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You open your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
Psalms 145:16 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
  • BSB You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
  • NKJV You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
  • NASB You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
  • NLT When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God opens His hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing. His generous provision meets the needs of all creation.

Overview

The image of God's open hand pictures His abundant, willing generosity toward all He has made. He not only sustains life but satisfies it. This bountiful care points to the God who supplies every need according to His riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 4

  • Ps 104:28You give to them; they gather. You open your hand; they are satisfied with good.
  • Ps 107:9For he satisfies the longing soul. He fills the hungry soul with good.
  • Ps 132:15I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with bread.
  • Job 38:27to satisfy the waste and desolate ground, to cause the tender grass to grow?

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 145:16YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 145:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.