SATISFACTION

(Psa_17:15.)
Psa 17:15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be
satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
Satisfaction! What a magical word! Oh! What is it? Where is it to be found?
Who shall teach us to realise it? In this verse we have suggested to us,
I. The nature of true satisfaction.
1. It is spiritual. The Psalmist shows here that it is not external and physical,
but internal and spiritual.
The sensual men in the 14th verse,
are not satisfied men
are not men seeking satisfaction in a right direction.
Not in mere sensuality shall we ever find content.
You cannot satisfy the body with thoughts, neither can you satisfy
the soul with meats. Not in social rank and glory shall we prove
satisfaction. The ancient star-worshippers affixed mirrors to their breasts
to bring near to them the orbs they worshipped, but the orbs themselves
were far away in the heavens, nevertheless; and titles, purple, coronets,
golden fortunes, crowns of fame, are but mirrors also in which you have
the reflections of high and glorious things—reflections, and nothing
more. Not in mere intellectuality shall we find content,—art, science,
philosophy. St. Augustine complains to God of his friends offering him
the books of the philosophers;—“And these were the dishes in which
they brought to me, being hungry, the sun and the moon instead of
Thee.” True satisfaction is not in the sphere of the senses, but of the
spirit.
2. It is complete. The satisfaction of the sensual in the 14th verse, is one-
sided, only regarding one section of the complex nature. The Psalmist’s
satisfaction was all pervasive—the gratification of his whole being—appetite,
sensibility, imagination, spirit. “Their’s, partial, defective, such as would but
gratify their bestial part; his, adequate, complete, a happiness of proportion,
such as should satisfy the man.”—John Howe.
3. It is full, “satisfied, fed to the full.”—French. The whole nature blessed, and
fully blessed. “They hunger no more, neither do they thirst any more.”
4. It is everlasting. The Psalmist looks forward here to the great future, and
anticipates endless blessedness. The perpetuity of the inheritance of the
worldly man referred to in Psa_17:14, is quite a mock immortality—he dies,
and his estate is soon dissipated; but the joy of a spiritualised and perfected
nature flows for evermore.
II. The source of true satisfaction.
1. The vision of God. “As for me—in righteousness let me behold Thy face.”—
Perowne. The knowledge of God—the perception of His goodness, wisdom,
beauty. The secret of all our discontents is our misapprehension of the Divine
nature, law, government, purpose. If we could see the Throne, and Him that
sits thereupon, with unclouded face—for really the cloud is on our face, not on
God’s—our soul would be filled with ecstasy. To know that God is all beauty,
and His law all love, and His government all wise, and His kingdom and
eternity all joy—to know this, is overflowing and everlasting gladness. To have
a clear, full vision of Jesus, Who is the brightness of the Father’s glory, is the
secret of satisfaction. Observe, it is through righteousness that we gain this
vision. “In righteousness let me behold Thy face.” “Blessed are the pure in
heart, for they shall see God.”
2. The likeness of God. “When I awake with Thy likeness.” “When Thy likeness
is awakened.”—Horsley. As we become pure we get the clearer vision of God,
and as we get the clearer vision of God, the Divine image is inwrought once
more in our deepest nature. “We all with open face beholding as in a glass the
glory of the Lord,” &c. (2Co_3:18).
“Unlike my God I cannot rest,
For sin is perfect misery:
But stamp Thine image on my breast,
Conform my hallowed soul to Thee.
“Partaker of Thine utmost grace,
My soul would then be satisfied;
As Moses, when he saw Thy face,
And sank into Thine arms and died.”
(1.) This satisfaction may be largely attained in this life. It is a
grave error to place this satisfaction wholly in the future. In this life we
may, through the grace of Jesus, attain power over sin, fix our heart
singly upon God, and attain thus to the vision of God, the likeness of
God, and all the joy of which God is the fountain. Let us seek a pure
heart.
(2.) This satisfaction is fully attained in the life to come. “They
shall see His face, and His name shall be in their foreheads.” Here we
begin to awake in the likeness of God, and as His image shines more
clear in our soul, our satisfaction becomes more profound; in heaven,
that likeness shall be complete—we shall see Him as He is, and our joy
shall be full.
Psalm 17:15, "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied,
when I awake, with thy likeness."

This morning, let us consider some of the sweeter thoughts of Scripture. While natural
men cannot live and subsist simply on bread alone, meat alone, etc., so God's spiritual
people cannot subsist on one food group of God's word alone. People who eat primarily
from one type of food group will become malnourished and sickly, and God's people
who focus on one group of thoughts to the neglect of the rest become faulty in
understanding. This is why preaching on heaven's pure world all the time to the neglect
of the other brings
about "fuzzy ideas." The foolish notions that have been spouted as of late about the "end
times" comes from the constant attention being given to those things to the neglect of
other passages. Therefore, we need to be found declaring all the counsel of God, but it
does us good, from time to time, to focus directly upon that to which we are going for a
little while before going back into the trenches of life. These times are the "beating back
out of our armour" if you will. The world seeks to beat in and dent the armour we wear,
but focusing on heaven for a little while beats it all back out to fight another day.

David concludes this Psalm with one of the most beautiful declarations of that happy
estate to which we are going. While we have not many words to even begin to describe
what is coming, David gives enough here to provide solace and sustenance for our
journey and race. Many times, people ask questions like, "What is it going to be like in
heaven? Will we have this? Will we have that?" To many of these queries, I must
respond, "I don't know." Paul himself was caught up to the third heaven (II Corinthians
12), but even he could not describe the experience. John sought to write what the seven
thunders uttered (Revelation 10), but he was expressly forbidden to pen it. Therefore,
heaven's pure world is beyond our feeble lips to declare, but what we have on record is
enough. It has been said that what makes heaven heaven is the One who dwells there,
and may we feel that thought, coupled with the words of Scripture, to be enough for us
here.

David gives two primary thoughts about what heaven's pure world will be like. The first
primary thought about it is that we will be satisfied in the presence of His righteousness.
As we behold that glorious face
of our Dear Saviour, we will be completely and wholly satisfied. Have you ever felt
satisfied here? Has anything in the world brought satisfaction to us? Indeed, we have all
felt some passing happiness in some worldly endeavour, but was that satisfaction or just
fleeting, emotional contentment? At other times, we have felt lifted up in His presence in
His house and been almost at the gates of glory reaching out to touch it. During these
times, we can see His face as He appears through the lattice, and heaven seems but a step
away. During these times, we can feel satisfied in the manifest Spirit-filled house, but
again, this is fleeting.

How long does the joy of seeing the Master's face last? How does our heart yearn after
that experience to see Him again? David speaks of complete satisfaction, for we will see
Him as He is. We will know Him as He knows us, and that face will not be shown
through a lattice nor depart from us. That face of Jesus Christ our Lord will be ever
before us in complete and beautiful glory! That is enough to satisfy all of God's children.
Right now, we are housed in these old bodies of clay that are not fit for standing in His
glorious presence. The new creature (inner man/changed soul and spirit) is yearning for
the day that all of God's dear children will be manifest. He is yearning to be delivered
from the bondage of vanity that he has been made subject to, but one day, that release
will come with the redemption of these bodies. (Romans 8:18-22)
This brings us to the next primary point that David makes. While what makes heaven
heaven is the presence
of the LORD, what makes satisfaction never-ending in this scene is that not only do we
stand there beholding the Lord for eternity, but we are there with His likeness. While I
have not the words to describe what that looks like, the only sufficiency can be in what
John pens about that state. It does not yet appear what we shall be, but the one thing we
know is that His appearing will be marked with us appearing with Him in glory and like
unto Him. (I John 3:1-2) What does that look like? It looks like Him. What does He look
like? He looks perfect, beautiful, complete, glorious, and every other good and
magnanimous adjective that we could tack on. Is that enough?

David's heart longed for that day that he would behold the Lord's face in glory, be
satisfied in His presence, and appear with the likeness of the One who died for him.
However, make no mistake about this dear ones. While we have His likeness, no one
will mistake us for Him. He will still have the preeminence among His brethren, and He
alone will be worshipped in all eternity. Likewise, no one will mistake you for anyone
else, but as one star differeth from another star in glory, you will be you. We understand
that celestial stars have their own personal characteristics, but we understand that they
all look like stars. In the resurrection, we will
still bear our personal identity, but we will all look like Christ and of the same family
(for we will be).

So, let us close with a borrowed illustration from my dear departed father. When I was
born, that little baby was me. Later in life, I became a toddler that got into everything,
ate everything in the house, and was more than a handful, but it was still me. Then, I
grew to school age and went off to school, but that was still me. Later, I became an
athletic teenager that thought he could take on anyone and anything and was bigger than
life, but that person was still me.

Today, as a minister of the gospel, husband, and father, I realize how foolish that
teenager was, but this is still me. In a few years if the Lord blesses me to continue here, I
will be middle-aged or perhaps even over the hill, and that person will still be me. One
day, if the Lord does not come back first, my body will be laid to rest in the ground
somewhere with the soul and spirit caught up to , and that will still be me. When the
Lord gathers His jewels home and my body is reunited with the soul and spirit, it will
still be me. And through all the ages of eternity, it will still be me, and dear friends it
will still be you as well with all of us beholding His glorious image in perfect
satisfaction.