I invite you to take a few moments with me today to go on a journey through Psalm 145:16-21. Just a few short verses packed full with truth, promise, and life. Are you with me?
“You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.” (Psalm 145:16)
I’m amazed at what a slow learner I can tend to be. How many times do I need to learn that true satisfaction is always and only found in Christ? And still, I find myself running toward the tangible to somehow fill the aches and holes in my heart. But here in verse 16, we read that when God opens His hand toward us, our desires our satisfied. Let’s look to Him today, friends.
“The Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His works.” (Psalm 145:17)
I know I’m not alone when I say that there have been times when I doubt, when my faith is weak, when my vision can’t see past the immediate, and I wonder if God is still good. Here in verse 17, we are reminded of His unchanging character. He is always righteous in everything that He does. He is always kind in all of His ways. He can’t be anything but.
“The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.” (Psalm 145:18)
I’m in a season where God is calling me back to devoted prayer. Let me clarify. We’re always supposed to be devoted to prayer, but for me right now, He’s calling me to an even deeper level of it with Him. This is perhaps why I love verse 18 so much, because it is the reminder of HIs promise to hear our prayers and to be near to us when we cry out to Him. I don’t know what that does for you, but the promise of the nearness of His presence is sometimes all that I need to see me through the valley. There’s such confidence to be found in this one verse.
“He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him; He also hears their cry and saves them.” (Psalm 145:19)
Again, we’re met with more than enough reason to find satisfaction in God alone. To those who revere the Lord, He promises to fulfill their desires. The beauty in this promise that I think is often missed is what God is revealing here. He’s not promising to give us everything we ever wanted because as the good Father He is, He knows that many of our desires are not good for us. It’s the transformation that is revealed in this verse that I love so much: “those who fear Him.” When we truly fear the Lord, the desires of our hearts change. They become righteous desires, godly desires, good desires. Therefore, when we cry out to Him, He fulfills, He hears, He saves.
“The Lord preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.” (Psalm 145:20)
God’s heart of justice is shown here. In a world that is so full of wickedness and every form of evil, where the murderers go free and the ungodly seem to thrive in their ways, God sees all, and one day, He will set all things right. The wicked will not go unpunished. The righteous will be preserved. Justice will be served. Satisfaction can be found in that truth.
“My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless His holy name forever and ever.” (Psalm 145:21)
Because of every benefit listed in verses 16-20, verse 21 is the only appropriate response of our hearts: to praise Him forever. Because God and God alone truly satisfies. Soul satisfaction can only be found in Him. We can and will exhaust ourselves running after the temporary pleasures that this world has to offer, or we can run to Jesus today, laying all lesser things aside, and find the satisfaction that we are so desperately looking for.
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