What a table was here spread for me in a wilderness, where I saw nothing at first but to perish for hunger.

Answer: This is an extract taken from Chapter 13 of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. In these lines, Crusoe expresses his heartfelt thanks to God for spreading his table with delicious dishes even in the wilderness.

When Crusoe got marooned on the island, he thought of himself as one of the most miserable wretches, because he was at that time on the edge of disaster, on the verge of destruction for want of food and shelter on the desolate island. But now Crusoe is enriched with food. He has ‘goat’s flesh’ or mutton, milk, butter, and cheese in plenty. He now completely believes that the supreme Creator can arrange such delectable nourishments for His creature even in the wilderness.

Here we observe the spiritual progress of Robinson Crusoe. He completely surrenders to the will of God and wonders at his bountifulness.