"
I’m needy when it comes to love.
Remember that game Hungry Hungry Hippos? Well, I’m pretty much Hungry Hungry Gwenno. (Don’t remember that game? Google it and then buy it for your four-year-old nephew, neighbor, or grandkid. You’ll thank me.)
It seems our old friend Moses was a bit of a hungry hippo too.
In Psalm 90 he asked God to fill him and God’s people full of love: “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days” (v. 14). Love this! Note that Moses connected the love of God with a satisfaction that put a song in his heart and a skip in his step.
Yes. I want this too. So my prayer each morning becomes, Satisfy me with Your love today, Lord. Fill me with Your joy and gladness, and lead my actions to sing of You.
As I pray this, His COMPANIONSHIP meets my loneliness.
His GRACE overwhelms my grump.
His JOY trumps my anger.
His PROVISION satisfies my need.
David recognized that he needed God’s all-satisfying love too. He celebrated it … was desperate for it … was responsive to it. Look at what he penned in the familiar words of Psalm 63:
You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. (vv. 1–5)
I see my own heart reflected in David’s words and realize that when I’m hankering for a hunk of love, my longings are best met in the arms of my Lord. His is the love of power and glory. His love is “better than life.” And, like David, I choose to respond to His love with worship. My lips will glorify Him. I will lift up my hands. I will praise the all-worthy One. In doing so, my soul is secure. Satisfied.
Ultimately I experience the satisfaction of God’s love through Jesus. God’s perfect love compelled Him to sacrifice His Son to bridge the chasm of death between His holiness and my humanness. His is the love that holds, the love that heals, the love that refines, the love that calls my waywardness back to purity with kindness, the love that is always with me, that rejoices over me with singing and takes “great delight” in me (Zeph. 3:17).
This sacred, scarlet love of Jesus is the only water that can quench the desperate longings of my thirsty soul. If I want all the love God has for me, my feeble hands must reach for the ones that were pierced for my transgressions. {TWEET this!}
Every day.
When the sun shines.
When the storm screams.
I find God’s love when I reach out to Jesus.
His is the only love that satisfies.
Dear Lord,
You are perfect love … and all that my soul longs for.
When I’m dizzy with discontent, please remind me that Yours is the love that satisfies.
In Jesus’s name, amen.
For Your REFLECTION and RESPONSE
Read Psalm 86:15. What five words or phrases are used to describe God in this verse? How similar or different are these from the way you perceive God right now?
Love you guys!
GWEN
PS. Today’s post is an excerpt from my book, I Want It ALL. Ready to narrow the gap between ordinary faith and the not-so-ordinary promises of God found in His Word? Order yours today from Amazon, or your favorite retailer.
Comments 32
This is so powerful. Thank you.
I am working on expanding my ministry to wives of alcoholics, and this is SUCH an important message for those in that situation.
Your earthly relationships can always disappoint you, but a strong relationship with the Lord never will. ❤️
I experienced grace and mercy and love yesterday. I continue to everyday.
I had weakness brought about by stress and anxiety. It comes out with weather changes. My walking is effected
God brought a friend along to pray for me. Yes
These words remind me of how God has rained all of these characteristics on me at different times in my life…always providing whatever I needed…spiritually, emotionally, physically. He never fails.
Author
SO true, Jane! God is faithful and never fails.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding us of Your amazing gifts in Psalm 86. We trust You to be the One and Only God, and Your works are higher than all others. May we give You the glory, all glory. God, you are so very good. Thank you for your mercy and grace. Please bring the Holy Spirit into my life each day that I may be more like You. Show me the way to be patient-slow to anger. I don’t deserve your lovingkindness: I am so very grateful for Jesus and our salvation. Thank you for Your Word: the truth. Make me like the Ant (Proverbs 6:6 and 30:25). Let me be wise in Your ways, the ways of Your Word guiding me so that You receive the glory today and everyday, God
Author
Amen!
These words remind me of God’s love, and they also direct me to show all of these qualities to others. My husband and daughter deserve these from me as well. If I can accept these words as a gift from God, I will be more equipped to love them as he loves me.
Thank you. I know God is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithful. What an awesome God we serve. He loves us even when we don’t deserve it. Even when we let him down. So thankful for the reminder this morning of His love for me and his compassion. I am so blessed. I need to remember more often that He loves me. Especially when I am struggling or falling away. His with me, and loves me. He is faithful. Thank you!
Thank you Gwen, Psalm 86:15 reminded me of God’s abounding love, His faithfulness, how compassionate and gracious God is. He’s slow to anger with mercy that endures forever.
What I love about these verses is that God is slow to anger, abounding in love! I so need this reminder to be the same way with my 4 kids and hubby! I can be so quick to anger. LORD, help me to see my children as You see them-treasures. ♡♡♡♡
Dear Lord, thank you for this reminder of you unfailing love, your never ending patience with my wayward thoughts for drawing me back in your mercy and Grace. You will never fail me your will always truthful with me. Your are what my thirsty soul needs each and every day.. in Jesus name I pray.
Amen
God filled with unfailing love.
God slow to get angry.
God filled with compassion and mercy.
(Phrases are from Psalms 86:15 NKJV)
My Lord, my God is filled with unfailing love! His love surpasses my weaknesses. He doesn’t go into a verbal rampage against me. He is patient, full of compassion and mercy. His mercies are new each day! If it weren’t for His faithfulness, I would have perished long ago! I praise Him for His love and mercy!
Thankful for the reminder that God is the One who satisfies me with His Love!
Father God, thank you for this reminder today. Lord, I see tgat I carey the difficulties I gave with myself and my self image over to what I believe about you. Rather than seeing your compassion and mercy I see judgment. I often feel like you are anfry with me, because I am angry with me. Rathwr than unfailing love and faithfulness I feel like many days lately you could not live me or help me.
Lord God, let me focus on this verse each morning, and memorize it to my heart to bring up when I am feeling anything but these things. Forgive me for hiw I have viewed you. Thank you fir loving me so much.
Amen
And you God are a compassionate and gracious God. Slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. I pray that you will satisfy me with your unfailing looking be this morning. Meet me in those lonely days laces. That I will sense your presence and be glad.
Thankyou Gwen, you wouldnt believe how much relevance this article had for me. I was examining my critical heart this morning and compassion and mercy is what I wanted to rule my heart all day and instead of being filled with intolerance after sitting quietly with god, he kept my mind and heart trouble free so I could get through the day. I love it when I can go to god in my dry lands and he makes me love and respect all people
Oh Lord my God, thank you for reminding me of whom you are. That You are compassionate and merciful. Even when I wrong You, You are slow to anger. God, You are filled with unfailing love and You are always faithful to keep the promises to your children.
May I always wait upon You. Amen
This is the highest aim of Christianity – to seek to be filled by God. Thanks for this.
This is God speaking to me right now! I am still dealing with the heartbreak of a relationship. I was going through old pictures and videos and happened to come across a video that I didn’t delete that made me start to feel down and I started missing my ex again. Loneliness has crept up on me and so instead of wallowing in my self pity and depression, I heard God tell me to listen to a sermon. I listened to one about loneliness and felt good. I then felt called to check my email (I mean who does that?? Checks their email at 3 in the morning) and there was a notification that a new post was up from you. God is so good and is showing me that love from Him is the only thing that can feel the void in my heart. I thank you so much for your writing
It has been most difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that God is slow to anger. Growing up my parents were constantly angry and I felt as though I could never please them. I attributed that to our Heavenly Father as well. Thank you Lord that You are slow to anger, merciful, and full of loving-kindness. I am so blessed to be a daughter of the King.
God you are an awesome God. Thank you for loving me so perfectly, and always. Thank you for rescuing me from my will God. Help me as I work to love my family with the same patience You love me. I love You and give you my life.
In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen
Dear God my prayer is that I will be a compassionate and gracious person, your child, slow to anger, abounding in your love & your faithfulness. Grow my shortcomings to become more like you, close the gap Lord and increase the impact on others touching their hearts, minds & souls Jesus. Effect me to become more like you so that you shine through me, your child. Amen
I remember back in 2014 when I yearned for a devotion that included encouraging women to follow Christ and I found this… Till today I am so grateful that I relate with the posts and I have learned to follow God’s teaching. Especially on today’s topic of finding love in lonely places, I can tell of His goodness and redeeming power.
I am grateful Father for all of who you are to me today, in verses 15-17.
Thank you, Lord, for reminding me that you are “compassionate” when I have failed you. Thank you, Lord, for being “gracious” to me when I’ve not been gracious to others. Thank you for being “slow to anger” and for your continual patience with me. Daily, I am reminded of your “abounding love” and “faithfulness.” Help me and empower me through your Spirit to exhibit these same qualities as I encounter all the people in my life.
This passsge shares that God’s love is a perfect love, and his love gets me through each and every day.
With those 5 words it lets me know that He is basically all that I need to make it through this barren land.
Lord, You are big God. Your biggness envelopes me. Your love for me is enough. Thank you for giving me so much, with reservation, or hesitation. I accept you for who you are, and I embrace you for loveing me.
Amen
Dear Jesus,
I am so grateful for your faithful forgiveness that sends all my sins away when I repent. You are so GOOD! Your love is abounding &your mercy is overflowing towards me! I praise your Holy Name!!
I have been fighting non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma since 2004. December 2015, due to another diagnosis, I was forced to retire from a job I loved and had worked for 25 years. I am now on Disability but refuse to let this situation steal my joy. You challenged me to write a responsive prayer in my journal or on your blog. I’m doing both. Thank you for this challenge.
But you, oh Lord, are a compassionate
“Behold, what compassion you have for me.”
and gracious God
“You give me unmerited favor.”
Slow to anger
“With each new test result, if I become fearful, you don’t get angry with my lack of faith.”
Abounding in love
“You wrap your arms around me, like a momma hen would wrap her wings around her chicks during a storm.”
And faithfulness.
“Your love for me is never-ending. No matter what may come, you let me know you are with me.”
Beautiful, prayers to cover you in God’s perfect peace and love.
Gwen, this devotional allows me to think about my (our) safety amongst the car drivers filled with road rage…in Brooklyn New York the insensitve drivers encourage me to be even more intentional about extending kindness to drivers and pedestrians alike. My (our) protection from God is sealed, as we do onto others as we would have them do unto us!!!!
Wonderful! This reminds me of my husband’s sermon on Easter. He said he’d seen a tv show about the 10 most deadliest snakes and the photographer that took pictures of them. One was a desert snake of some sort. The photographer took a different approach w/ this particular snake. Instead of getting the snake to strike at him to get a good picture, he sprayed this snake w/ a fine mist of cool water. The snake was so calm and enjoying every second of being misted w/ the one thing he longed for most – water. The camera zoomed in on its face as it opened its mouth just enough to let a drop of water fall in. The snake looked as if it was experiencing pure joy. That’s how I want to be towards God’s word and love – soaking it all in with complete and pure joy, no matter my circumstances. He will saturate me w/ His love through the time I take to be with Him.