Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations–Psalm 17:13-15

Welcome to Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations for Psalm 17:13-15 where we learn to be satisfied in the Lord.

Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him!
Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,
from men by your hand, O Lord,
from men of the world whose portion is in this life.
You fill their womb with treasure;
they are satisfied with children,
and they leave their abundance to their infants.

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

David longed for justice.  Everyone can identify with him, for we all have a similar desire, whether our view of what would be just in any and every circumstance is accurate or not.  But David who loved the Lord and, for the most part, enforced a godly form of justice in his reign, longed for God to make a distinction between himself and those who sought his life.  Though he was a mighty warrior, he saw the Lord as his hero, the One who ultimately fought his battles; deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword was his cry.

The wicked, David attests, do not look to the Lord.  They certainly experience blessing in this life, enjoying children and abundance that likely came from their conquests.  Indeed we find that these things even come from the Lord: You fill their womb with treasure.  But, as is so often the case, we do no often acknowledge the One who gives us good things and is sovereign over all. The satisfaction of the wicked terminates on these gifts and not on the Giver of them.  They have nothing to look forward to, eternally speaking, for they look no no further than today.

For David, however, this is not the case.  Though he was blessed with many good things in this life, he is looking toward what is next and anticipating seeing His Lord.  The phrase, when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness, might well refer to David’s awakening in heaven after physical death, but such a perspective has ramifications for how he would look to the Lord each morning after a night’s rest.  For if our sights are fixed on eternity with the One whom we enjoy relationship with today, we will know satisfaction at present.

I fear that I am far less than constant in being satisfied in the Lord.  Indeed I often look more like the wicked who find their greatest satisfaction in the things of this world and even in their dear children.  For if there is one great idol in my life, it is in my family; I fear a tragic separation from them.  And I also find that I am not enjoying them fully when my eyes are not fixed on the Lord.  But when I have beheld the Lord, drawing near to Him and exulting in His Word, I then seek to have my family taken up with similar affections and joyfully embrace them as we look together to our King.  I want them to have in their hearts what I have found to be most precious, for our focus to be narrowed in such a way that we must gather close together to look through the lens that magnifies our Savior.  The family most blessed is the family most taken with Jesus.

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