Excuse Me, What Did You Say “Really Satisifies Me”?

Psalms 103: Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

 

At this point if you know me at all or at least read the things I write about, than you know I tend to get excited about spiritual and physical health. I love the way God has made our bodies work, and that if we take care of them in a manner in which He has laid out, than these bodies will indeed “work” for us instead of against us.

As I read this passage I thought of the ‘Snickers’ commercials that I used to see when I watched TV. Their slogan “Snickers really satisfies me!”, makes me laugh. You see these active people, mountain biking, hiking, swimming, various kinds of physical activity that would cause them to be hungry. Now, being a pretty active person myself, who loves to run, work out, garden, and all of the activities pictured in the advertisement, I find it ridiculous that they say it “satisfies”, the only thing that may give a feeling of satisfaction would be the peanuts. Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a snickers, but I usually stay away from them . If I start going for these kinds of things than I start craving them instead of the food that will truly satisfy my body hunger. What is my point?

Over and over again, we see in Psalms that God “satisfies”. And yet, over and over again, we go to the things of this world, that true, may, like the candy bar, have some tiny bit of good in them that may satisfy  us for a period, but if we keep on going to them, they will ultimately destroy. I think most of us get this idea. But lets look at all the benefits we are to tell our soul to not forget. This true SOUL SATISFACTION my friends!

 

#1 “Forgives all my iniquity”.  My sin has caused me more grief than I could ever imagine. I worry and fret over things I do or have done more than I could ever worry or fret over the things that have been done by others. I need to know that by and through the blood of Christ I stand forgiven! And I can. A simple verse. A hard concept. My pastor says, “All means ’all’ and that’s all, ‘all’ means.” I love it! God forgives ALL my sin!

#2 “Heals all my diseases”.  This word “heal” is the Hebrew word “raphah”. Here are some of the word’s original meanings. ” to heal, make healthful, healer of hurts, of nations involving restored favor, of individual distresses.” But one thing I learned this morning is that it also means “to mend by stitching.” I am a seamstress, used to sew a lot more than I do now, but I still love it. How awesome that my God and I can relate this way. I love that this meaning gives a “process picture” as Beth Moore states it. I have never been able to sew something unless it is in my hands. WOW! That spoke to me. I don’t want to be asking the Mender of my heart to stitch me up, and I haven’t even relinquished my hold on the very fabric of my hurts!

#3. “He redeems my life from the pit.” O!!! Let me tell you! This is so true of me. I have been in pits that I was pushed into, and yet I chose to stay in! I have been in pits that I fell into. I have been in pits that I jumped into with both feet!” But they were all “the pits”! It didn’t matter which one I was in, they all had one thing in common, I had to be redeemed from them!

#4. “He crowns me with steadfast love and mercy”. OK! I am truly worked up right now, my “hand-me-down” laptop may not be able to handle the stomping my fingers are giving these keys! Once Christ redeems my life from the pit, He then CROWNS me with His steadfast love and mercy! Isn’t it nice to know that no matter what kind of day you are having, His love is steadfast? Isn’t it great to know that we come to Him and He has mercy that is just as steady as that love? OH MY!

and my favorite…..(at least for today)

#5. “He satisfies me with good, (WHY?) so that my youth is renewed like the eagles!” Charles Spurgeon said in 1870 “Beloved, there is need of this. Every Christian man has need that his soul should be restored, should be refreshed, re-invigorated, newly quickened. As to those who are saved, there is a constant need restoring them to their first love. This is promised in the words before us. I say there is need of it. There is need of it, first, because of the ordinary wear and tear, which operate upon spiritual life, as well as upon every other form of life. You cannot serve God, you cannot praise, you cannot pray, you cannot do anything without some expenditure of strength; and, therefore, you need to have that strength renewed. Moreover, in such a world as this, combatting with temptations, bearing up against the current of society, and I know not what besides of difficulty, takes away our strength. We need, therefore, to go and drink again of the brook by the way, that we may lift up our head once again. The ordinary wear and tear of spiritual life requires this.

Besides that, we are often the subjects of sinful decline. Backsliding is too common a complaint among Christians. We can ascend to the top of the mountain and dwell with God, but our foot soon begins to descend. There is a gravitation towards sinfulness in the best of men. Oh! that it were not so, but we are very conscious that it is so, and, therefore, we need to have the renewal.”

I believe that sums up what I have to say on this matter. However, I think you should go read Psalms 103 this afternoon or whenever you spend the time to read this devotional. Your spiritual strength will be renewed, and your soul will be satisfied!