Welcome back, we’re moving again on God’s highway of life. Our map? The alphabet of Christianity found in the Bible. Today’s letter is S for SATISFACTION.
Are you satisfied? With what, you ask. With LIFE.
Are you satisfying? How, you ask. In sharing LIFE with others.
Are you dissatisfied? What if there were a Satisfaction Depot!? Psalm 103:1-5 helps us scratch the itch we all have – satisfaction!
> Vs. 1: Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Ever traveled all the way to your inmost being, your soul? Only the Lord, God, can satisfy our souls. We’re born rebellious, dissatisfied souls, self-absorbed, even self-destructive. We praise ourselves and raise havoc – and it hurts inside, deep, dissatisfying to the max. If we begin to praise, worship God and call upon His name, then satisfaction is born in our inmost being – our new future begins.
> Vs. 2: Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. What benefits? By worship and praise we can recieve the temporal and eternal benefits named in verses 6-22 of this Psalm. A good, working memory is a great aid to satisfaction. Christian, sometimes we need a good “memory workout”.
> Vs. 3: Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. The Lord is a flabbergasting forgiver! And a heavenly healer! There are two kinds of sinners – forgiven or unforgiven. Christ is our sin-bearer; He alone can satisfy the sin debt we owe to God. Christ’s forgiving death upon His cross brings forgiveness of all our sins to us – IF – we confess and repent by faith. Before you can receive you must believe! Christ’s joy is to forgive, our joy comes in repentance – our debt is satisfied. No more guilt. No more penalty. Forgiveness and healing – how satisfying is that?
> Vs. 4: Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion. “The pits” – many describe life this way. Why is the pit populated by people of all walks of life? Two reasons: 1) The “pit” is all image – shining with the allure of money, fame, fortune, pleasure, sex, power – you know. We get sucked in by its shiny appearance. 2) The pit is the pit – it respects no one, will swallow up anyone, is hungry for everyone. Definitely not satisfying. Put you hand out and up to the Lord, He will redeem you, crowning you with His love and His compassion so you can become like Him – loving and compassionate. We can be uplifted, uploaded and truly up! Thank God.
> Vs. 5: Who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Our desires make or break us. Praising God from our inmost being, forgetting not His benefits, receiving His forgiveness and healing, being redeemed from the pit, being crowned with love and compassion – some of God’s “good things” that truly satisfy. And look! Our life is renewed – like an eagle soaring, we feel good, new, young, happy and satisfied. Praise the Lord, o my soul.
God is our guarantor of satisfaction now and forever. Chuck.