Satisfaction in God Alone
Many individuals (Christians included) are looking for things that will bring about lasting joy and satisfaction. We buy cars that will have all of the gadgets, run well, and last as long as possible (Honda and Toyotas, of course). We invest in things that have great reviews and we perceive will bring about the most satisfaction for the longest time possible. Some seek lasting satisfaction in relationships. “If I just date this person, I will find the joy that I so desperately crave.” Others spend money on exciting vacations to the ends of the earth. Even some, seem to identify their satisfaction with their work at the expense of their health and family.
This past week I have had the joy of mediating through the Psalms in my personal time with the Lord. Many of the Psalms are very familiar to Christians due to their vivid and raw exposures to the human heart. Most Psalms, written by David, can be traced back to Biblical events and situations found in the life of the man “after God’s own heart.”
Psalm 63 was written as David was making his way through the Judaean wilderness fleeing yet another one of Saul’s assassination plots. In this Psalm, David recognizes and reveals that true satisfaction can only be found through God alone. David begins this Psalm by alluding his physical reality to his heart’s true desire: “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.” This verse frames our need to seek God. David’s thirst for God was driven by a lack of God. The follower of Jesus, indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, knows his dire need for God to satisfy. There is a great assurance of his salvation in knowing that he needs Him and has a desire, driven by the Spirit, to seek after Him. This is the “blessedness of barren places” as one author used to describe this Psalm. It is a “painful gift of priceless worth, because it drives us like nothing else to the only fountain that will quench our soul-thirst.”
David moves towards his sense of the goodness of God and the value of His loving favor. The Psalmist is able to express that life “is worth the living just because He lives.” God’s loving care and favor bring about a purpose for David. He is allowed to find his happiness in God and to praise him amid any calamity that may befall him.
“Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.” Psalm 63:2-4
As he recalls God’s former mercies his heart rejoices and is encouraged to trust his Lord more. He recognizes that God’s very “right hand upholdeth me.” During moments of uncertainty, difficulty, and even internal struggle, David reminds himself that it is God alone that satisfies. Psalm 63 is the equivalent of a thirsty man taking a long drink of water after hours of hard labor…Satisfied.
Brothers and sisters — nothing in this world will ever satisfy like our God. Even today, resist the temptation to place an idol in the rightful spot of your Savior.
“Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:10-14
Pastor Jordan