1 O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.—The words of King David from Psalm 63:1-5
Watching our frantic American culture, it appears that the people of the United States are never really “satisfied.” We flit from one enticing “flower” to the next, always hoping to find something better—something that will truly satisfy.
In Luke 15, Jesus tells the parable that is often called “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.” The New International Version calls it “The Parable of the Lost Son.” This parable follows two other parables in Luke 15: “The Parable of the Lost Sheep” and “The Parable of the Lost Coin.”
You know this story very well. A very impatient son asks his father for his inheritance even though his father is still alive. He takes that inheritance and travels to a distant land where he squanders all his money on high and sinful living. A famine overtakes that land and the lost son finds himself destitute. He obtains work feeding the pigs for a farmer. The lost son is so hungry, he is tempted to eat the husks he is feeding the pigs.
Finally, the lost son comes to his senses and realizes that he was far better off back at home under the loving protection of his father. The lost son turns his back on his sin and starts home. While the lost son is yet a long way off from home, his father sees him in the distance and runs to greet him. The father wraps his loving arms around his son and welcomes him home, holding a celebration in his honor.
While there is much more to his story, the essence of it—and the reason why Jesus told this parable—is that it describes the magnificent Circle of Forgiveness. The lost son sought to be “satisfied.” But what he thought would satisfy his desires only left him lost, alone, and stripped of all that he had thought important. Only when he realized he would be better off in the arms of his loving father did he takes the steps that would ultimately bring him back home.
I’ve shared in a previous blog post:
...the part of this parable I like the best is the part where the Scripture tells us that “while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
Did you get that? While the son was still “a long way off,” his father saw him. Did you ever think why the father saw his son? It didn’t just happen. The father didn’t just happen to walk by and see his son in the distance. He saw his son because he was looking for him. In fact, I believe the father stood looking for his son every single day since the son left the father’s side.
God lovingly waits to satisfy us with gifts of His mercy and grace that will not only momentarily meet the desires of our hearts, but will satisfy us for all eternity. Clara Tear Williams wrote a beautiful poem in 1875 at the urging of evangelist Ralph Erskine Hudson. Hudson had asked Mrs. Williams to write a poem that he could set to music and use in one of his evangelistic crusades. She perfectly captures the picture painted by Kind David in the Psalm at the beginning of this blog post. And, she equally captures the precise image of “The Parable of the Lost Son.”
Satisfied
Words written by Clara Tear Williams (1858-1937) in 1875
Music written by Ralph Erskine Hudson (1843-1901) in 1875—Satisfied
All my life long I had panted
For a draught from some cool spring,
That I hoped would quench the burning
Of the thirst I felt within.
Refrain:
Hallelujah! I have found Him
Whom my soul so long has craved!
Jesus satisfies my longings,
Through His blood I now am saved.
Feeding on the husks around me,
Till my strength was almost gone,
Longed my soul for something better,
Only still to hunger on.
Refrain:
Hallelujah! I have found Him
Whom my soul so long has craved!
Jesus satisfies my longings,
Through His blood I now am saved.
Poor I was, and sought for riches,
Something that would satisfy,
But the dust I gathered round me
Only mocked my soul’s sad cry.
Refrain:
Hallelujah! I have found Him
Whom my soul so long has craved!
Jesus satisfies my longings,
Through His blood I now am saved.
Well of water, ever springing,
Bread of life so rich and free,
Untold wealth that never faileth,
My Redeemer is to me.
Refrain:
Hallelujah! I have found Him
Whom my soul so long has craved!
Jesus satisfies my longings,
Through His blood I now am saved.
In his book, Songs That Lift the Heart, soloist George Beverly Shea writes about his encounter with Clara Tear Williams:
My father, the Reverend A. J. Shea, and I were on an afternoon shopping trip for Mother, as I recall. When we came out of a store in Houghton, New York, where we had recently moved from Winchester, Ontario, we met a tall, elderly woman making her way slowly up the street. She was walking in that slow, mincing step older people sometimes do, cautious not to lose balance.
Dad tipped his hat and said good-day to her as we passed. She stopped and looked up to see who was speaking. Smiling sweetly, she returned his greeting.
“Do you know who that was, son?” he asked me on up the way. I turned and watched as she continued her careful progress. Though a distinguished woman (whom I would now describe as looking a lot like Whistler’s Mother)—
I had no idea who she was.
“That,” said Dad, “was Mrs. Clara Tear Williams. She writes hymns.” There was a near reverence in his voice, and though I was only eight years old, I was duly impressed. Already, I was fascinated by music and anyone who was involved in it...
When Dad and I got home that afternoon, I told Mother about meeting Mrs. Williams, the hymnwriter. She smiled knowingly and nodded her head. Then she went to the piano bench and found a hymnal that contained one of Clara Tear Williams’ compositions.
She explained that Mrs. Williams—a Wesleyan Methodist like us—had written the words, but that the music had been written by Ralph E. Hudson, an Ohio publisher who also was an evangelistic singer.
A few years later, when I was in my teens and began to sing solos,
I memorized the hymn that Mother played that day and sang it. It was called “Satisfied.”
In my years at Houghton College in the mid-1960s, we often sang this beautiful hymn. I imagine that it touched many hearts down through the years. That’s probably why Donald Doig—a Houghton College graduate and professor of voice when I was in school—included this song in his album named after this hymn. With lush orchestral arrangements by Ronn Huff, this tenor solo ranks, in my mind, as one of the finest musical expressions of God’s longing to draw men, women, boys, and girls to Himself. I hope you will enjoy listening to this wonderful recording as much as I enjoy bringing it to you.
![[Graphic of a play music arrow]](https://www.deankwilson.com/Blog_images/Play_music_icon.jpg){kind=icon}
We need to examine our lives. Do we keep running here and there trying to find something that will satisfy? Do we actually believe that a new car or a new home or a new husband or a new wife or a new job or a new church or a new friend or ... will actually make us “satisfied”? Only God can truly satisfy the longings of our hearts. When He created us, He stamped His image on us—what theologians call the Imago Dei: the image of God. Part of that “image” is a longing to return to Him through the power of the resurrected Christ. God has made provision to cover our sins with the precious blood of His Son, Jesus. He has given us His Holy Spirit to draw us ever closer to Himself. He longs for us to yield our will to His perfect will.
Today, why not surrender fully to Him and become truly “satisfied”?
Will you pray with me?
Thank You, God, for loving us. Thank You for sending Jesus to be our Savior. Thank You for sending us Your Holy Spirit to dwell within us.
In the quietness of this moment, Precious Father, we surrender our hearts, our minds, our souls, and our strength to You. We give you our hopes, our dreams, our wills. Please take us and mold us into obedient servants who live only to glorify You and bring honor to Your matchless Name.
Thank You for being the well of water that is ever-springing. Thank You for being the bread of life, so rich and free. Thank You for Your untold wealth that never faileth. Thank You for being our Redeemer. And, thank You for hearing our prayer in and through the precious Name of Your Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
