Lasting Satisfaction

7 FEBRUARY

 

As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness. Psalm 17:15

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Jeremiah 31:10-14

Some interpreters, with more subtlety than propriety, restrict the meaning of this verse to the resurrection at the last day. That supposes David did not expect to experience a blessed joy in his heart until the life to come. It also suspends every longing desire after it until attaining that life. I readily admit that the satisfaction David speaks of will not be perfect before the last coming of Christ, but as saints, we do find great enjoyment when God causes some rays of the knowledge of His love to enter into our hearts. David justly calls this peace or joy of the Holy Spirit satisfaction.

The ungodly may be at ease and have abundance, even to bursting, of good things, but their desire is insatiable. They feed upon wind or earthly things without tasting spiritual things, in which there is substance. Then they are stupefied through the pungent remorse of conscience that torments them so they cannot enjoy the good things they possess. They do not have composed and tranquil minds but are kept unhappy by inward passions that perplex and agitate them.

Only the grace of God can give us contentment and prevent us from being distracted by irregular desires.

Thus I have no doubt that David alludes in this verse to the empty joys of the world that only famish the soul while they sharpen and increase the appetite. That shows us that only those who seek felicity in the enjoyment of God alone partake of true and substantial happiness.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: Satisfaction in God is the only true satisfaction that lasts. It is also the best antidote for worldliness. How can you cultivate such satisfaction today? This is the only way to find more joy in serving God and find worldliness less desirable.

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Lasting Joy

6 FEBRUARY

Thou wilt show me the path of life: in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Proverbs 5:1-14

When God is reconciled to us, we have all things necessary for happiness. The phrase Thy presence (i.e., the countenance of God) may be understood both as God beholding us or our beholding God. The fatherly favor that God displays in looking upon us with a serene countenance precedes our joy and is the first cause of it. Yet this does not cheer us until, on our part, we behold it shining upon us.

David also uses this clause to distinctly express to whom those pleasures belong. God has in His hands such a full and overflowing abundance of pleasures that these pleasures are sufficient to replenish and satisfy the whole world. So why does a dismal and deadly darkness envelop the greater part of mankind? It can only be because God does not look upon all men equally with His friendly and fatherly countenance. And because He does not open the eyes of all men to seek joy in Him and nowhere else. 

Fullness of joy stands in contrast to the evanescent allurements of this transitory world. People who divert themselves with the miserable pleasures of the world will eventually find themselves unsatisfied, famished, and disappointed. People may excessively intoxicate and glut themselves with worldly pleasures, but instead of being satisfied, they will in time become wearied of them to the point of loathing.

The pleasures of this world will vanish like dreams. David says the only true and solid joy in which the minds of men may rest cannot be found anywhere else but in God. None but the faithful who are content with God's grace alone can be truly and perfectly happy.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: The pleasures of evil evaporate quickly and leave nothing but bitterness. So why are we so often lured by earthly things? Why do we look for happiness in ungodly entertainment? Do not be fooled by the promises of the world. Seek the joy that is pure and eternal.

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke