Psa 17:15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
Our verse today comes from a psalm that is labeled "A prayer of David." So then what we have is an example of what it means to "Pray in the Holy Ghost," being that we know David wrote this under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. This prayer was from David's heart but more importantly, it was from the heart of God. So it is with prayer that is "In the Holy Ghost," what we are pouring out of our hearts was first poured into them by God, and therefore we are aided in the act, direction, and expectancy of our prayers. Be sure that a prayer that has God as its author, instigator, and end will surely stand before God in eternity and usher in his aid in the here and now.
We also learn that prayer is not just a request, In this prayer of David's, there is as much realization as there is request. Our verse today starts with a realization, "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness." Verse 4 shows us another realization that David comes to, "by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer." Many times we are pressed out of measure as David was in this time of his life and we run to prayer, to request help and aid, and many times that request is met in that very prayer in the form of realizations. I've gone to him overwhelmed and in the midst of prayer, I am reminded that it has been him in times past that upheld me, I am reminded that my righteousness is of him and a million other truths have flooded into clear view ever before I said amen. We've heard it said and it's true, prayer changes us. We go to God asking for him to change our circumstances, and often his prayer is answered by changing us instead of the circumstances we are in, and in this we see the perfect wisdom of God in allowing us to pass through those tough times in the first place, to change us.
This prayer ends with a determination, "I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." Through the pouring out of his heart, through the request made, through the realizations God has made known to him, he finds the direction needed. What direction is that? It is a determination that he will not be satisfied with anything less than being like the Lord. I believe this shows us a heart that has been set on "Godliness with contentment is great gain." I won't be content with anything less than Godliness." Prayer resets our sights, reminds us of our ultimate goal, and sets us back on the paths of righteousness, for his name's sake. We often pray for things that we believe will satisfy us when we have received them, but in this life, there is no such thing as real lasting satisfaction, but "when I awake with thy likeness, I shall be satisfied." If we are striving for the things of this world, longing and praying for them, perhaps we haven't come to this realization. That we won't be satisfied in this world, but the one to come. Prayer sets our eyes on the life that is to come and reminds us that satisfaction is coming, peace is coming, and joy is coming, not for a day, not for a week or year but eternally we shall be satisfied when we awake in his likeness. Death will be swallowed up in life, mortality will be swallowed up in immortality, the finite will give way to the infinite, and the temporal will be swallowed up in timelessness. This is a determination, that we will not be satisfied with the things of this world but the ones to come, may the Lord bring us to this same realization and determination this morning, "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness."
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