IBS Application for Psalms 17:15

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

David was a man who understood a vital truth about walking through life as a Christian before Christianity had properly entered the world. In this prayer, and in this one sentence, he makes a declaration that challenges much of what the world has to say about what contentment looks like.

Worldly contentment, as he points out just prior to this verse, can only be found in life on earth. There is nothing for anyone living in the world beyond the point of physical death. He also says that their portion is found in treasure and in leaving the abundance which they have sought to attain in life to their children. But this seems to me like it would only lead to an unfulfilling cycle of seeking that which is temporal, rather than that which is eternal. Worldly contentment isn’t contentment at all; it’s all about seeking more and more without ever being satisfied and filled, and leaves one open to disappointment when they fail or fall short of their own expectations.

As humans, we have been created with a drive to seek that which is eternal and infinite, because a void has been left in our hearts for that which fits this description. We here obviously know that seeking God is the only thing that can fill this void. Seeking to know Him as we are known by Him is the purpose of every man and woman.

The beauty of it all is that we were made to be shaped into images of Him. We may have been marred by sin, but God can still redeem and restore that which has been broken, and has had every intention of building us up in this way. We are made in His likeness, so that we may be able to more easily grasp who He is and what His intentions are for us. That we should be content with a God who can provide a solution to that which haunts us and fill the void in our hearts is just logical at this point.

So, when David says that He will be satisfied with God’s likeness, he’s saying that He will be satisfied with all that God is and with what God is doing in and through him. This is how we might challenge the enemy’s accusations of inadequacy and failure, and know what it means to be filled.


For my application, I will spend the next week making this verse a part of my morning prayers. I will also write “In Jesus you are filled and made whole.” on my hand to remind myself that I cannot be content with the things of the world; that I can only be truly content in Him.

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