Dear friends, please turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 17. Psalm 17. Psalm 17, reading verses 14 and 15, the end of the psalm. Psalm 17, verses 14 and 15. From men which are thy hand, O Lord, from men of the world which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure, They are full of children and leave the rest of their substance to their babes. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. And our subject this morning is being satisfied. Being satisfied. Well, we consider these words before us in the 17th Psalm, and well, once again, I seek to present the New Testament Gospel from the Old Testament. I will, at some stage, return to using the New Testament and all the wonderful things that we read of in the New Testament but the Lord in recent weeks appears to be laying upon my heart these wonderful passages in the Old Testament and it is glorious to see in so many places the work of Christ presented to us and how we are to seek him, how we know him, and the joy of the wonderful salvation that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we do see it here at the very end of this 17th Psalm penned by King David. It is a prayer of David we read right at the very beginning. That's the title, as it were, of this Psalm. And well, there are a number of Psalms that are prayers. And by the way, whenever you need help to pray, people will always or often say to me, I don't know how to pray. Can you teach me what to say? or what is the kind of thing that I should bring to the Lord in prayer? Well, I very often say to them, you should read the Psalms. So many of them, yes, they are songs, but many of them are prayers. And you will see how the Lord's people would address the Lord and how they were not ashamed to lay all their troubles before the Lord, how they would cry to the Lord. That's how we are to pray, hiding nothing from God, And so here is a tremendous example we have in Psalm 17. And at the end of this Psalm, well, David presents a contrast between himself and the men of the world as he puts it he has explained in verse 14 that there are those who are called the men of the world from men which are thy hand oh lord from men of the world and they have their portion in this life So it's fairly obvious who David is speaking of, those who do not trust in the Lord, those who live for this world, men of the world, and for the pleasures of this world and this life, they don't have any interest or concern in the things of God. They have no time or no concern for eternity. Their portion is just this life, just this life. Their portion is in this life and they fill themselves with the treasures of this life. But David is saying, that's not me, that's them. As for me, I'm different to them. As for me, I will behold thy face. I will turn to the Lord. I will behold thy face in righteousness. This is somebody who knows that, well, there are two groups of people in the world, as I so often say. Only two groups of people. Those who trust in the Lord and those who do not. Those who know the true and living God and those who do not. The only two groups, no other group at all. And David is very firmly placing himself in the camp that turns away from the world. does not look at the things in the world. He beholds the face of God. He looks to the Lord for all things. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. And this is a glorious thing. And well, it's something that we can already challenge one another with. But one of the differences between these two groups, this is going to be my focus this morning. One of the great differences between men of the world and David and Christians in every age and every generation is that the Lord's people, they are satisfied. I shall be satisfied. One group is satisfied and the other is not. But David says, I shall be satisfied. Now, this is what characterizes Christian people in many ways. They have that wonderful satisfaction that comes from knowing the Lord. But the world, of course, is very different. And well, I just want to point out some of the ways, just in case you hadn't noticed, but I'm sure you have. But if there are any here who is still living for the world, well, dear friends, we have to make these things very clear to you. The world cannot get any satisfaction, no true satisfaction in this world. And well, when you think about it, it's so obvious. When you observe the world around you, it is so obvious. There is no satisfaction. We live in a dissatisfied society, particularly now. And there are very obvious examples of this, and some that are not so obvious. The obvious examples, well, We seem to live in a time where there are many people struggling with addictions. So many addictions in the world around us, perhaps more than ever in modern society. There are so many addictions, people addicted to alcohol, or people addicted to drugs, or people addicted to online things, people addicted to the internet, to gambling, and so on. And of course, what drives addiction? Well, addiction is driven by the fact there is no true satisfaction. You can't get any satisfaction. That's what drives addiction. You try and you try and you try, no matter how much an alcoholic drinks, he can't get any satisfaction. So he has to drink more and more and keep drinking. Day after day after day, he cannot get any satisfaction from these things. A gambler No matter how much he wins, he finds no satisfaction. He has to continue to gamble. This is what drives the addiction, fuels the addiction. There is no satisfaction. And we live in a world so many people sadly are afflicted by these kinds of addictions. And this is, well, perhaps it is in a way not so surprising when we see that the world has turned away from God, that we have such a prominence or such a tendency to see these kinds of addictions in this world around us. It is the lack of satisfaction and so more and more people are becoming addicted to things. But that's a very obvious example when we think about addictions. Other examples, well, people always dissatisfied with the authorities, you could say, with those who govern them. We vote people out of office because we are dissatisfied with them. We vote in the next party only to be dissatisfied again. We are never satisfied. Well, of course, there has never been a government in the history of the world that has fully satisfied the people, not one, except, of course, the government that will come at the end of time The Lord Jesus Christ, he will come, he will reign once again. Only that will fully satisfy the people. And I'll speak about that a little later. People are never satisfied with their jobs. People, well, there's always some problem. They get a job. And then when they get a job, there's a problem with a work colleague or with a manager or with their wages. They want more wages. People are never satisfied with their wages. You see so many people going on strike and so on. People are not satisfied with anything, really, that they have. People are not satisfied with their homes. On our street, we have a lot of houses. So many of the houses, well, people are doing works. and renovating and building extensions and so on. Now, I'm not necessarily criticizing that. I'm just pointing out how unsatisfied we always are. We always have to do more. The houses that we live in, they're not enough. They're not big enough. We want more. We are not satisfied. This is the state of us as a society and personal relationships, you could say. How many times do we see this? People going from one relationship to the other, to the other, to the other, because they are not satisfied. They're not satisfied just with one, just choose one and settle down. No, we have to go one to the other, to the other. We're not satisfied. Husbands not satisfied with wives, wives not satisfied with husbands. And sometimes even you get parents never satisfied with children. No matter what they do, they're never satisfied. This, I'm pointing all this out just to expose these things, to explain to you the terrible scourge of dissatisfaction in our society. One thing that is very alarming, particularly at the moment, we see people so dissatisfied with themselves. Is there anybody here dissatisfied with yourself? Again, we live in a society, so many people, they seem to have lost their sense of identity. They don't know who they are. They're dissatisfied with who they are. They don't really like who they are. They don't like the way that they are. They don't like the way that they look. And again, this is a consequence of rejecting God, throwing God out of society. So many people, they don't like the way they are. It's such a shame. We have been made in the image of God. We've been created by God, by God himself, who is the greatest designer in, well, all the universe. Of course he is. There is no better designer. There is no better design for you. And yet, because we've turned away from God, we've thrown God out of schools and out of society, what happens? Well, now we're all dissatisfied. If only we could hold on. We have been made in the image of God. God is our creator. There wouldn't be this malaise in society, this discontentedness. But so many people, they don't like themselves. They want to change themselves. They want to change their appearance. You see people, well, plastic surgery. And well, sometimes you watch these documentaries. They change part of themselves. They're never satisfied. They end up doing their whole bodies. They're never satisfied. People who change themselves with tattoos. I've known people. Certainly when I was unsaved, they would get a tattoo, but they weren't satisfied with that until their whole bodies were covered. It's this dissatisfaction. In every portion of life, every aspect of life, we see it. Dissatisfaction. And dear friends, this is so very sad. But what's behind this? I have just spent a very brief time, I could have gone on speaking about all the ways in which people are dissatisfied. What is behind this? Why are men of the world so dissatisfied? Well, of course, it's their fallen human nature. This is part of the fallen human nature. We mention it every week. This is what it is, our sinful nature. We are always dissatisfied. The natural man I'm talking about, the natural man born into this world, he's born with a condition, with a sin sick condition. And one of the symptoms, he'll never be satisfied. It's such a tragic condition. And there is, of course, there's a specific sin that is intimately connected with being dissatisfied. One sin in particular, and that is the sin of covetousness. Covetousness. Man by nature is covetous. What does covetous mean? We always want more than we have. That's man by nature. He always, he or she, always wants more than they have. This is covetousness. This is how we are born. This is in our nature. The natural man, covetous, never satisfied, never contented. It's part of our fallen, sinful nature, right back from Adam. Well, in fact, Adam was guilty of it. Of course he was, Adam and Eve. It was a great part of that fall of the first sin. Adam and Eve, they were in the garden. They had everything they could possibly have hoped for, more than they would have hoped for, exceeding abundantly above all that they could have asked or thought. Everything that they needed was in the garden. What did Satan come and do? Well, don't be content with that. Don't be content with that. Contentedness is the opposite to covetousness. If we're contented, we're not covetous. But Satan says, don't be content with that. You should have something more, something that you're not supposed to have. God has told you you're not supposed to have it. You take it. Covetousness. And well, he did. And look how terribly it ended. This was the death of man. This was the fall of man. Because they thought that something else could satisfy them other than God. They thought they needed something else. God cannot satisfy me. I need something else. And this is what we see in the world around us. They think that other things can satisfy them. This is the deception of sin. Sin, we could talk a lot at length about sin this morning. I'm going to limit it. But you know, sin deceives you. We often say this, what is the deception of sin? Sin tells you that you can be satisfied in this world without God. That's a deception. Oh, look at this world. It's like Satan still speaks to us. Look at this world. Look at all the entertainments. Look at all the movies. Look at all the music. Look at all the experiences you can have in this world. This world, can't you see it will satisfy you? It's a lie. It's a deception. It can't possibly satisfy you. We are dissatisfied. I've given the examples, can't you see? We have so much in this world, and what do we see? Everybody's not satisfied. This world cannot satisfy you. It looks as though it can, but it can't. So this is why we point you to the gospel. The gospel, by the way, is the exact opposite. People look at the gospel, they don't think it's ever going to satisfy them. The gospel, the gospel message, going to church and reading the Bible and praying, that's not going to satisfy. How is that gonna satisfy me? It's the exact opposite. The world looks as though it can satisfy you. It doesn't. The Lord, the gospel, doesn't look as though it can satisfy you at all, but it does. It's the only thing that can satisfy you. The only thing. Christ, because he gives you those things that are everlasting. He gives everlasting things. And well, I won't go into depth with this, but we often say this. We have souls and our souls need everlasting things, everlasting peace, everlasting joy, everlasting love, everlasting wonderful things. But the world cannot give us those things. The world can only give us temporary things. As soon as you have a pleasure, it's gone. As soon as you have a good day, a good evening, it's gone. No wonder there's nobody that's satisfied. It's only the Lord Jesus Christ gives that permanent joy and peace and love in you. That's what your soul needs. It's everlasting life and joy in the Lord Jesus Christ. We say this so often. And yet, well, what do people do? They turn away from the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the great tragedy. This is another part of our fallen sinful nature. Nobody will go to the Lord. So few, rather I should say. So few go to the Lord so that they may be filled. They refuse to go to the only one who will satisfy them, and they stay in the world that cannot possibly satisfy them. Dear friends, that is so foolish. Is that you? Am I speaking to anybody here? No matter how many times you hear the gospel, You reject it, no matter how often we plead with you to seek the Lord, you reject it. No matter how many questions we answer, so many people have lots of questions, we answer them, and yet people are never satisfied, are they? Somebody will ask one question, why is God like this? You answer it, and then they'll go on to another question, why is that? It's just objection after objection after objection, even in this, they're never satisfied. This is the fallen human nature of man, dear friends. But this is so foolish and so tragic. We must have Christ. We have a great need of the Lord, because here is the thing. Now I'm coming to the gospel application. Here is the thing. This is why we need the Lord, because God is not satisfied with us. God is not satisfied with us. You know, again, this is the deception of sin. I speak to many people, I say to them, if there was a God, and of course there is a God, but I'm speaking to unbelievers when I say this, if there is a God and you meet with God, what do you think he will do? And they will tell you, lo and behold, oh, I think he will be satisfied with me. I think he will be happy with me because, you know, I'm not a bad person. But the reality is He is not. He is not satisfied with you. You may well have done good things. Yes, of course, we don't deny that. Everybody does good things. You know, when we say that we are sinners, it doesn't mean that you cannot do any good things. What we mean when we say that we are sinners is that all of your good things have been spoiled by all of your sins. All the good things that you've done, yes, they're good in some ways, but they've been spoiled. They've been defiled by all of your sins. So God is not satisfied with your good works. They've been ruined. How can God be satisfied with that? God is not satisfied with your good works. So we don't trust in our good works because they have been spoiled. A holy God will not tolerate them and he will reject them. But this is the one in whom we must trust. We trust in the Lord Jesus Christ because he is the only one who has lived that life of perfect righteousness. This is the one whom we trust in. He's the only one in whom God the Father is satisfied. So we don't look to ourselves. We don't look to our own good works. I know there are some people who will call themselves Christians and even some Christian churches that will teach these things as if it's up to us, as if it's up to us to do good things, as if it's all about just being a good person, about morality. It's not. It's about having faith in Christ, the only one who is righteous. He came down from heaven to earth. He is the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one that we know God is well-pleased in, because at his baptism, at the Lord Jesus' baptism, there was that voice from God the Father saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased. We have to trust in him. Look to him, dear friends. This is what these words are saying. I've been neglecting these words. What does David say? He looks to the Lord for righteousness. He doesn't look to himself. We know that David was a sinner. We know that David committed adultery. There's no hope in him. There's no hope in him trusting in himself. He has to look to the Lord. I will look to thee. I will behold thy face in righteousness. I won't look in the mirror. I won't look at my face and say, this is a righteous person. I will behold thy face, Lord. I will put my faith in Christ, the only one who has lived a perfect life, the only one who has never sinned. I need his life, I need his righteousness. And that is what we have by faith. That is what we clothe ourselves with. the righteousness of Christ. Dear friends, I have to emphasize this point. You may well have thought this all your life, but don't look to your own works, to your own righteousness. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He has lived that righteous life for us, and he has died for our sins. This is what Christ has done. He's our substitute. Christ, He lived that life that we could never live, a perfectly righteous life, and He gives it to us. You go to heaven based on my righteousness. And He takes our place as a condemned sinner on the cross. He's our substitute. We swap places, as it were. We are clothed with His righteousness. He is condemned for our sin because He loved us. because he gave himself for us. But dear friends, let me just look at these words in verse 15 as we begin to draw to conclusion. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. He's trusting in God's righteousness, not his own. And I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. Well, what does he mean when he awakes? I shall be satisfied when I awake. Well, two things. It could refer to Christian conversion. Many times of revival throughout history have been called great awakenings. Times when many people came to the Lord Jesus, they were called awakenings because that's a good way of describing it. You've suddenly woken up. You've woken up to the reality before you were dreaming. It was as though you were in a dream world thinking that you were good enough for God, thinking that I'm righteous, God will be satisfied with me. That's like a dream. You're living in a dream world. Your righteousness is not real. It's like when you wake up from a dream, you say to yourself, it wasn't real. Your supposed righteousness is not real. It's only the righteousness of Christ that is real. So you have to wake up. You must wake up. This is what a Christian does. He wakes up, I'm nothing without Christ. I'll be lost without Christ. I have to put all my faith in Him. We must wake up. We must see the truth. We must see our need of the righteousness of Christ, but also, I shall be satisfied when I awake. And this is what many of the commentators say. This is an Old Testament prophecy of the resurrection, of the resurrection day. Now we read something of that in John chapter six, the resurrection day, when we will all be awake. We read of the day, the last day of history, when the Lord Jesus Christ returns. What is going to happen? There's going to be a great resurrection. Everyone who has died before the Lord Jesus Christ returns, there'll be some who are still alive, but everyone who has died will all be raised from the dead. That will be a great day of awakening. You know, all the atheists who ever lived in this world, well, it's often been said that the day that they die is the last day of their atheism. Atheism is only temporary. Suddenly they will awake when this short life is over, they will awake and realize, oh, there was a God. There actually was a God who is holy, a God that I have to stand before. A God who will not be satisfied with me, of course not, will be very aware of that. Dear friends, how will you awake when the Lord Jesus Christ returns on the last day? Will it be a day of fear? Will it be a day of dread? Will it be a day of condemnation for you, realizing that you are eternally lost? Dear friends, wake up. Now is the time to wake up. Now is the time to turn to the Lord. And when David awakes, just like every other Christian, this is what we are calling you to. I shall be satisfied with thy likeness. Well, for a believer on the resurrection day, it will be very different. We will rise to life, eternal life. Just as Christ died and rose again, we die and we rise again, and we will be so satisfied in that eternity, in that glorious inheritance that we have. It's a place that is wonderful. There is no death there. There is no sorrow. There is everlasting peace. There is everlasting joy. We will be fully satisfied. Dear friends, Why would you not desire that? Why would you turn away from that and face an eternity that is the complete opposite? An eternity where you will always be dissatisfied, totally dissatisfied, and full of regret that you never came to the Lord. Dear friends, be satisfied. And look what he says here, just a final point. I shall be satisfied when I awake, with thy likeness. Well, this is what we read in the scriptures for the Lord's people. When the Lord Jesus Christ returns, the Lord's people will be like him. We will be like him. We will have his likeness. We will have his resemblance. We will have no sin. We'll never be able to sin. That'll be a great joy. So often a Christian is dissatisfied because he always falls into something unworthy, but then we will be satisfied, we'll be like him. And dear friends, this is, well, we spoke about people who are dissatisfied with themselves, dissatisfied with their identity, dissatisfied with their lives. Does that speak to anybody here? Well, let me tell you this, if you feel like that, You will always feel like that. You'll always be dissatisfied with yourself. The only way you will be satisfied is if you turn to the Lord. If you die to yourself and turn to Christ, that's the only way you can be satisfied. In this life and in the next, you'll never find any satisfaction anywhere else. David says, I shall be satisfied. This is what we know as Christians. I plead with you now. I pray that there are some who are satisfied with what they have heard and they will turn to the Lord Jesus Christ this day. Or are you gonna continue? I'm not satisfied. And continue to live a dissatisfied life in this world forever and ever. Dear friends, May it be far from thee. Turn to the Lord. Look to him. Behold his face, not the things of this world. Say to the Lord, I desire satisfaction. I know it's only in Christ. Lord, save me. I die to myself. I die to the world. I'm not a man of the world. I'm a man of God. And I live for him and I love him. And I know and believe what Christ has done for me. That's how we are saved. And these things, they are presented to us in this wonderful and glorious psalm. May the Lord bless these words to us.