Wednesday, June 06, 2007

The True Thirst Quencher

C.S. Lewis once said that the fact that our bodies crave food, can't live without food is evidence that food, the thing that sustains the body, exists in the real world. Our bodies are made, designed to process food. This doesn't mean we won't starve to death at some point in our lives, but it is irrefutable proof that the commodity of food is "out there."

Lewis, somewhere, (was it in a letter to Sheldon Vanauken?) wrote that the same logic applies to the spiritual realm. The fact that our souls long for more than this life, more than physical sustenance, is evidence that our spirits were made for something else. We were made for more than can be satisfied with physical things in this world.

Into this marches Psalm 107:9:

For He has satisfied the thirsty soul,
And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.

The thing that satisfies the soul is not a thing at all. "It" is YHWH Himself. He satisfies, the Psalmist tells us. The word is saba (Hb. שָׂבַע ) is often used of the satisfaction of physical needs due to having an abundance or excess. It comes to be a word that is used to express the feeling or attitude of contentment, implying a confidence in one's present circumstance and also future events (see for ex. Ps. 17:15).

YHWH satisfies the soul. He makes the soul to feel content, to feel confident about both the present and the future. He satiates the soul. And the hungry soul, He fills with good. This is a declaration to build confidence in the weakest heart.

Is your soul despondent over the breakdown of a marriage?
Has fear gripped your heart over a diagnosis that ended in a cold stone slab for your mother?
Have you lost sight of the goal and gotten stuck in a rut?
Are you confused about your place and discouraged by your ineffectiveness?
Are you feeling distant from God and unsatisfied in your spiritual life?

Listen to the psalmist?

He satisfies the thirsty soul,
And the hungry soul He has filled with good.

Let the truth of the word drive you to prayer and seeking after this God who will satisfy the longing of your soul. He will fill you with good.
(to be continued tomorrow)

1 comment:

Llama Momma said...

This resonates with me today. How much time and energy do I spend trying to fit in and belong and find contentment here in this world and all it has to offer? Far too much.