There are many reasons to praise God, many ways that He blesses us.  One of these is given in Psalm 111:5, and it’s something we shouldn’t take for granted:

“He provides food for those who fear him;
            he remembers his covenant forever.”

While this may be a reference specifically to God providing manna and quail to the Israelites when they wandered in the wilderness, it applies more broadly to any food provided to anyone at any time.  Therefore, we should praise Him whenever we have something to eat.

But He doesn’t just deliver food from the grocery store to us.  He provides everything required for food to exist in the first place.  He designed everything involved in the growth of what we eat.  Sunlight, rain, soil conditions and nutrients, all have a role in the growth of fruits and vegetables.  All of these roles act the way they need to be by design.  Food doesn’t exist by chance and is not an accident of a blind nature.

Then add what’s needed to produce the meat we may eat.  First, those plants need to contain what animals need to eat and grow.  The animals need to be able to not only digest those things, but then to turn them into something edible for us.  Again, all ordained by God, the intelligent creator of our universe, who “provides food for those who fear him.”

Also, He is not only a God who designs and provides, but a God of mercy, “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”[1]  He provides food even for those who do not praise Him and give thanks to Him, so they might come to know Him by His mercy towards them.

Those who fear God, praise and thank Him for the food He provides, the complexity of the world He designed, and His mercy toward all His people.  But also, to reflect His character, provide food for those in need, showing them the mercy and love of the God who puts food on our tables.

“He provides food for those who fear him;
            he remembers his covenant forever“

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[1] Matthew 5:45b