Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
Psalm 90:14-15
The hit song by the Rolling Stones, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” showed how a catchy tune along with an outstanding performance could overcome even the worst grammar. It also resonated a truth that we find inescapable in this fallen world. No matter how hard we try to find satisfaction in human relationships, material possessions, or personal achievements, we will always end up disappointed.
But Moses found the holy grail of contentment, and revealed it in the verses quoted above. The key to satisfaction is love. Who knew this was a love song? The psalmist pines for love to find him in the morning. Yet, it is not just any love, but God’s steadfast love that secures real and lasting satisfaction.
This should not be hard to understand. As someone else put it, “He has all things who has him who has all things.” (Unknown) Disbelief of this truth caused our first parents to throw away eternal happiness in unbroken communion with God for a taste of forbidden fruit. The Bible is the story of God’s gracious pursuit of his wayward, rebellious creatures. One of Paul’s synonyms for the gospel is “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” (Ephesians 3:18) Faith and repentance are merely the reasonable response of one whose eyes have been opened to see the ineffable “glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)
This steadfast love of God has the power not merely to satisfy us in some mystical and ethereal sense, but to redeem every aspect of our earthly lives. Those relationships that would otherwise drain us or discourage us can be entered into with divine empowerment:
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him…. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:16, 19)
The Christian laborer, whether white collar or blue, finds his employment has been redeemed. He no longer finds his motivation in salary, title, or human accolades. He sets his sights much higher:
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23-24)
Our material possession, or lack thereof, are seen in a whole new light:
I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:12-13)
Even death, itself, has been redeemed:
As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness. (Psalm 17:15)