Satisfied with Jesus

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Words: Baylus Benjamin McKinney (b. July 22, 1886; d. Sept. 7. 1952)
Music: Baylus Benjamin McKinney

Links:
Wordwise Hymns (none)
The Cyber Hymnal (Benjamin McKinney)
Hymnary.org

Note: Over his adult years, Benjamin McKinney was a pastor, a music editor, a music teacher in a seminary, and a hymn writer. His life and ministry, and his song writing, centred on the Lord Jesus Christ. He died at the age of sixty-six, in a car accident.

To be “satisfied” is to have our desires, needs, or expectations met. But we all know that can be a relative or temporary experience. Satisfaction is almost always incomplete. And nothing in life seems to carry a guarantee that those desires, needs or expectations won’t intrude themselves once more, later on.

We can be satisfied with a fine meal. But we know in a few hours we’ll likely be hungry again. There’s another problem as well. Too much can be as bad as not enough. A lovely spring shower will provide needed and satisfying moisture for growing things. But an extended torrential downpour can cause flooding and erosion, and other problems.

Wise King Solomon observed:

“The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing….He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance with increase….All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not satisfied” (Ecc. 1:8; 5:10; 6:7).

The Lord challenges us to consider, “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?…Incline your ear and come to Me” (Isa. 55:2, 3).

The Psalms, in particular, speak of soul satisfaction–understandably so, as the book is focused on the inner life. There, we learn the Lord offers, to those who come to Him, an enduring satisfaction that can’t be found elsewhere. “Blessed is the man You choose, and cause to approach You, that he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, of Your holy temple” Ps. 107:9).

“How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light” (Ps. 36:7-9).

And we discover the kind of satisfaction God offers extends not only through the days of this mortal life, but on to eternity. “You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory” (Ps. 73:24). “As for me,” says David, “I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness (Ps. 17:15).“And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Ps. 23:6).

The Lord challenges us to consider, “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?…Incline your ear and come to Me” (Isa. 55:2, 3).

But what about the other side of the coin? Shouldn’t we also consider whether God is satisfied with us?

¤ Have we responded to the gospel call, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31)?

¤ And the call to live a Christlike life: “Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us” (Eph. 5:2)?

¤ And what about the call to “Serve the Lord with gladness” (Ps. 100:2)? “[Christ] gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works” (Tit. 2:14).

In McKinney’s song, Satisfied with Jesus, he rejoices in the blessings won for us on the cross of Calvary. But this causes him to reflect on his own life and service for Christ. What would the Lord say when he reached heaven? Would it be, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21)? Or something less pleasing? “We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ” (Rom. 14:10).

1) I am satisfied with Jesus,
He has done so much for me;
He has suffered to redeem me,
He has died on Calvary.

I am satisfied, I am satisfied,
I am satisfied with Jesus;
But the question comes to me,
As I think of Calvary,
Is my Master satisfied with me?

2) He is with me in my trials,
Best of friends of all is He;
I can always count on Jesus,
Can He always count on me?

4) When my work on earth is ended,
And I cross the mystic sea,
Oh, that I could hear Him saying,
“I am satisfied with thee.”

Questions:
1) What measure are we to use to decide whether we are pleasing God?

2) In what particular area do you struggle to please the Lord?

Links:
Wordwise Hymns (none)
The Cyber Hymnal (Benjamin McKinney)
Hymnary.org