Contentment is not a virtue in the modern western world. If anything, quite the opposite. We live in a consumerist culture that advocates endless dissatisfaction in order to ensure we’re constantly buying, eating, and searching for more. The problem with this consumption is that it ultimately leaves us overfull, bloated, and even more dissatisfied with ourselves and our lives.
You’ve experienced it. You go on the amazing vacation and get back, only to be even more dissatisfied with your day-to-day life. You get a meal at the restaurant and eat the entire thing despite the fact that it’s way more than you need, then feel slightly disgusted with yourself and uncomfortably full for the next two hours. You get the new outfit/haircut/video game/hunting rifle and, a couple weeks later are back to browsing for something new.
Discontent dulls the pleasures of God’s everyday goodness, demanding that we fulfill all of our longings and desires. But discontentment is an impossible problem when we try to solve it by consumption.
The irony is that throughout history the men and women who have been the most joyful, content, and fulfilled in their lives are those who have learned to be satisfied on little and take joy in the mundane. Paul’s words in Philippians 4:11-12 illustrate this well. He writes,
I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
How rare it is for a Christian in America to be able to say that truthfully! I for one long to be able to experience the contentment and satisfaction that Paul learned. The question is, how? How do we learn, like the apostle Paul, to be content in any circumstance?
In Psalm 63 David gives us a pointer. He writes,
My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
Psalm 63:5-8
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
Remember and Meditate
Remember
To remember something is to call to mind a past event or experience. In this case, David is remembering God. He’s intentionally doing as several other Psalms mention, guiding his mind to recall who God is and what he has done. A couple examples:
“My soul is cast down within me;
Psalm 42
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.”
I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
Psalm 77
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
I will ponder all your work,
and meditate on your mighty deeds.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul,
Psalm 103
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
Meditate
Not only does David remember instances of God’s action, he meditates on who God is and what he’s done.
Whereas remembrance is the simple recall of things, meditation is slower, deeper, and less hurried. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines meditate as: “to engage in contemplation or reflection, to focus one’s thoughts on : reflect on or ponder over” It is a rolling-over of a thing in the mind, as you might roll a hard candy in your mouth, drawing out the sweetness.
David is saying that he calls to mind who God is and what he has done, then spends time holding those things in his mind, drawing them out and engaging them deeply.
In my bed
Note the place and time of David’s remembering and meditation; it’s “upon my bed” and “in the watches of the night.” This isn’t some morning devotion time. Apparently David is awake, sleepless in the middle of the night.
Rather than tossing and turning with frustration at being unable to fall asleep or letting his thoughts flit over all his frustrations and anxieties as we often default when awake in the middle of the night, David guides his mind to focus on God. As a result, he finds his soul put at peace and satisfied.
Be satisfied
Out of this meditation and remembering Davdi’s soul is “satisfied as with rich food.”He has discovered that this meditating on God becomes a feast for his soul. Remembering is setting the table. Meditating is slowly chewing and savoring the flavors of God’s goodness.
This has significant implications for us.
Are you dissatisfied with your lot in life? With who you are? With your God? If so, odds are you haven’t taken the time to patiently remember and meditate; to feast upon who God is. More than likely you’re in the habit of sitting down (probably sporadically rather than with lasting discipline) to read a few verses of scripture and pray for a couple minutes. Doing that is like snacking occasionally throughout the day and never eating a full meal. It may sustain you, but it won’t satisfy you like sitting down to a full meal will. Your discontentment may be your souls expression of it’s hunger for the “rich food” of God.
Praise with joy
Out of the satisfaction of the soul that comes from feasting on God David discovers the ability to praise God with “joyful lips”. When we have learned to be satisfied, worship is natural. Just as a person praises the cook as they push back their chair after a delicious dinner, so we naturally, joyfully praise God when we have feasted on his goodness.
In this way the tone of our worship can be used as a diagnostic for the state of our souls. Do you struggle to find joy in worship? When you come to worship do you feel disengaged and without real passion to sing? If so, it may be an indicator that your soul isn’t being satisfied in God. And that means it’s time to do as David did; take time to remember and meditate
Try it out
Let’s take David’s practice and put it into action. Next time you wake up in the middle of the night or are struggling to fall asleep, or simply when you’re feeling dissatisfied with your life remember and meditate.
- Remember: call to mind two things that God has done for you and two things that God IS for you.
- Meditate: Think on those things. If the remembered things are experiences or moments, mentally relive those moments. For the two things God is for you, meditate on them by bringing to mind stories from scripture and from your life where God has demonstrated that part of his character.
Do this for five minutes or so, then check in with your soul – do you feel more satisfied? If so, worship and praise. That could take the form of turning on a worship song or of simply taking a moment to thank God again and tell him how amazing he is.
If your soul isn’t feeling more satisfied, no worries. It takes practice. Try it again next time your flooded with discontent. We’re learning, like Paul, to be content in all things. Through it all – whether we are satisfied of soul or utterly frustrated and dissatisfied, God is our help and his right hand upholds us to the very end.
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