Satisfy Us Early

How easily we forget the goodness of our God.

This verse has been on my heart for the past month:

“Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,

That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!” – Psalm 90:14

The psalmist (who happens to be Moses) seems to boldly be declaring that if we can just learn early in life to be satisfied with the depths of God’s mercy, our days will be filled with joy and gladness.

Simple, in theory. Yet incredibly hard to put into practice. Ironic, considering that this psalm was written during the wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel, the picture-postcard for all time of a complaining, ungrateful people.

We, too, are an unsatisfied, restless people. We believe, by and large, that we deserve to have it all. We have, obviously, earned the promotion, the relationship, the right for our goals to be met and our desires fulfilled. And if we don’t get it (whatever it might be), at the exact moment we think we deserve it, we slump into restlessness, discontent, or bitterness.

But the reality is, God never guaranteed us marriage or children. He never promised perfect health, or financial stability, or a community that feels like home.

He did, however, promise us abundant life. Today, tomorrow, and for all eternity.

Do we even realize all that we’re missing out on by not resting in that promise?

It is no easy thing to grasp abundant life. Days come to all of us that feel as if they were hand-delivered from the gates of hell. Sorrow and joy clasp hands more often than I would like. Sickness, heartache, conflict, and misunderstandings seep into the peace of our days like a dark stain. In the measure of our days, we will all walk through wilderness hours, the end of friendships, and the agony of losing people we love. Our lives will be ravaged by disease and trouble and a thousand little annoyances. Loneliness haunts our every step. People die. Fires burn to ash. Storms tear their way across even the summer sky.

But in the midst of it all, He promises to satisfy the desire of every living thing. And He, this nail-scarred King who keeps His word even unto death, does satisfy.

I’ve always loved the words of David in Psalm 34:8: “O taste and see that the Lord is good.” We already have the only good thing, the only One who can satisfy our every longing. Yet all too often, we are like children gobbling down golden peaches and wishing for something else, unable to see the glory of what is already in our hands. This is about more than just holding on tight until we begrudgingly learn to be content. This is about a richness of fulfillment that our minds can but dimly comprehend. 

We have been given so much more than we deserve. Mercy, grace, redemption, forgiveness, restoration, unspeakable joy, renewal, gladness of heart, kindness, atonement, perfect peace, Jesus. Friends, we have Jesus, and everything we could possibly need is found in Him. His mercy alone should be enough to satisfy us, but we chase after every shiny distraction, forgetting that we are already living in abundant life. We have been showered with blessings, heaped about with grace, and yet we are fixated on everything but the One who can actually fulfill us.

If only we could learn to be satisfied, how much agony we would be spared. If only our finite minds could remember all that He has done on our behalf – the wars He has won for us, the hurts healed, the sin conquered, the towers of death torn down, the glorious promised kingdom yet to come.

It is a long lesson to learn. It might take us 40 years of wandering in the wilderness before we learn it. How kind our King is to walk alongside us, even when we doubt Him. How patient He is when we turn our backs on Him, day after day, to chase after worthless things in lieu of the feast He has spread for us. He holds the answer to every question. He is the true fulfillment of every desire, the ‘real thing’ instead of the shadows we wander away after. He is our complete consolation in the midst of tears. He is the Lover of our souls.

How beyond worthy of our worship He is and will always be. 

“You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” – Psalm 145:16