He Satisfies Our Souls

Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Psalm 103:1-5

I love Psalm 103. It is full of beautiful reminders of our Lord’s lovingkindness and compassion. The first five verses in particular have stood out to me recently.

We are reminded to bless the Lord and to “forget not all His benefits.” Too often, we tend to forget the many blessings our Lord showers upon us, pining over what we do not have. He has granted us so much, and we must tell ourselves over and over to remember all His blessings and His amazing goodness to us. He is always, entirely good! Everything He does is good and wonderous (Psalm 72:18).

The final verse of this section–verse 5–is so amazing. We learn that our Lord satisfies our mouth with good things! There are several things that come to mind as I think about this verse.

1. Our Lord fully satisfies! He is all-sufficient for us. If He were the only One we ever had on this earth, He would be enough. Psalm 107:9 says, “For He satisfies the longing soul,
And fills the hungry soul with goodness.”

2. Everything the Lord gives is good–even if it doesn’t seem like it! He withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly (Psalm 84:10-11), and He works everything out for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Thus, we can trust that everything the Lord allows and gives is good.

3. In order to receive the fullest blessing from the Lord, we must empty ourselves. Psalm 81:10 says, “I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.” In order to receive God’s blessings, we must open our mouths. And to get the fullest of what He has for us, our mouths must be emptied of trivial things so HE can fill them. For example, picture someone stuffing his mouth with candy. The Lord has a large slice of cheesecake to offer, but the person has filled his mouth with candy and cannot accept what is so much better from the hand of the Lord. This example may sound funny, but it is so true. What the Lord has for us is so much better than what we think we need!

All in all, our Lord satisfies us fully. He renews our youth and makes us as strong as eagles.