“[God] gave them their request, but sent leanness to their soul.” Psalm 106:15 NKJV.
Your soul feels empty when you fill your heart and hands with things that never satisfy.
Most people have a pretty good idea of what would make them happy; at least, they think they do. What you think will make you happy and what satisfies you are rarely the same. In a person’s quest to get ahead and a stubbornness to have what they want, a lot of mistakes are made and regrets engendered. Have you ever heard it said, “Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it?” Has that ever happened to you? Was there a job you had to have, a house you had to buy, a new car you wanted, a little indulgence no one knew, or a friendship or business deal which compromised convictions?
Getting what you want is rarely what’s best. With pain, I remember times and occasions when what I wanted blinded me from seeing what was unwise and unhelpful. When God says, “No,” rejoice; don’t beg or whine. God intended life to be plentiful and content. The problem seems to be our confusion of wants with needs.Even when your wants are met, satisfaction can be short-lived; however, when your needs are provided, satisfaction endures. “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8 NIV. Receiving what you need is more satisfying than getting what you want.
Like a lot of us, Solomon learned the hard way. Listen to his belated self-analysis, “Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them . . then I looked on the works my hands had done . . and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind.” Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 NKJV. Your soul feels empty when you fill your heart and hands with things that never satisfy. I am challenged by the verse that holds my attention today. The verse recites David rehearsal of Israel’s often tragic, wilderness journey, “[God] gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.” Psalm 106:15 NKJV. God, as a wise and loving father, may sometimes indulge an insistent request (demand?) that would not be to your harm or loss, but would allow for your learning.
Leanness describes an empty soul. Leanness of soul can result from pride and/or ingratitude. Pride is an attitude of “deserving more and better than” God provides; ingratitude is a discontent from “demanding more than” God provided. Ancient Israel struggled with many of the same things with which you may struggle, issues of heart which result in leanness not abounding. God desires for you, “[They] shall flourish in the courts of our God . . in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing.” Psalm 92:13-14 NKJV. See Psalm 65:11 NLT.
God’s motive is to dissuade you from wrong desires, not deprive you of good things. God’s love will spare no effort to protect those He loves, even from themselves. James explained, “The reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. And even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong – you want only what will give you pleasure.” James 4:2-3 NLT. There are times when the least charitable thing God could do would be giving you what you ask. God knows best and is too kind and wise to give you what you insist on having; any such indulgence would not be love.
God’s answer is, “Seek your happiness in the Lord and He will give you your heart’s desire.” Psalm 37:4 NLT. Your heart’s desire must first and always flow from a heart to serve and please God. Only then, “The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought . . you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.” Isaiah 58:11 NKJV. See Psalm 91:14 NKJV.
My prayer for you today is that you are persuaded that full delight is found only in God’s providence.