Satisfied

Words: Clara Tear Williams (b. Sept. 22, 1858; d. July 1, 1937)
Music: Satisfied, by Ralph Erskine Hudson (b. July 12, 1843; d. June 14, 1901)

Note: About twenty years before her marriage in 1895, young Clara Tear was asked by Ralph Hudson to provide a song for a new book he was publishing. She wrote the text of Satisfied that very evening, and he added the tune the next day.

(Stanza numbers in brackets below refer to the stanza number in The Cyber Hymnal. Find the link at the bottom of the article.)

The original version of the refrain said, “Hallelujah! I have found it– / What my soul so long has craved.” The changes made by the time the song was published in the Wesleyan Methodist Hymnal in 1910 make the application to Christ more direct and specific (though “it” and “what” ties in nicely with the theme of satisfaction).

The Cyber Hymnal uses an updated version of the opening lines: “All my life I had a longing / For a drink from some clear spring,” which I suppose is fine. Though the word “pant” is biblical (Ps. 42:1), and “draught” (the British-Canadian spelling of draft) is a common enough term. It refers to a portion of liquid to be drunk.

When he began singing in his late teens, this song was one of the first George Bevely Shea sang as a solo. He sang it in his father’s church in Ottawa. He knew Mrs. Williams personally, and says of her:

She had a regal and dignified bearing and yet she had the kindness and gentleness of Christ in her face. I enjoyed the soft, musical tones of her voice. Through her sweetness and graciousness to everyone, she became another wonderful proof to me of the reality of the Christian walk. Hers was a beautiful life exhibited not only to the whole community, but expressed also in the pages of hymnody.

George Bevely Shea (Crusade Hymn Stories, p. 75)

“‘My people shall be satisfied [abundantly filled and fulfilled] with My goodness,’ says the LORD” (Jer. 31:14). Often in the Old Testament this has to do with physical satisfaction because of having plenty of food to eat in Israel. But we can also make a spiritual application of the words. In the Lord Jesus Christ, we find a soul satisfaction that can be found nowhere else.

(1) All my life long I had panted
For a draught from some clear spring,
That I hoped would quench the burning
Of the thirst I felt within.

Hallelujah! I have found Him
Whom my soul so long has craved!
Jesus satisfies my longings,
Through His blood I now am saved.

(3) 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.

Christ declared that He came to give us abundant life (Jn. 10:10). We know that heaven will be like that (cf. Eph. 2:7), but there is an abundance for this life as well (cf. Phil. 4:19). He is the bread that feeds us spiritually, and from Him flows the spiritual refreshment we need.

“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst’” (Jn. 6:35). “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (Jn. 4:14).

(4) Well of water, ever springing,
Bread of life so rich and free,
Untold wealth that never faileth,
My Redeemer is to me.

Questions:

1. What are the characteristics of a Christian who is enjoying the abundant life Jesus promised?
2. Why is it that so many Christians seem to lack the abundance of spirit that is found in Christ?

Links:

• 22 September 1858 – Clara Williams Born
• Satisfied (The Cyber Hymnal)