19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Being thankful for the love and concern expressed by the brethren in the Philippian church through their financial support, Paul was moved to utter these words. Just as the brethren were concerned for Paul’s well-being, he was also concerned about theirs. He knew that they showed generosity towards him not because they themselves were free from financial needs. Paul could do little to help them on his own, but he prayed that God would provide for all their needs. Essentially, he was saying, “Brethren, I am unable to return your kindness, but I pray that my God will supply all your need just as He has supplied my want through you.”
The expression “my God” conveys Paul’s confidence in God as his unfailing Provider in all of his life’s needs. God was his most benevolent benefactor. The sentiment conveyed here by Paul is very much like that of David who said, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Because God has been wholly in charge of all of his life’s needs, he is also assured that God will attend to the needs of his fellow Christians at Philippi.
Paul’s words, “my God shall supply all your need”, exalt God as the most merciful and faithful Provider of all His people. God’s ability and willingness to supply all our need, as well as His commitment to do so as our covenant God, are conceived in Paul’s words. God undertakes to meet all our needs. Yes, our needs (both temporal and spiritual) are many, but the extent of His supply is “according to his riches in glory”. God gives unto His children, not as a poor man who struggles to provide in the face of scarcity, nor as a rich man who gives grudgingly. He supplies according to His boundless riches in glory. He will look after us till we get to the glorious celestial home which He has prepared for us.
How inadequate words are in describing the riches of God! The grandeur of His supply is conspicuous throughout the universe – in the light of the sun, in the starry sky, in the flowers of the field, in the birds of the sky, in all things both seen and unseen. “The whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3). It is God’s inexhaustible supply that is promised to us which will be channelled to us by Christ Jesus. Christ is the guarantee of the divine supply. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).