“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” – Psalm 90:14
Two words in that verse, written by David, really intrigue me: Satisfy and morning.
I mean, I can’t get past the “steadfast love” part either, but where that’s located and its desired effect on “us” compels me to write more.
When I wake in the morning, besides the need for coffee, I am filled with anticipation, hurry, distraction and peace. I come downstairs hoping for some time alone with my coffee, Bible and journal. But I’m also busy filling my mind with the previous night’s sports scores, news headlines and social media updates. If I am really ‘off’ I also check emails just to clear the cache. I tell myself that once I catch up and cross these things off, then I can be present to God’s love.
But the truth is that these things just create a never-ending desire for more inputs. I follow links in the news feed that are extraneous to my primary target. I watch highlights from the games instead of just reading the headlines. My email shapes my mind toward things that I have to accomplish that day, that week…and quite often reminds me of that which I have left undone. I wake unsatisfied.
Not even the strongest coffee can fix that.
So, David asks God for a different start – God’s steadfast love.
What kind of love is that?
- It’s a love that pursues us when we are less than deserving.
- It’s a faithful love that remains for us even when we reject it.
- It’s a love that aims for and has the power to change its recipients.
This is the kind of love that the writer longs for in the morning. But it’s not just for him. He asks for God to “satisfy us.” “Us”.
David asks God to grant this steadfast love to all of God’s people. It’s as if David is looking around at every person and he notices that they are all missing something, they all have the same thirst, they all have a deficit. So he cries out for ALL to be satisfied by God’s relentless, steadfast love.
To be satisfied is to be filled or to have enough. So he’s kinda comparing it to having biscuits and gravy, pancakes and home fries from Extra Virgin to fill you before your day really begins. And we all need this…to need God’s satisfying love is not weakness. No, it’s a realization of both our dependence upon and God’s ability to give us what we need most. David cried out, “Satisfy us.” And to this end, he is crying out to God for this answer, believing that God is the one who doles out the buffet of steadfast love. And he locates his need at a particular time -“In the morning.” When we wake. Before the rest of our day unfolds. Before the work day begins David recognizes his need for something else from the Father. If he is to rejoice and be glad, he asks for a gift in the morning.
David is teaching us something:
If we start our days satisfied with God’s steadfast love, then we have something to give. Our work, our play, our families, our relationships were never meant to be the primary point of life’s satisfaction. The love of the Father is enough! If I remind myself of that every morning, then my work can just be my work. I can love others more freely because I’m already full. What would it look like for Perrysburg to be full of people who started their day ‘satisfied by God’s love?”
