all others.
Name 5 things for which you are grateful and say “thank you” to God.
In Christ’s name,
Amen.