Satisfied with God’s Mercy

Psalm 90 has often been called “the Revival Psalm”. It begins with a display of God’s goodness and majesty, contrasted with the fleeting nature of human life. It speaks of God knowing our iniquities and our secret sins, and then goes on to stress the importance of keeping the brevity of life before us as a motivation to apply our hearts to wisdom.

But then, the Psalmist makes a plea that I find quite striking. He says, “O satisfy us early with Thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” From this we can infer that the way to rejoice and be glad throughout our lives is to be satisfied with God’s mercy.

God’s mercy is indeed enough to make us rejoice and be glad. We each deserved to die and be plunged into eternal torment because of our sin, and yet God’s mercy made a way not only for us to be spared that unending misery, but also for us to spend an eternity enjoying His presence in a place of holy perfection.

It is the mercy of God that sustains us each day, that provides for our needs, that strengthens us in our weaknesses, that heals our hurts. It is the mercy of God that grants to us each breath we take, and it is His mercy that allows us to have a part in bringing glory to Him.

But are we satisfied with God’s mercy? Our human hearts have a bent towards discontent, and often the temptation is strong to believe that if we just had a little bit more than we have, we would be happy. A higher paycheck. A bigger house. A nicer car. A spouse. A child. Approval. Support. The list could go on and on, because like the four things listed in Proverbs 30:16, our hearts are never satisfied; they never say enough. We always want just a little bit more.

But satisfaction is not beyond our reach. Our human nature may pull us towards the desire for more, but for the saved in Christ, there is another nature pulling us towards satisfaction in Christ. Romans says that Christ came “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (8:4) In Christ, we are not held captive to the dictates of our sin nature. We can instead yield to the Holy Spirit.

We can choose to remember God’s mercies, to think on them, to speak of them to others, and we can choose to be satisfied with God’s mercy.

This month of November is one in which we are reminded almost daily to be grateful. Our hearts will only be truly grateful when we are humbly conscious of and satisfied with God’s mercy.

As we enter this season of gratitude, will you choose to rest in the satisfaction of all the mercy God has so lavishly bestowed upon you?