He provides food for the livestock, and for the young ravens when they call.
Parallel Translations
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He provides food for the livestock, and for the young ravens when they call.
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He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.
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He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Psalms 147:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 104:27-28 These all wait for you, that you may give them their food in due season. You give to them; they gather. You open your hand; they are satisfied with good.
- Job 38:41 Who provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?
- Matthew 6:26 See the birds of the sky, that they don’t sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you of much more value than they?
- Psalms 136:25 who gives food to every creature; for his loving kindness endures forever.
- Psalms 145:15-16 The eyes of all wait for you. You give them their food in due season. You open your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
- Luke 12:24 Consider the ravens: they don’t sow, they don’t reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds!
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 9. Who gives to the cattle their food By…
9. Who gives to the cattle their food By giving an instance he explains more clearly what he had said, of God’s providing food for every living creature. When he speaks of the cattle and the ravens being fed, and not of men, this is to give more emphasis to his argument. We know that it was for man’s sake the world was made at all, and endued with fertility and plenty; and in proportion as we are nearer in the scale of existence to God, he shows us the more of his goodness. But if he condescends to notice the brute creation, it is plain that to us he will be a nurse and a father. For the same reason he names the ravens, the most contemptible of all birds, to teach us that the goodness of God extends to every part of the world. When he says that their young cry unto God, he no doubt refers to their natural cry, but hints at the same time that they own that they must be in want unless God give them meat from heaven. As to the Jewish fable that the ravens desert their young ones as soon as put forth, and that worms are bred in the barks of the trees to feed them, this is one of their customary stories, never scrupling as they do, nor being ashamed, to invent anything, however unfounded, when a difficulty comes in the way. “Car quant a la fable que les Juifs racontent, que les corbeaux laissent leur petits si tost qu’ils sont esclos,” etc. — Fr.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain For their crying is as it were a confession…
For their crying is as it were a confession of their need, which cannot be relieved, but by God only, then if God show himself mindful of the most contemptible souls, can he suffer them to die with famine, whom he hath assured of life everlasting?
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 147:9 He giveth to the beast his food,…
Psa 147:9 He giveth to the beast his food, [and] to the young ravens which cry.
Ver. 9. He giveth to the beast his food] See Job 39:3 Psa 104:27-28. {See Trapp on "Job 39:3"} {See Trapp on "Psa 104:27"} {See Trapp on "Psa 104:28"}
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And to the youny ravens which cry] By sending flies into their mouths as they cry, say the Rabbis; or by a certain moist air, as Euthymius; or by small worms put into their mouths, magno providentiae symbolo, though they be such contemptible creatures, and very carnivorous, by reason of the vehemence of natural heat in them, so that a little will not satisfy them, yet God feedeth them. {See Trapp on "Job 39:3"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Which he mentions, partly, because they were most contemptible,…
Which he mentions, partly, because they were most contemptible, especially to the Jews, to whom they were unclean and forbidden for food; partly, because they are greedy and voracious; and partly, because they are not only neglected by men, but also forsaken by their dams as soon as ever they can fly, and so are wholly left to the care and keeping of Divine Providence.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain He giveth to the beast his food,.... Through the…
He giveth to the beast his food,.... Through the plenty of grass growing upon the mountains, by the rain falling from the clouds of heaven upon them: these cannot provide for themselves, but the Lord feeds them; and they wait upon him for their food, and receive it of him, Psa 104:27. How much more will he feed his own people, both with temporal and spiritual food; though in their fallen state they are become like the beasts, of which they are sensible when called by grace, and own and acknowledge it! Psa 49:12;
and to the young ravens which cry: which are particularly mentioned, because contemptible creatures, and of no use and service to men, and by the ceremonial law were impure to the Jews; and the rather, because, as naturalists observe, they are very early turned out of their nests, or forsaken by their dams: and this particular instance of the care of Providence is elsewhere observed, Job 38:41. Arama takes notice of the preservation of this creature in the ark, and the use of it to Elijah. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions, render it, "that call upon him"; that is, upon God and to him; they are expressly said to cry, Job 38:41. The ancient fathers interpret this figuratively; and by the "ravens" understand the Gentiles; and by their "young ones" Christians that spring from them, who call upon the true God.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Ravens - Which he mentions because they were most…
Ravens - Which he mentions because they were most contemptible, especially to the Jews, to whom they were unclean: and because they are not only neglected by men, but also forsaken by their dams as soon as ever they can fly, and so are wholly left to the care of Divine providence.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain He giveth to the beast his food - To…
He giveth to the beast his food - To the wild beast; to the animals that cannot toil for it themselves, as man does. Compare Psa 104:21, note; Psa 104:27-28, notes.
To the young ravens which cry - Compare the notes at Job 38:41. See also Psa 145:15.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 9. Ravens which cry—The young ravens, like the sparrows,…
9. Ravens which cry—The young ravens, like the sparrows, are low and worthless birds. The divine care over them implies more care over those who are of more value than many sparrows.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. Cp. Psa_145:15; Job_38:41; Luk_12:24. Tristram, Nat. Hist, of…
9. Cp. Psa_145:15; Job_38:41; Luk_12:24. Tristram, Nat. Hist, of Bible, p. 200, denies that there is any foundation for the notion that the raven turns its young out of the nest at so early a period that they are unable to provide for themselves. Perhaps the raven’s croak struck the Psalmist especially as an importunate cry.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9) Comp. Psa_104:14; Psa_145:15; Job_38:41; Luk_12:24.
(9) Comp. Psa_104:14; Psa_145:15; Job_38:41; Luk_12:24.
The proper attitude towards one who is thus “great to grant as mighty to make,” is not conceit of wisdom and strength, but humble dependence and trust.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain He giveth to the beast his food. (comp. Psa_104:27…
He giveth to the beast his food. (comp. Psa_104:27 Psa_145:15, Psa_145:16) The constant supplies of their own proper food to all classes of animals are among the principal proofs of God"s power anti goodness. And to the young ravens which cry. Even the unclean raven, with his harsh croak and inelegant form, is not neglected. (comp. Luk_12:24, "God feedeth them
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 9. He giveth to the beast his food.…
Ver. 9. He giveth to the beast his food. By causing the grass to grow on the hills the Lord feeds the cattle. God careth for the brute creation. Men tread grass under foot as though it were nothing, but God causeth it to grow: too often men treat their cattle with cruelty, but the Lord himself feedeth them. The great God is too good, and, indeed, too great to overlook things that are despised. Say not, "Doth God care for oxen?" Indeed he does, and he permits himself to be here described as giving them their food as husbandmen are wont to do. And to the young ravens which cry. These wild creatures, which seem to be of no use to man; are they therefore worthless? By no means; they fill their place in the economy of nature. When they are mere fledgelings, and can only clamour to the parent birds for food, the Lord does not suffer them to starve, but supplies their needs. Is it not wonderful how such numbers of little birds are fed! A bird in a cage under human care is in more danger of lacking seed and water than any one of the myriads that fly in the open heavens, with no owner but their Creator, and no provider but the Lord. Greatness occupied with little things makes up a chief feature of this Psalm. Ought we not all to feel special joy in praising One who is so specially remarkable for his care of the needy and the forgotten? Ought we not also to trust in the Lord? for he who feeds the sons of the raven will surely nourish the sons of God! Hallelujah to Him who both feeds the ravens and rules the stars! What a God art thou, O Jehovah!
Ver. 9. The young ravens cry. The strange stories told by Jewish and Arabian writers, on the raven's cruelty to its young, in driving them out of their nests before they are quite able to provide for themselves, are entirely without foundation, as no bird is more careful of its young ones than the raven. To its habit of flying restlessly about in search of food to satisfy its own appetite and that of its young ones, may perhaps be traced the reason of its being selected by the sacred writers as an especial object of God's protecting care. W. Houghton, in "The Bible Educator."
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Ver. 9. The young ravens cry. While still unfledged the young ravens have a strange habit of falling out of their nests, and flapping their wings heavily to the ground. Next morning they are found by the shepherds sitting croaking on the ground beneath their former homes, and are then captured and taken away with comparative ease. J.G. Wood, in "The Illustrated Natural History", 1869.
Ver. 9. The young ravens cry. The evening proceedings and manoeuvres of the rooks are curious and amusing in the autumn. Just before dusk they return in long strings from the foraging of the day, and rendezvous by thousands over Selbourne down, where they wheel round in the air, and sport and dive in a playful manner, all the while exerting their voices, and making a loud cawing, which, being blended and softened by the distance that we at the village are below them, becomes a confused noise or chiding; or rather a pleasing murmur, very engaging to the imagination, and not unlike the cry of a pack of hounds in hollow, echoing woods, or the rushing of the wind in tall trees, or the tumbling of the tide upon a pebbly shore. When this ceremony is over, with the last gleam of day, they retire for the night to the deep beechen woods of Tisted and Ropley. We remember a little girl, who, as she was going to bed, use to remark on such all occurrence, in the true spirit of physico-theology, that the rooks were saying their prayers, and yet this child was much too young to be aware that the Scriptures had said of the Deity that He feedeth the ravens that call upon him. Gilbert White (1720-1793), in "The Natural History of Selborne."
Ver. 9.
Behold, and look away your low despair;
See the light tenants of the barren air:
To them, nor stores, nor granaries belong,
Nought but the woodlands and the pleasing song;
Yet, your kind heavenly Father bends his eye
On the least wing that flits along the sky.
To him they sing when Spring renews the plain;
To him they cry in Winter's pinching reign;
Nor is the music, nor their plaint, in vain.
He hears the gay, and the distressful call,
And with unsparing bounty fills them all.
Will he not care for you, ye faithless, say?
Is he Unwise? Or, are ye less than they? James Thomson, 1700-1748.
Ver. 9. It is related of Edward Taylor, the sailor preacher of Boston, that on the Sunday before he was to sail for Europe, he was entreating the Lord to care well for his church during his absence. All at once he stopped, and ejaculated, "What have I done? Distrust the Providence of heaven! A God that gives a whale a ton of herrings for a breakfast, will he not care for my children?" and then went on, closing his prayer in a more confiding manner. From "Eccentric Preachers", by C.H.S.
Ver. 9. See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 672: "The Ravens' Cry."
Psalms 147:10*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain To the young ravens which cry.
Psa_147:9
To the young ravens which cry.
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The ravens cry
Naturalists tell us, says Caryl, that when the raven hath fed his young in the nest till they are well fledged and able to fly abroad, then he thrusts them out of the nest, and will not let them abide there, but puts them to get their own living. Now, when these young ones are upon their first flight from their nest, and are little acquainted with means how to help themselves with food, then the Lord provides food for them. It is said by credible authorities, that the raven is marvellously strict and severe in this; for as soon as his young ones are able to provide for themselves, he will not fetch any more food for them; yea, some affirm the old ones will not suffer them to stay in the same country where they were bred; and, if so, then they must needs wander. We say proverbially, Need makes the old wife trot; we may say, and the young ones too. It hath been, and possibly is, the practice of some parents towards their children, who, as soon as they can shift for themselves, and are fit in any competency to get their bread, they turn them out of doors, as the raven doth his young ones out of the nest. Now, saith the Lord in the text, when the young ones of the raven are at this pinch, that they are turned off, and wander for lack of meat, who then provides for them? Do not I, the Lord? Do not I, who provide for the old raven, provide for his young ones, both while they abide in the nest and when they wander for lack of meat?
I. God hears the young ravens; will He not hear you?
1. I argue that He will, first, when I remember that it is only a raven that cries, and that you, in some senses, are much better than a raven. The raven is but a poor, unclean bird, whoso instant death would make no sort of grievous gap in creation. If thousands of ravens had their necks wrung to-morrow, I do not know that there would be any vehement grief and sorrow in the universe about them; it would simply be a number of poor birds dead, and that would be all. But you are an immortal soul, formed in Gods own image. True, the raven is not sinful, as you are. But what does this prove? Why, that you are a creature capable of sinning, and, consequently, that you are an intelligent spirit living in a sense in which a raven does not live. You are a creature moving in the spirit-world; you belong to the world of souls, in which the raven has no portion. Doth God care for flesh, and blood, and bones, and black feathers, and will He not care for your reason, your will, your judgment, your conscience, your immortal soul? Oh, if you will but think of it, you must see that it is not possible for a ravens cry to gain an audience of the ear of Divine benevolence, and yet for your prayer to be despised and disregarded by the Most High.
2. There is a great deal of difference between your cry and the cry of a raven. When the young ravens cry, I suppose they scarcely know what they want. They have a natural instinct which makes them cry for food, but their cry does not in itself express their want. They have no articulate speech. But you do know what you want. Few as your words are, your heart knows its own bitterness and dire distress. Moreover, you have a multitude of arguments ready to hand, and you have an understanding with which to set them in array and marshal them to besiege the throne of grace.
3. Remember, that the matter of your prayer is more congenial to the ear of God than the ravens cry for meat. All that the young ravens cry for is food; give them a little carrion and they have done. Your cry must be much more pleasing to Gods ear, for you entreat for forgiveness through the blood of His dear Son. It is a nobler occupation for the Most High to be bestowing spiritual than natural gifts.
4. The ravens are nowhere commanded to cry. When they cry their petition is unwarranted by any specific exhortation from the Divine mouth, while you have a warrant derived from Divine exhortations to approach the throne of God in prayer.
5. The cry of a young raven is nothing but the natural cry of a creature, but your cry, if it be sincere, is the result of a work of grace in your heart. When the raven cries to heaven it is nothing but the ravens own self that cries; but when you cry, God be merciful to me a sinner,--it is God the Holy Spirit crying in you.
6. When the young ravens cry they cry alone, but when you pray you have a mightier one than you praying with you. Hear that sinner crying, God be merciful to me a sinner. Hark! Do you hear that other cry which goes up with his? No, you do not hear it, because your ears are dull and heavy, but God hears it. There is another voice, far louder and sweeter than the first, and far more prevalent, mounting up at the same moment and pleading, Father, forgive them through My precious blood.
II. If you have cried unsuccessfully, still cry on. Go again seven times, aye, and seventy times seven. Remember that the mercy of God in Christ Jesus is your only hope; cling to it, then, as a drowning man clings to the only rope within reach. If you perish praying for mercy through the precious blood, you will be the first that ever perished so. Cry on; just cry on; but, oh! believe, too; for believing brings the morning star and the day-dawn. But stay a while, I have something else to say. Is it possible that you may have already obtained the very blessing you are crying after? Oh, say you, I would not ask for a thing which I had already got; if I knew I had it, I would leave off crying, and begin praising and blessing God. Now, I do not know whether all of you seekers are in so safe a state, but I am persuaded that there are some seeking souls who have received the mercy for which they are asking. The Lord instead of saying to them to-night, Seek ye My face, is saying, Why criest thou unto Me? I have heard thee in an acceptable hour, and in an acceptable time have I succoured thee; I have blotted out thy sins like a cloud, and like a thick cloud thine iniquities; I have saved thee; thou art Mine; I have cleansed thee from all thy sins; go thy way and rejoice. In such a case believing praise is more suitable than agonizing prayer. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.