Satisfaction
The Rolling Stones sang “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”. This is a true statement; if you are seeking satisfaction in the world.
The meaning of the word “satisfaction” is: “fulfillment of one’s wishes, expectations, or needs, or the pleasure derived from this.” Man continually seeks satisfaction. It is an on-going search that leads to many disappointments.
In Proverbs we read these words “so the eyes of man are never satisfied”. We also find this theme throughout Ecclesiastes. Man is not satisfied because he is seeking satisfaction in the wrong place and the wrong things.
Even God’s people sometimes seek satisfaction in the things of this world, but find it lacking. God is always waiting for us to come to Him. Isa. 55:2 “Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.”
The Psalms on the other hand give us a different picture of satisfaction. Psalm 22:26 says, “The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.” Psalm 36:7-8, “How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.” We are seeing the real solution to satisfaction. Seeking God and putting our trust in Him. Who would know better how to bring satisfaction to our soul than the one that made us?
In Psalm 65:4 we find satisfaction in God’s presence. “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.”
The word used in these verses means to “fill to the fullest”. Just a reminder that God does not do anything half way. Lack of satisfaction is an emptiness seeking to be filled. Only God can fill man’s emptiness. The world and all of its offerings leave emptiness. God’s presence over fills our souls.
While we certainly can and do find satisfaction in our Lord while here on this earth, it is only a small taste of what awaits us. Our seeking for satisfaction truly culminates in being in God’s presence in the fulness of His glory. Psalm 17:15 “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.”
God is filling us with His fullness here, so that we might be able to enjoy His fullness for eternity. What a shame to miss out on God’s fullness because we are trying to fill our lives with temporary things of this world. Let the things of this world be emptied from you, and seek full satisfaction in your glorious Lord.
Gordon Crook
