This Constant Metre

What He givest them, they gather;
That they be filled with good.
The eyes of all wait upon Him;
For life makes a claim on God:
Affections arise in all orders,
Within the natural reason of its life;
Provision for all is expected,
And none are disappointed.
"Thou openest Thine hand,
And satisfiest the desire,
Of every living thing."
The wonder, and the mystery,
Yea, the glory of all creation,
Lies not simply in that Divine act;
But within the willing acceptance,
By our holy, sovereign Creator,
Of the attentive bonds of sustenance
Sounding from across the cosmos
For liveliness from the Lord's bounty.
A Keeper of many; a Provider to all;
Tying the countless to the One;
In a wondrous exchange of life for life.
Know ye, that this constant metre;
This grand and infinite oscillation
Of seeking and revealing,
Of charge and recharge,
Of need and of response
Between Creator and creation;
Configures the very fabric
Of His time and space;
And is witness unto
The very sureness of our faith.