I did know thee in the wilderness
Where there were no food nor drink, where were scorpions, serpents, and beasts of prey; there the Lord knew them, owned them, and showed a fatherly affection for them, and care of them; and fed them with manna and quails, and guided and directed them in the way, and protected and preserved them from their enemies, and from all hurt and danger. So the Targum explains it,
``I sufficiently supplied their necessities in the wilderness:''in the land of great drought;
``in a land in which thou desirest everything;''that is, wants everything. The first seems best, and is a fit a description of the wilderness, which was a place of drought, wherein was no water, ( Deuteronomy 8:15 ) .