Being Fed By His Hand

Son 1:7-8 KJV 7 "Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? 8 If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents." 

Tell me where you feed, where can I find your provision and be hand fed by you? Like Solomon in this passage God does desire to hand feed his flock, He desires to feed us and give us food specifically suited for us; that which we personally need to make us strong spiritually. The bride states here that she desires to feed from his hand and not that of a stranger. ("...why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions [someone other than you]"). We want always to feed from the hand of our Good Shepherd. We should desire to be fed from His hand, eating only His provision. 

What does eating from Gods hand represent to us? It is feeding upon His word, meditating on His thoughts, especially those thoughts He quickens to us, this is feeding from His hand. Jesus had this kind of a relationship with His Father, feeding from His hand: John 4:32 KJV "But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of." Jesus was eating from the Fathers hand. Speaking prophetically of Christ we see this feature predicted years before He was even born of woman: Isa 50:4-5 KJV 4 "The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. 5 The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back". 

Additionally the book of Isaiah gives us a very important clue and identifies what He wants to feed us: Isa 7:15 KJV "Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good." Eating butter and honey helps the child of God choose the good path and refuse the evil path. Butter and Honey are significant, they represent the richest portions of His word and revelation from the Holy Spirit. Butter - It requires a lot of milk to get a small amount of butter so that speaks to us of the abundance of Gods word but butter particles are small rich particles in milk and you must labor long (churning) to get it and so it also speaks of the richness of Gods word obtained though much labor or seeking. Honey - this speaks to us of the revelation of Gods word, the opening of our eyes to things we cannot see ourselves. Kings Saul's son Jonathan's eyes were enlightened by honey and in type this reveals to us this truth that honey (revelation) enlightens the eyes (1 Samuel 14:27). Therefore, we want to fill ourselves with His provision from His hand and not feed on the food of a stranger (false religions, philosophy, psychology and the like) or fill ourselves up with thoughts of our unruly fleshly mind (envy, strife, jealousy, hatred, lust and the like). These are bitter foods and they make one sick spiritually. 

I love this beautiful portion of scripture where the Shulamite is asking Solomon where he feeds his flock and his response is as the echo of God to His child. He says to her, this is where I feed come and eat and if you do not know the way then go to the shepherds tents and eat there. The meaning is clear, hear from Me and feed from Me but if you do not yet now how then go to my shepherds to be fed. We are to seek Him ourselves and if we cannot hear directly God will speak to us from the mouth of His shepherds and so we should expect to hear from Him in the House of the Lord so we must frequent the house of God if we expect to learn to hear from Him.

Rejoice In This- That You Know Me!

Psalms 22:10 "I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly."

"...thou art my God from my mother belly [womb]." This is interesting because it says that Gods hand was upon him from his mothers womb, even from before he was born. This is an important fact to know when we struggle in life. God knows who will serve Him and who will not, even from the womb and because of that He has called to the righteous and brought them into His kingdom to live with Him. This gives us something we can always rejoice in no matter how bleak life becomes, that He called to us even from the womb. The prophet Jeremiah understood by his gift that he himself was called to the ministry from his mothers womb: Jer 1:4-5 KJV 4 "Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." 

 There is another scripture of interest along the opposite line where the scripture speaks of those He knows are rebels even from their mothers womb, they are estranged from Him before they are born and they go astray as soon as they are born: Psa 58:3 KJV "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." How unfortunate that this is within them even in their mothers womb, it is a heart that will reject Him and is in danger of never knowing Him. Another interesting point is this, that although God knows they will be estranged from the womb he does not hinder their birth and their life. Such is the humility of God that even though they may never come to know Him He does not interfere with them. He does not create a race of those who will only serve Him and bless Him but allows even those who are estranged from the womb to have life, grow and have the same opportunities as one who will serve Him. 

 There are several places in the Word of God where we are told to rejoice that we know Him and you can see from these verses what a wonder it is that we know Him, that there is something within us that reaches out to Him, even from the womb, that needs Him and creates a posture where faith can be born in us and salvation through faith. Both in the Old Testament and the New we are told to be thankful because we know Him (and perhaps more to the point, He knows us):

 1. Jer 9:23-24 KJV 23 "Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD." 

2. Luk 10:17-20 KJV 17 "And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. 18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. 19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven." 

 When we are feeling down because of struggles we face and it is hard for us to life up our heads for the weight of worries and the threat of troubles, it would do our hearts good and release us to praise Him in the midst when we know that he has chosen us from the womb to know Him and to be His child and nothing we face can change that. He looked upon us in the womb, laid His hand upon us because He saw we would serve Him. How wonderful and no matter what pain we face our eternity is with Him because He knew us from the womb.