'With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My salvation.' I do not
know whether by that first clause the Psalmist meant, as people who
sometimes like to make the Psalmist mean as little as possible tell us
that he did mean, simply 'length of days.' For my own part I do not
believe that he did. He meant that, no doubt, for longevity was part of
the Old Testament promises for this life. But 'length of days' does not
'satisfy' all old people who attain to it, and that 'satisfaction'
necessarily implies something more than the prolongation of the physical
life to old age. The idea contained in this promise may be illustrated
by the expression which is used in reference to a select few of the Old
Testament saints, of whom it is recorded that they died 'full of days.'
That does not merely mean that they had many days, but that, whatever
the number, they had as many as they wished, and departed unreluctantly,
having had enough of life. They looked back, and saw that all the past
had been very good, and that goodness and mercy had determined and
accompanied all their days, and so they did not wish to linger longer
here, but closed their eyes in peace, with no hungry, vain cravings for
prolonged life. They had got all out of the world which it could give,
and were contented to have done with it all.
So this promise assures us that, if we are of those who, in the midst of
fleeting days, lay hold on the 'Ancient of Days' and live by Him, we
shall find a table spread in the wilderness, and like travellers in an
inn, having eaten enough, shall willingly obey the call to leave the
meal provided on the road, and pass into the Father's house, and sit at
the bountiful feast there.
The heart that lives near God, whether its years be few or many, will
find in life all that life is capable of giving, and when the end comes
will not be unwilling that it should come, nor hold on desperately to
the last fag-end and fragment of life that it can keep within its
clutches, but will be satisfied to have lived and be contented to die.
Nor is this all, for says the Psalmist, 'I will show him My salvation.'
That sight comes after he is satisfied with length of days here. And so
I think the fair interpretation of the words, in their place in this
psalm, is, that however dimly, yet certainly, here the Psalmist saw
something beyond. It was not a black curtain which dropped at death. He
believed that, yonder, the man who here had been living near God,
calling to Him, realising His presence, and satisfied with the fatness
of His house upon earth, would see something that would satisfy him
more. 'I shall be satisfied when I awake in Thy likeness.' That is
satisfaction indeed, and the vision, which is possession, of that
perfected salvation is the vision that makes the blessedness of heaven.
So, dear friends! we, if we will, may have access to God's chamber at
every moment, and may have His presence, which will make it impossible
that we should ever be alone. We may have Him to deliver us from all the
evil that is in evil, and to turn it into good. We may have Him to
purge, and cleanse, and uplift, and change us into His likeness, even by
the ministry of our trials. We may get out of life the last drop of the
sweetness that He has put in it; and when it comes to a close, may say,
'It is enough! Let Thy servant depart in peace; for mine eyes have seen
Thy salvation,' and then we may go to see it better in that world where
we shall all, if we attain thither, be 'satisfied' when we 'awake in His
likeness.'