Psalm 131:1-3
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English Standard Version (Psalm 131)
I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul 131 A SONG OF ASCENTS. OF DAVID
1 O יהוהLORD, my heart is not lifted up;my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 O Israel, hope in the יהוהLORD from this time forth and forevermore.
Psalm 131. Has the poet watched a mother soothe a fretful toddler, envying its contentment? Putting aside pride, curbing ambition, restraining curiosity, and not letting one’s heart be troubled, are his recipe for inner serenity, such as individuals and the nation long for.
The psalmist’s humility. Believers encouraged to trust in God.
The psalmist aimed at nothing high or great, but to be content in every condition God allotted. Humble saints cannot think so well of themselves as others think of them. The love of God reigning in the heart, will subdue self-love. Where there is a proud heart, there is commonly a proud look. To know God and our duty, is learning sufficiently high for us. It is our wisdom not to meddle with that which does not belong to us. He was well reconciled to every condition the Lord placed him in. He had been as humble as a little child about the age of weaning, and as far from aiming at high things; as entirely at God’s disposal, as the child at the disposal of the mother or nurse. We must become as little children, Mt 18:3. Our hearts are desirous of worldly things, cry for them, and are fond of them; but, by the grace of God, a soul that is made holy, is weaned from these things. The child is cross and fretful while in the weaning; but in a day or two it cares no longer for milk, and it can bear stronger food. Thus does a converted soul quiet itself under the loss of what it loved, and disappointments in what it hoped for, and is easy whatever happens. When our condition is not to our mind, we must bring our mind to our condition; then we are easy to ourselves and all about us; then our souls are as a weaned child. And thus the psalmist recommends confidence in God, to all the Israel of God, from his own experience. It is good to hope, and quietly to wait for the salvation of the Lord under every trial.
Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), Ps 131:1.
Psalm 131. This psalm of confidence in the Lord describes the ideal of a “calmed and quieted soul.”
131:1 heart is not lifted up … eyes are not raised too high. Descriptions of arrogance and pride.
131:2 Just as a weaned child is content simply having his mother’s presence, so the faithful worshiper is content (calmed and quieted) simply with God’s presence.
J. I. Packer, Wayne Grudem, and Ajith Fernando, eds., ESV Global Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 833.
131:title–3 This individual psalm of confidence—expressing trust in God—focuses on the experience of internal calm. The psalmist begins by addressing Yahweh personally and stating his submission to Yahweh’s order, declaring that he does not seek to understand things that are closed to him or too hard for him to comprehend (v. 1). He then describes his inner discipline and compares his soul to a weaned child content to be with its mother (132:2). The psalmist concludes by exhorting Israel to hope in Yahweh like he does (130:3). Psalm 131 is also part of the collection of pilgrimage psalms (Pss 120–134) meant to be used during pilgrimage to Jerusalem (see note on 120:title).
John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Ps 131:title–3.
Psalm 131: Intellectual Humility
There are some problems in life that defy explanation. Mysteries too deep to fathom. Strange circumstances that puzzle the keenest intellect.
Who, for example, can say the last word on the problem of human suffering?
Who can answer all the questions that surface in the area of unanswered prayer?
Who can reconcile God’s sovereign election and man’s free will?
131:1 David didn’t profess to know all the answers. His heart was not lifted up like that of an insufferable know-it-all. His eyes were not raised too high, as if he were the finished intellectual egotist. He recognized his limitations and was not ashamed to say, “I don’t know.” He was content to know what he could know and leave the mysteries with God. Why occupy himself with things that were too great and too profound for him? No, he gave God credit for understanding things that he could never understand.
131:2 This attitude of trust in the wisdom, love, and power of God brought peace and quietness to his soul. He was like a weaned child who is quieted at his mother’s breasts. At the outset a child may be squalling, restless, impatient. But then feeding time comes and the baby is suddenly silent, relaxed in his mother’s arms. And so we can work ourselves into a dither of frustration, trying to understand things that are too high for us. But as soon as we leave the unanswerable questions with God, our souls are loosed from tension.
131:3 The psalmist recommends this attitude of confidence in the Lord to all of Israel. So did A. W. Tozer. He wrote: “Never forget that it is a privilege to wonder, to stand in delighted silence before the Supreme Mystery and whisper, ‘O Lord God, thou knowest.’ ”
The Pilgrims’ Humility
PSALM 131
Spurgeon said of this individual psalm of confidence, “It is one of the shortest psalms to read, but one of the longest to learn” (Treasury, vol. 3, 136). Why would he say that? It’s because humility is not something we ever fully live out. To assume you have arrived at humility proves otherwise!
David expresses a childlike, humble trust in the Lord. He shares his experience (vv. 1–2) as an encouragement to the whole community of faith (v. 3). David’s childlike trust and contentment have much to teach us.
Learn to Humble Yourself before God (131:1)
David begins by confessing his spiritual condition with three denials. He claims that his heart is not lifted up (“proud”). His eyes are not raised too high (“haughty”). He doesn’t occupy himself with things that are too great or difficult. These denials suggest that this condition hasn’t always been the case (Lawson, Psalms 76–150, 301). David, like us, knew the temptation of spiritual pride and selfish ambition. His pride caused him to look down on others with his haughty eyes. VanGemeren summarizes pride powerfully: “The proud person looks, compares, competes, and is never content” (“Psalms,” 803).
Pause for a moment and take an inventory of your heart. Are you constantly comparing yourself to others? Are you constantly competing with others? Are you seeking to outdo and outperform others? Are you discontented? These are manifestations of sinful pride that need to be killed.
What does David mean by things “too great or too wondrous”? David may be thinking about great theological mysteries. The intellectually arrogant lack theological humility. But I think David has in mind great plans and accomplishments (cf. Deut 17:8; 30:11). Goldingay puts it well:
The line is concerned with more than seeking to understand things that are too great for human comprehension. Rather the supplicant has avoided trying to go about doing great wonders, like God, rather than walking in faithfulness (Prov 8:20). This psalm testifies to having escaped “vain ambition.” (Psalms, 536)
David is giving up trying to do things beyond his control and things for his own glory. His selfish ambition and actions were expressions of arrogance, not humility. This new path that he expresses, however, involves a commitment to simple faithfulness.
Today we try—often with good intentions—to do the wonders of God. But let’s stop trying to be God. Let’s learn to be faithful. Let’s learn to rest in God, like a child (v. 2). The attitude that God expects from us is conveyed in this psalm. We need to admit our frailty. We need to admit our own limitations. We need to avoid rating others lower than ourselves. We need to be aware of the destructive nature of pride (2 Chr 26:16; cf. 32:25). We need to remember that God hates pride (Pss 18:27; 101:5; Prov 6:16–19; 16:5; 30:13). We need to remember that competition and comparison, discontentment, and selfish ambitions are forms of pride. We need to remember, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble” (Jas 4:6). We need to remember that God calls us “to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with [our] God” (Mic 6:8). Like David, let us look to God as we seek to grow in humility (Prov 18:12). We need the message of Philippians 2:1–11 to work deeply in our hearts.
Learn to Hush before God (131:2)
Richard Foster writes, “In contemporary society our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry, and crowds” (Celebration, 15). So then, we should pay close attention to verse 2, as David talks about being quiet and calm before the Lord.
David says that he is like a “child” in the presence of God. This childlike spirit creates peace and contentment instead of restlessness and discontentment. By trusting God and listening to God, he has found contentment. While believers should not be childish, they are called to be childlike in faith (Matt 18:3). We should have a simple, dependent, confident trust in the Father, in whose presence we find all we need. So let us learn to be still before him (Ps 46:10).
One of the reasons we experience contentment through silence before God is because, like a child, we experience the love of the Father. As believers, we don’t have to run around competing with others and promoting ourselves. We have already been accepted through Jesus Christ. The Father loves us with an everlasting love. So let’s stop and be quiet and receive his love in the quiet places. Let’s trust him for daily bread, and let’s find contentment in knowing him and being known by him.
Learn to Hope in God (131:3)
Based on David’s relationship with God, he calls the people to hope in God. Childlike faith leads to hope in God. This hope isn’t wishful thinking, but a deeply settled confidence in God. When believers are confident in God, they find contentment and peace. David tells Israel to hope in the Lord “forever,” that is, to never stop hoping in him. Let’s never stop hoping in him until our faith ends in sight.
Corrie ten Boom said, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God” (in Lawson, Psalms 76–150, 302). How true! If you know him, humble yourself before him, quietly rest in his love, and keep hoping in him.
Reflect and Discuss
1. Why are the people told to sing about affliction?
2. Why is it important for us to remember the nature of affliction in the Christian life?
3. What does Psalm 129 teach us about the character of God? How should we respond to this?
4. Regarding Psalm 130, what are some common ways people try to (wrongly) deal with their guilt? How does this psalm teach us to deal with guilt?
5. What does Psalm 130 teach us about the character of God? How should this encourage us to respond?
6. What does it look like to wait for the Lord?
7. How does Psalm 130 point us to the work of Jesus?
8. What is your reaction to Psalm 131? How does Psalm 131 teach us about pride and humility?
9. What does Psalm 131 teach us about contentment and resting in God?
10. Take a few moments to pray through these psalms.
Daniel L. Akin, Johnny M. Hunt, and Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Psalms 101–150, ed. David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2021), 231–234.
2. “Lord, my heart is not lifted up” (ver. 1). He hath offered a sacrifice. Whence do we prove that he hath offered a sacrifice? Because humility of heart is a sacrifice.… If there is no sacrifice, there is no Priest. But if we have a High Priest in Heaven, who intercedeth with the Father for us (for He hath entered into the Holy of Holies, within the veil), … we are safe, for we have a Priest; let us offer our sacrifice there. Let us consider what sacrifice we ought to offer; for God is not pleased with burnt-offerings, as ye have heard in the Psalm. But in that place he next showeth what he offereth: “The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, shall Thou not despise.1
3. “Lord, my heart was not lifted up, neither were mine eyes raised on high” (ver. 1); “I have not exercised myself in great matters, nor in wonderful things which are too high for me” (ver. 2). Let this be more plainly spoken and heard. I have not been proud: I have not wished to be known among men as for wondrous powers; nor have I sought anything beyond my strength, whereby I might boast myself among the ignorant. As that Simon the sorcerer wished to advance into wonders above himself, on that account the power of the Apostles more pleased him, than the righteousness of Christians.… What is above my strength, he saith, I have not sought; I have not stretched myself out there, I have not chosen to be magnified there. How deeply this self-exaltation in the abundance of graces is to be feared, that no man may pride himself in the gift of God, but may rather preserve humility, and may do what is written: “The greater thou art, the more humble thyself, and thou shalt find favour before the Lord:”2 how deeply pride in God’s gift should be feared, we must again and again impress upon you.…
PSALM OF TRUST AND HUMILITY
THIS PSALM, modest and reserved in character, is one of the great gems of the Psalter. Because of its very unpretentiousness it may easily be overlooked. Yet it throws light upon one of the cardinal Christian virtues, which is always intimately linked with trust, the virtue of humility. It is parallel to passages like Matt. 19:3; Jas. 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5.
Though it sings the praises of humility it does not make the mistake of having the writer pride himself on his humility, a mistake that is made only too easily. It avoids doing this by its very simplicity, brevity, and deep insight.
We have here a record of the experience of an individual. In that sense there is something autobiographical about the psalm. The writer gives us a brief glimpse into his own soul and into what happened there. But when that story is completed, he cannot but share with his people what he has learned. For the nation needs this lesson as badly as does the individual. It may almost be said that the nation of the Jews was in special need of being reminded of this point. Yet if we were to say so we might miss the very point that the psalm would make by aiming the psalm at others rather than at ourselves.
Very few interpreters accept as valid the heading which ascribes the psalm to David. We need not in this case insist on the correctness of the assertion because the words “of David” are missing in a number of versions. Still to think of David as being the author does not seem to be so much beside the point. We have one specific instance on record when he spoke sentiments that are in the spirit of this psalm (cf., 2 Sam. 6:21f.). We know furthermore that he manfully controlled himself by refusing to snatch at things that were too high and too difficult for him in the days when Saul was king and David had to practice humility at court and in numerous other difficult situations. Nor did he later as king aspire to achieve greatness by attacking other kings and rulers. All his wars were defensive in character. Certainly, David exemplified what this psalm teaches more than did many another famous character on the pages of the Old Testament.
A pilgrimage song. Of David.
1. O Lord, my heart is not haughty;
And my eyes are not proud;
Nor am I engaged in things too great and too difficult for me.
2. But rather I have stilled and quieted my soul;
As a weaned child rests at its mother’s bosom, So my soul within me is weaned.
3. O Israel, hope in the Lord
From henceforth and forevermore.
1. The writer records a result that he has achieved: he claims that pride has been put aside. Pride always has its seat deep in the heart. From that citadel it has been ousted as far as he is concerned. Pride expresses itself in the glance of the eye more clearly than in any other way. From that field it has been removed. Its goals are objectives that are great and difficult of achievement. These have been totally disavowed. In this category are things that a man should not aim at, things that the Almighty never destined him to have, but things after which the proud aspire whether it pleases their Maker or not.
One could read a tone of pride into this verse, but that would be as unwarranted as it is uncharitable. As far as the writer is concerned, he merely catalogues what things have been overcome in his life, and that victory extends from the inmost core of his being to the peripheral objectives that he might otherwise be pursuing. The verse has a similarity in spirit to the word addressed to Baruch, Jer. 45:5, admonishing him to let high-flying goals be abandoned.
2. Whereas the first verse mentioned results achieved, this one shows how they were attained. It was not without an inner struggle. The writer had to take himself in hand: he “stilled and quieted” his soul. There may have been a time when great plans and mighty projects surged through his thoughts and drove him onward along the road of ambition. In some way he came to see that it is wrong for a man to seek great things for himself and to aim at that type of fame. When the wrongness of his course became apparent, he desisted from his former pursuits.
He takes a child as his model, and again we are reminded of the episode recorded in Matt. 18, where the Savior instructed His disciples to follow such a course. As the weaned child rests content at its mother’s side, no longer clamoring for the breast, so he, weaned of his ambitions, rests content to be at the side of his God. Though God is not mentioned at this point, it is He that was addressed in the opening statement of the psalm just as it is He to whom the writer points His people as their sole refuge (v. 3). Godly experience has taught men that the soul will never desist from its unseemly worldly objectives until it has found its true rest and peace in God.
3. What follows is more than a loose appendage to the preceding. It is more than a practical application of the truth experienced personally. There is apparently a parallel between the writer and his situation and the nation and its situation. For the greater likelihood is that the psalm is postexilic in character. The prophets of the Restoration had promised great things to the returnees who had ventured back from Babylon. Many may have come back inspired in part by the glamor of the future that had been held before them. All these glorious goals seemed to fail of realization. What had in reality failed was the physical aspect of goals that had been conceived in too material a fashion. Outward objectives had to be cast aside. The true inner objectives had to be sought. The nation had to still and quiet its soul just as the individual in the psalm did. The psalmist’s whole experience, recorded in the first two verses, may in part have been tied up with the renunciation of Israel’s wordly ambitions. Having learned his lesson, he was the better qualified to teach it to his people, and that is what he does in this verse. By emphasizing that this virtue of true humility is to be cultivated—for what is hoping in the Lord other than the essence of true humility?—and cultivated “from henceforth and forevermore” the writer indicates that no one and no nation can arrive at the point where the need of humbleness of mind is outgrown.
By its very brevity and simplicity this psalm teaches its lesson all the more effectively.
NOTES
2. The initial ’im-lo’ is not to be construed conditionally (KJ) but in the sense of an adversative “but rather”; see GK 149e and KS 39 It.
KJ King James Version.
GK Gesenius Kautzsch, Hebr. Grammatik, 27th Edition, Leipzig, 1902.
KS Lehrgebaeude der hebraeischen Sprache, II Syntax, Eduard Koenig, 1897.
H. C. Leupold, Exposition of the Psalms (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1959), 907–909.
The Psalmist has learned the spirit of child-like humility in the school of suffering. His is not a naturally unambitious soul, but he has disciplined all worldly ambitions, and calmly and contentedly resigned himself to the Will of God.
1. A proud mind finds expression in haughty looks and ambitious schemes. Cp. Ps. 18:27; 101:5; Prov. 16:5.
neither &c.] Neither do I busy myself (lit. go to and fro) in great things, or in things too arduous for me. Cp. the warning to Baruch in Jer. 45:5, and for the word rendered wonderful or arduous cp. Gen. 18:14; Deut. 30:11. The Psalmist has schooled himself to renounce ambitious schemes which are impracticable, and to accept the rôle of insignificance. This appears to be the primary meaning here, rather than ‘mysteries too deep for my comprehension’ (Job 42:3). Ecclus. 3:18ff. is an expansion of this verse.
Psalm 131. Like a mother
Context
The title identifies the psalm as a song of ascents (see excursus before Ps. 120). The title names David as the composer of the psalm, and indeed the historical books describe the early period of David’s life as one of confidence in God in the midst of struggle, which is the attitude expressed in this psalm. For instance, on two occasions he has the opportunity to grasp the kingship, but chooses instead to wait on God’s timing (1 Sam. 24 and 26). Regardless of the actual connection to David’s life, it is correct to see the psalm as an expression of trust or confidence in God.
Comment
131:1–2. Confidence in the midst of turmoil
The first verse contains two closely related parallel lines. In the first colon of the first line, the psalmist denies that he is proud. Specifically, he claims that his heart is not proud. In this context, the heart, which sometimes can refer to the mind, is closer to what we would call one’s inward self or character. In the second colon, he moves from the inside to the outside, when he announces that his eyes are not haughty. The Hebrew literally reads: ‘my eyes are not lifted up’, which is equivalent to a person today saying that they do not look down their nose at other people. In other words, this is a denial of a proud demeanour. In wisdom literature, the wicked are those who have eyes that are lifted up (Prov. 30:13–14), which the Lord hates (Prov. 6:17).
In the second poetic line of the first verse, the psalmist moves to action, denying that he has an ambition to strive for things that are beyond him. It is interesting to think of David uttering this song. He knew his place, as we have suggested, during his early years (see 1 Sam. 24 and 26 where he does not grasp for the kingship), but later in life, he certainly does strive for things (in particular Bathsheba) that were beyond his having. In any case, thinking of David the king of Israel as the speaker preserves us from an over-interpretation that would lead one to think the psalm is against acquiring any status in society. It is not against high position that is divinely given, but it does model a critical attitude towards pure blind ambition.
Verse 2 reveals that the psalmist’s present confidence did not come naturally, but after a struggle he calmed and quietened himself. He is now as content as a weaned child is content with its mother. This simile describing an analogy between a weaned child with its mother and the psalmist with God thus illustrates a feminine image of God. In unpacking this simile, one must explore the nature of the relationship between a mother and a weaned child. A weaned child can rest comfortably in its mother’s arms, while a baby who is not yet weaned is fussy and restless. Here the psalmist provides a picture image of the kind of trustful confidence that he is now experiencing.
131:3. Hope in the Lord
The psalmist concludes with an exhortation to the congregation of Israel to hope in God (linking back to Ps. 130:7a). Israel may face struggles, but their ultimate trust needs to be in the God who can take care of them, like the mother of a weaned child.
Meaning
This psalm of confidence in God seeks to engender hope in the hearts of the congregation. Christian readers of the psalm, living in the aftermath of God’s great redemptive acts, have arguably even stronger reasons to trust him. While David in certain periods of his life well illustrates the attitude of this psalm, Jesus does so perfectly and consistently. One might think of the episode in the Garden of Gethsemane as a time when he ‘calmed and quietened’ himself and adopted a child-like trust in God the Father.
Tremper Longman III, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. David G. Firth, vol. 15–16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2014), 432–434.
Psalm 131. The cry of the child-heart. The psalmist said this in all simplicity. He did not exercise himself (literally “walk to and fro”) in things beyond his powers, but left God to reveal them to him, as he was able to receive them. We are reminded of Matthew 11:25. Clearly he had not reached this position without effort. He had found it necessary to still and quiet himself, as a nurse quiets a fretful babe. There had been a time when he was fed at the breast of the world’s consolations. The weaning had been hard, but he had learned to get all from God and to draw on his sustaining grace.
2. If I have not set, &c. He here employs a figure which appropriately explains what he meant, and likens himself to a weaned child; by which is intended, that he dismissed all the anxieties which disquiet the man of ambition, and was willing to be satisfied with small things. This assertion, which some might be inclined to disbelieve, he makes with an oath, expressed in that particular form of which I have elsewhere taken notice, in which the imprecation is not directly brought forward, but left to be understood, to teach us caution in the use of God’s name.1 As to the words, to set his soul like a child, is as if he had said, that he would frame it into such a likeness. And this with the view, as he declares, of composing himself to silence. For דוממתי, domamtee, is formed from דום, dum, and has the active sense of reducing to silence. The quiet of soul he alludes to is opposed to those tumultuous desires by which many cause disquietude to themselves, and are the means of throwing the world into agitation. The figure of childhood is elsewhere used in another sense, to convey reprehension. (Is. 28:9.)
Ps. 131 David expresses his deeply felt confidence in the Lord with this simple, clear, yet profound prayer. It voices the trust of a close, personal relationship with God.
131:1 The humility expressed in verse 1 is not false humility, which refuses God’s calling as Moses did. It is not a lack of confidence, which leads a person to idle his life away. It is, rather, the recognition that some work remains in God’s sphere, not ours. We cannot pay for a single sin by heaping up zealous works or by burdening ourselves with self-punishment. We rest in peace, confident of God’s forgiveness.
Psalms: A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition Chapter 129: Content in His Arms (Psalm 131:1–3)
A beautiful picture of contentment and trust emerges from the three verses of Psalm 131. If the psalm was written by David (and there is nothing in the psalm to dictate otherwise), it sounds more like David in his early years. Later it was included with the Songs of Ascent (Psalms 120–134) to guide Israel in the difficult post-exilic days.
The psalmist begins with three denials: his heart is not proud; his eyes are not haughty; and he does not concern himself with great matters … things too wonderful for me—that is, his mind does not overreach its proper boundaries. A proud heart and exalted eyes describe a person who looks down on others, treating them as less important.
The third denial strikes us as strange since our culture accepts no boundaries to the free movement of the human mind. Without question, this insistence has brought tremendous advances in learning. Some things, however, God has withheld for himself (see Deuteronomy 29:29). He rarely tells us why things happen as they do or what our future holds. While it is not sinful to ask God why or what next, it is presumptuous to demand an answer. This is what the psalmist refuses to do in Psalm 131:1c.
He follows the three denials with an emphatic assertion (But here indicates emphasis).1 Like the calm surface of a lake, he has stilled and quieted his soul.2 He compares himself to a weaned child with its mother (131:2). Because this child is no longer breast feeding, it can lie contentedly in its mother’s arms, desiring less what the mother can give than the mother herself. An end to self-centered demands means the child can enjoy the mother’s comfort.3 To approach God, not for what He can do for me but because He is my God and Father, is to enjoy a deeper, more satisfying level of contentment.
In language quite similar to Psalm 130:7, the psalmist turns his attention outward (see 131:3). The rewards of trust prompt him to summon Israel—and us—to do the same, both now and forevermore (131:3b).
Ps 131 This short psalm contains an implicit warning not to become too involved in trying to understand the mystery of God (see Dt 29:29; Ps 139:6). It is enough to rely on Him as His child—the psalmist dared to use the picture of a mother to convey his thought (see Hs 11:1–4; Lk 12:34). The speaker saw himself as a member of his larger worshiping community (Ps 131:3).
♦ Y. Psalm 131
NOTES
131:1 I don’t concern myself. Lit., “I do not walk about in” (see commentary).
COMMENTARY
We live in a noisy world. External noises bombard our ears daily—the noise of jets and freeways and lawn mowers and sirens. Then there are all the internal noises of deadlines and commitments and activities. At a deeper level still is the noise of anxiety and fear and uncertainty and guilt. The problem is not one of finding a time and place to be alone. The problem is how to find quietness for the soul in the middle of all of life’s noises (Gire 1996:27). Inner quietness in the middle of a noisy world is possible, and Psalm 131 shows the way.
Two Requirements. Psalm 131 sets forth two requirements for experiencing inner quietness. The first requirement is, odd as it may seem, effort. Quietness takes effort. Now, quietness certainly is a gift of God’s grace. “Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens” (Jas 1:17). This gift is ours through faith in the Lord Jesus, who has accomplished everything necessary for us to live with still and quiet souls. Yet quietness is our responsibility, a result of our effort. Note that the psalmist said, “I have calmed and quieted myself.” The Hebrew here is emphatic, being in the form of an oath, and stresses the need for our taking intentional steps to experience inner quietness and peace. The psalmist does not tell us what he did to quiet his soul, but there are concrete steps to take when the noise level begins to rise. The first step is simply to acknowledge the noise by saying something like “I feel afraid” or “I feel worried,” whatever the case may be. A second step is to recall Scripture. Is the noise fear? Bring to mind 56:3b–4. Is the noise worry? Bring to mind Matthew 6:25–31. Having Scripture stored up in our hearts is of great benefit to quieting our souls in the middle of daily activities. A third step is to ask God for what you want and then to trust him to give you what you need (Matt 6:32–34). These steps can be taken at any time—while in a meeting or on the highway, while at the park with the children, or at an interview for a job.
The second requirement is humility. Humility is the opposite of arrogance, and arrogance and quietness cannot occupy the same space. Note how inner quietness is first of all a matter of the heart: “My heart is not proud” (131:1). A heart that is arrogant is usually a heart that feels insecure, insignificant, or out of control. Such a heart looks through the eyes (“my eyes are not haughty”) to find ways to satisfy the deep longings for security, significance, and control. The result is often a frantic running around (lit., “I have not walked about”), faster and faster, doing more to have more, to be more. Arrogance increases the noise level within. Humility and quietness, by contrast, are roommates. They are the fruit of three truths. We are absolutely secure in the love that God has for us in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:38–39). All of our activities in the Lord are significant because of the resurrection (1 Cor 15:58). We can take charge of our lives because God is in control of all things for our good (Rom 8:28–32). As we focus our hearts on God—his love, purpose, and power—inner quietness is ours.
Two Results. The first result of our effort and humility is quietness within. The picture the psalmist paints is that of a weaned child on its mother’s lap. Anyone who has been around a hungry nursing baby knows that when that baby is near the mother’s breast, the picture is anything but one of quietness. By way of contrast, a weaned child can be near the breast with no grasping and no agitation—still, quiet, and tranquil. This is a picture of what our lives can be like, regardless of what is going on in the world around us. Though there may be noise all around, there can be quietness within for the humble of heart.
The second result is ministry to others. As soon as David has quieted his own soul, he begins to minister to others: “O Israel, put your hope in the LORD” (131:3). Inner quietness is not a retreat into self-centeredness, but it is an innercenteredness from which we reach out to others. We, like David, want others to experience what we have experienced. By definition, one who hopes in the Lord is one who is humble, so one who hopes in the Lord is one who has inner quietness. Hoping in the Lord is turning away from self-sufficient, frantic living and turning to a quiet dependence on God (see Ps 127). Hoping in the Lord is a quiet dependence on the God who is characterized by “unfailing love” (130:7) and who gives overflowing redemption (130:8).
Noise and quietness are not mutually exclusive. We may not be able to control the noise level in the world around us, but we can control the noise level within. God has made a way for us to quiet our souls like a weaned child on its mother’s lap. By hoping in him, we can experience quietness in a noisy world.
lit. literally
Mark D. Futato, “The Book of Psalms,” in Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 7: The Book of Psalms, The Book of Proverbs (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2009), 395–396.
The source of pride is wealth, power, and prominence, but surprisingly not military might. Most of all, the primary source of such ascendency was the king’s great wisdom and cunning in the market place, a wisdom, however, that turns on the one who presumes to have mastered it (Ez 38:17). The lust for boundless treasure and endless glory turned wisdom into greed and violence (Ez 38:16). Most of all, however, a great presumption overtook. “I am a god,” the king convinced himself (Ez 38:2, 6, 9). Most of all, he lost sight of his humanness.
The next denial in our psalm comes in the phrase: I have not raised my eyes to high. Most of us know that downward look from a dog exposed to some mischievous mishap, but we also know the reverse, that certain upward glance that says: “I am above you.” Raising the eyes is synonymous with lifting up the heart, but is even more associated with unmitigated desire.
At the top of the list of things God hates are “haughty eyes” (Prov 6:17). The list goes on to mention all the things associated with “the wicked” in the Songs of Ascents: lying tongue, violence, scheming after gain, testifying falsely, and stirring up discord. Another proverb plainly connects raised eyes with a disdain for the poor that “devouring the needy from the earth,/ and the poor from among men” (Prov 30:13–14).
The funny thing about desire is that the more it is fed, the hungrier it gets. The question of the garden bears repeating: is there satisfaction that requires no more? Torah advocates were keenly aware of the question and understood a devastating effect of over consumption—forgetfulness. The more people enjoyed wealth and prosperity the more their “eyes were raised” and the more they forgot from whence they came.
When … you have increased your herds and flocks, your silver and gold, and all your property, you then become haughty (be raised) of heart and unmindful of the LORD, your God, who brought you out of Egypt, that place of slavery. (Deut 8:12–14)
This Torah awareness has important connections to our psalm here. It is in the gathering at the temple where sacrifices of thanksgiving are made that the Torah is read and renewed. Forgetfulness of who one is and where one is going was only magnified in David’s sons. Too few kings after David were able, let alone willing to reverse the contagion of desire. During the reigns of Hezekiah and Josiah attempts at reforming the notion of “king” were made. The “ideal” king was articulated. He was not to be haughty and does not lust for power and wealth. He was not to “become enstranged from his countrymen through pride, nor turn aside to the right or to the left from these commandments” (Deut 17:20).
131 A Prayer of Confidence
Childlike Trust in God Through the poet’s humble prayer, this psalm encourages childlike trust in God, portrayed here as a loving mother. “Hope” in verse 3 means not wishing but expectation.
Gordon D. Fee and Robert L. Hubbard Jr., eds., The Eerdmans Companion to the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2011), 351.
Psalm 131
If anyone in Israel had reasons to be proud, it was David. The eighth son of a common citizen, he began as a humble shepherd and yet became Israel’s greatest king. A courageous soldier, a gifted general and tactician, and a sincere man of God, it was David who defeated Israel’s enemies, expanded her boundaries, and amassed the wealth that Solomon used to build the temple. He wrote nearly half of the psalms, and though (like all of us) he was guilty of disobeying the Lord, he was always repentant and sought God’s merciful forgiveness. It was for David’s sake that the Lord kept the light burning in Jerusalem during the years of Judah’s decay, and it was from David’s line that Jesus Christ came into this world. Except for a few lapses into selfishness and sin, David walked with the Lord in a humble spirit. In this brief psalm, he tells us the essentials of a life that glorifies God and accomplishes His work on earth.
Honesty—Accept Yourself (v. 1)
We move toward maturity when we honestly accept who we are, understand what we can do, accept both and live for God’s glory. Rejecting or hating ourselves, fantasizing about ourselves, and envying others are marks of immaturity. David had seen some of this kind of behavior in his own son Absalom as well as in King Saul. A proud heart refuses to face reality, a high look covers up hidden inadequacy, and arrogant ambition (“going to and fro constantly”) impresses some people but leads ultimately to embarrassing failure (Jer. 45:5). When you accept yourself and your lot and thank God for the way He made you, you do not need to impress people. They will see your worth and love you for who you are. (See 16:5–6; Prov. 18:12; Phil. 4:11–12; Heb. 13:5.) Spoiled children want to be seen and heard and they get involved in things they cannot handle. David did not promote himself; it was all God’s doing.
Humility—Accept God’s Will (v. 2)
The simile of the weaned child is a beautiful picture of the meaning of humility and maturity. Hebrew children were weaned at ages three or four, and this experience marked the end of their infancy. But most children do not want to be deprived of mother’s loving arms and satisfying breasts, and they feel rejected and unwanted. But after the crisis of birth, each child must eventually be weaned and learn the first lesson in the school of life: growing up involves painful losses that can lead to wonderful gains. The Hebrew word for “wean” means “to complete, to ripen, to treat kindly.” The English word may be a contraction of the Scottish phrase “wee one,” or it may come from a Teutonic word that means “to be accustomed.” Maturing people know that life is a series of gains and losses, and they learn how to use their losses constructively. If children are to grow up and not just grow old, they must be able to function apart from mother. This means weaning, going to school, choosing a vocation, and probably marrying and starting a new home. They must learn that there is a difference between cutting the apron strings and cutting the heartstrings and that these separations do not rob them of mother’s love.
God’s goal for us is emotional and spiritual maturity (1 Cor. 13:11; 14:20; Eph. 4:13–15), and God sometimes has to wean us away from good things in order to give us better things. Abraham had to leave his family and city, send Ishmael away, separate from Lot, and put Isaac on the altar. Painful weanings! Joseph had to be separated from his father and his brothers in order to see his dreams come true. Both Jacob and Peter had to be weaned from their own self-sufficiency and learn that faith means living without scheming. The child that David described wept and fretted but eventually calmed down and accepted the inevitable. The word describes the calming of the sea or the farmer’s leveling of the ground after plowing (Isa. 28:25). Instead of emotional highs and lows, the child developed a steady uniform response, indicating a giant step forward in the quest for maturity. Successful living means moving from dependence to independence, and then to interdependence, always in the will of God. To accept God’s will in the losses and gains of life is to experience that inner calm that is so necessary if we are to be mature people.
Hope—Anticipate the Future (v. 3)
Infants do not realize that their mother’s decision is for their own good, for weaning sets them free to meet the future and make the most of it. The child may want to keep things as they are, but that way lies immaturity and tragedy. When we fret over a comfortable past, we only forfeit a challenging future. In the Christian vocabulary, hope is not “hope so.” It is joyful anticipation of what the Lord will do in the future, based on His changeless promises. Like the child being weaned, we may fret at our present circumstances, but we know that our fretting is wrong. Our present circumstances are the womb out of which new blessings and opportunities will be born (Rom. 8:28).
Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Exultant, 1st ed., “Be” Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries, 2004), 172–175.