Psalm 16 - True Satisfaction

"The unhappy restlessness of those who go astray is doubtless to be traced to their being destitute of the true knowledge of God." John Calvin

When am I truly happy and what brings that happiness? What brings me real joy? Is it a great dessert, my sports team winning again, finding that deal at the store, a great movie, a great concert? I am too easily amused, too easily pleased, like if I have a weekend filled with [literally] great desserts, then my life is complete. But the reality is as Calvin reminds me from Psalm 16, that happiness is short lived and leads to restlessness. When that cheesecake is digested, the happiness is gone.

We need to, I need to again ask myself the question, am I finding happiness and satisfaction in other things. But if the answer today or often is yes, what is the remedy, how do I learn to find happiness in God alone?

Well, it comes first through having our emotions captivated by something greater than the creation, recognizing though that our sin and our worldview want us to settle for less. Again, as Calvin states to respond we need to,

"...set God before us and keep all our senses bound and captive [to Him] lest they break loose and run after any other object."

We live in a sensory world with a worldview that tells us to be satisfied with the material, to be happy with stuff and the pursuit of stuff. And so we need to remind our souls of the many ways God has provided and again see His unique and abundant care for me, so that my emotions will then be filled with love for God rooted in the tangible blessings He provides.

Second though, as Christians we can rest in the fact that God is helping us with this battle, again as Calvin states from Psalm 16,

"God himself has engaged to exercise His power to maintain us in the safe enjoyment of Himself, a blessing inconceivably great."

God will remind us that nothing satisfies, nothing sustains, nothing blesses, nothing protects like He does and He will not let us be satisfied with less that Himself. And when He reminds us of this we will learn increasingly to see the inconceivably great blessing that He is.

So today, where am I settling for less and how do I need reminding that nothing satisfies like the Lord?