WHEN I AWAKE WITH THY LIKENESS
“As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” Psalm 17:15
Like so many of the Psalms, this one also includes many references to David’s mistreatment and opposition. He prayed for God’s protection “from men of the world, which have their portion in this life” (Psalm 17:14). What an accurate way to describe the unsaved of our world. They “have their portion in this life.” The men of the world have such a limited and selfish perspective of life. This world is the best that they will ever know or experience. They live for the present world. When they die, they will take their place in eternal regret and torment.
However, it is not so with the child of God. This world is not the best we have in store. Living in this world as a follower of Jesus Christ is a great life. But this is not all there is. David, in contrasting himself with his enemies, said, “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” One day, we will leave this world. When we do, we will awake in that beautiful place called Heaven, and we will see the face of the One who loves us and died for us. For us, the best is yet to come. We are going to a better place, a place where sin does not exist. Peter said, “we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (II Peter 3:13). We will awake in a place where there are no more disappointments and death, where sickness and sorrow are no more.
Not only will we be awakened in a new place, but when we awake, we will be transformed in a glorious way. Our text says, “I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” Death and Heaven will mean the end of our sinful and selfish selves, and the consummation of His sanctifying work in our lives. We were redeemed by God’s grace that we might be forgiven of our sins and transformed into the image of Christ. Speaking of this, Paul said we were to be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29). John said of that wonderful moment when we see our Savior, “when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2). Every sincere Christian wants to be more like our Savior. We want to sin less and please Him more. The people of this world have their portion in this life, but thank God, our portion is in Heaven.