“We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house”

[Psalms 65]

The book “When Is Enough, Enough?” (authors: Laurie Ashner and Mitch Meyerson) is a psychological analysis about those who captivated themselves with the obsession that they were always unsatisfied and anxious about something even when they achieved something, and that they weren't happy when something good happened.  The authors who have been in psychological counseling for over 10 years refer to this condition as ‘chronic dissatisfaction syndrome’, and analyze the seven psychological symptoms associated with it and talk about how to cure it.  The authors point out that these symptoms of dissatisfaction were more severe for those who achieved what they wanted and got what they wanted rather than those who had suffered many failures.  Looking at people who feel rather depressed when they should be happy, the authors emphasize that satisfaction is never a matter of achievement or possession, and that dissatisfaction that builds up little by little and binds oneself is a bigger problem.  People with Chronic Dissatisfaction Syndrome are said to have the following psychological characteristics (Internet):

• Even if they succeed, they don’t feel joy.  Rather, they wonder if they can do it again when they need to be happy.
• Even if they think they are special and talented, they even doubt themselves.
• They feel upset because others don’t recognize their efforts, but it is uncomfortable to receive praise.
• Rather than taking the lead, they are always satisfied with the role of helping someone.  They feel bitter when they see a person whom they thought was less capable and insignificant than themselves is doing well.
• Just that kind of success isn't enough.  Being mediocre is like failing.
• They think they shouldn't rely on others.  If they have problems with the opposite sex, family, or work, they always blame themselves.
• They should always prove themselves.
• Unconsciously repeating situations that feel frustrated.
• They hate reaching out to others.
• They always struggle.

Are you satisfied with your life?  If you aren’t satisfied, how will you be satisfied?  Will you be satisfied if you had a lot of material and an abundant income?  This is what Solomon confessed in Ecclesiastes 5:10 – “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.”  Will you be satisfied if you enjoy everything your eyes want and what your heart enjoys?  Solomon also confesses to this: “All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor.”  I wonder where there a person in this world who has enjoyed everything like King Solomon did.  When we think about the confession that King Solomon has made in the end “Vanity of vanities!  All is vanity” (1:2) after he enjoyed all things, we cannot but confess that in the end nothing can satisfy our souls.

                However, in Psalms 65:4, the psalmist David confesses: “How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You To dwell in Your courts We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple.”  Here, “Your house, Your holy temple” symbolizes the church, and “WeI will be satisfied with the goodness” means that we are satisfied with “spiritual grace” (Park).  So, under the heading “We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,” I would like to receive three  lessons about how our church should be satisfied with His spiritual grace.

First, we must be satisfied with God's answer to our prayers (Ps. 65:1-4).

                Look at Psalms 65:2 – “O You who hear prayer, To You all men come.”  What we can see here is that our Lord is the hearer of prayer.  However, there are times when the Lord will not answer our prayers.  In other words, there are three great obstacles in answered prayer.

(1)   Our sins.

Look at Isaiah 59:1-2: “Behold, the LORD'S hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear.  But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”  

(2)   Our refusal to listen to the word of God.

Look at Proverbs 28:9 – “He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.”

(3)   Our pride.

Look at James 4:6 – “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  When we are proud, God does not answer our prayers.

Then what kind of prayer does our Lord hear?

(1)   Our Lord hears to the prayer of praise.

Look at Psalms 65:1 – “There will be silence before You, and praise in Zion, O God, And to You the vow will be performed.”  As we learned in the June Bible study “The Power of Prayer,” there are many types of prayer: praise, thanksgiving, confession, intercession, and supplication.  Among these, the prayer of praise is a prayer that first knows and acknowledges God is God in prayer.  As a good example, I remember Psalms 18:1-2: “I love You, O LORD, my strength.  The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”  The psalmist David stayed quietly (“silence”) in front of the Lord, anxiously looking forward to praise God (Park).  In particular, he wanted to praise “God of our salvation” (v. 5).

(2)   Our Lord hears to our thanksgiving prayer.

Look at Psalms 65:2 – “O You who hear prayer, To You all men come.”  The God of David, and our God is the Lord who hears our prayers.  Therefore, we are giving thanks to God.  Furthermore, as David said, “all men,” Jews and Gentiles, both nobles and lowly, come to pray to God (Park).

(3)   Our Lord hears the prayer of confession (repentance).

Look at Psalms 65:3 – “Iniquities prevail against me; As for our transgressions, You forgive them.”  If we look at 1 John 1:9, the assurance of forgiveness verse, the Bible promises this: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

                The church is a house of prayer.  We are people who pray.  Therefore, we must go up to the Lord's house and pray to Him.  We must offer a prayer of praise, a prayer of thanksgiving, and a prayer of repentance to God.  In doing so, we must be satisfied with God who answers our prayers.

Second, we must be satisfied with God’s giving victory of war to us (Ps. 65:5-8).

In Psalms 65:5-8, David gave thanks to God for the grace that He gave to him, the victory of the war, that he was saved from Absalom's revolt (Park).  In the midst of Absalom's persecution and dilemma, David relied entirely on God.  So when he offered the prayer of praise, the prayer of thanksgiving, and the prayer of repentance to God, God heard the prayer and answered it.  That is, God saved David from Absalom and his people.  So David confessed: “By awesome deeds You answer us in righteousness, O God of our salvation, You who are the trust of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea” (v. 5).  Here, the word that God answered David's prayer “in righteousness” was David’s conviction that God who saved David in the past would save him even now through wonderful things, supernatural works” (Park).  David prayed to the God of salvation and believed that He would hear his prayers and answer him.  Within that faith, it was the strength of the Lord that David relied on and believed in (v. 6).  When David became weak and chased by Absalom and his men, David trusted in Almighty God, who established the mountains by His strengthen and being girded with might.  The Almighty God he trusted in was the God who calmed down the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmult of the peoples (v. 7).  David, who trusted in that God, had joy.  On the contrary, fear came to Absalom and his people, who opposed God's servant David (v. 8).

This is what 2 Samuel 8:6 says, “…  And the LORD helped David wherever he went.”  The Lord made David win the war wherever he went.  Therefore, David trusted in God and with God he gained the victory (Ps. 60:12).  The triumphant God was with David, and in David's combative life, he entered the battle with confidence of victory, and he was satisfied and thankful because the Lord made him triumph.  Like David, we must act courageously, trusting in God completely.  Of course, continuing spiritual warfare can cause our souls to suffer, torment, anxiety, and disappointment.  However, like David, we must completely trust in the God of salvation in our spiritual warfare.  In particular, we must fight this spiritual battle by relying on the power of the God of salvation.  In this spiritual fight, we must trust in the victorious Lord.  He is with us and will make us victorious in our spiritual warfare.  With this assurance of this victory, we must live a militant life.  In the meantime, we must satisfy our souls through the victory that the Lord gives us.  Furthermore, we must be satisfied with the victorious Lord.

Third and last, we must be satisfied with good harvest (Ps. 65:9-13).

Look at Psalms 65:9 – “You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it.”  The God who created the heavens and the earth is a God who provides grain to his people and provides them with abundance.  He is the God who makes the land very rich because of the opening of the heavenly gate and giving rain and moistening the earth with water.  He is the God who “drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops” (v. 10).  God blessed David with the good harvest.  This can be evidence that God had heard David's prayer of repentance.  In other words, God is the God who makes us needy like the prodigal son when we don’t repent after committing a sin, so that we long for the abundant house of God and turn to God and repent.  In the end, when David was driven away by Absalom for the sin he committed in the royal palace, God made David to repent in the wilderness.  After that, God brought David back to the royal palace, thereby enriching David.

Even when we are in need like the prodigal son, we should be grateful because all of the material things we depended on are lost, which gives us an opportunity to look to God and rely on God again.  If we can thank God when we are in need, how can we not be grateful for the abundance that God gives us?  We are those who have received every spiritual blessings in Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:4).  We have been chosen by our Heavenly Father, who predestined us, and have become His children (v. 5).  In addition, we have been forgiven (redemption) of our sins and have become “the glory of His grace” (v. 6).  All of these are spiritual blessings given to us in Christ Jesus by our Heavenly Father.  We are those who have already received abundant grace from God.  Therefore, we must live with satisfaction with His abundant grace.  Like Apostle Paul, we must learn the secret of self-sufficiency (Phil. 4:11-12).  What is the secret to that self-sufficiency?  It is to be satisfied with the Lord alone.  Look at Philippians 4:11-13: “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”  No matter how rich we are, if we are not satisfied with the Lord alone, it will be a curse on us.  However, even if we are in need, if we can be satisfied with the Lord alone, our need will be a blessing to us.

Wanting to live with satisfaction with the Lord alone,

James Kim

(In the spiritual grace of the Lord who answers my prayer, who gives me victory, and who shows me abundant grace)