What Brings "Complete" Satisfaction?

Psalm 17:1-3, 6, 15 (NASB)
“Hear a just cause, O LORD, give heed to my cry; Give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips. Let my judgment come forth from Your presence; Let Your eyes look with equity. You have tried my heart; You have visited me by night; You have tested me and You find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.”

“I have called upon You, for You will answer me, O God; Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech.”

“As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake.”

What in this world brings “complete” satisfaction? If the word “complete” implies something that is sufficient, never requiring anything else, I fear the answer for most of us is “nothing in this world.” The thing that brings joy today may become a liability tomorrow, or at best is replaced by something we decide is better.

I remember during my childhood days thinking about how much better life would be when I no longer had to go to school. By the time I reached the teenage years, the target had moved to the timeframe of “after graduation with a degree in chemical engineering and marriage.” At the job, the satisfaction level to be achieved became a promotion to a higher position. Obviously, this saga continued and then one day retirement came – something most people seek. It seems the search continues even then.

What we need to learn at some point of life is to seek the true source of satisfaction, one that is altogether sufficient. We need meaning and purpose, a sense of doing something of eternal value. Note what the psalmist, David, states in Psalm 17:15, “I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake.”

What is God’s likeness? Could it be the model of life we saw in God’s Son that He calls on us to live – that majestic life referred to in Chapter 16? Does the crucifixion of “self” and the servitude to the “Master” bring us as close to complete satisfaction as is possible in this life? I’ve come to the conclusion that each of us must answer this question for ourselves. We are each accountable to God not only for our actions, but also for our attitudes – our “satisfaction index.”