Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

This Psalm is number 11 of 15 in a section of Psalms, beginning in Psalm 120, called the Songs of Ascent.

It is believed that they were used when the Hebrews would ascend the 15 steps going up to the temple or when they would make the journey to Jerusalem for the 3 feasts.

There is a similar theme to the songs, hope.

One writer says they “are animated by a spirit of courageous hopefulness in a time of trouble.”

We live in a time, similar to many other times in the church’s history, that could be called a time of trouble.

So much uncertainty and fear all around us.

The world looks around at its environment and circumstances for its source of contentment and rest, but we have a greater source of contentment.

One of the old puritans named Jeremiah Burroughs wrote a great little book called the “Rare Jewell of Christian Contentment” comparing the contentment that comes from your circumstances to the warming of your clothes by a fire”

To be content as a result of some external thing is like warming a man’s clothes by the fire.

But to be content through an inward disposition of the soul is like the warmth that a man’s clothes have from the natural heat of his body.

A man who is healthy in body puts on his clothes, and perhaps at first on a cold morning they feel cold.

But after he has had them on a little while they are warm.

Now, how did they get warm?

They were not near the fire?

No, this came from the natural heat of his body.

Now when a sickly man, the natural heat of whose body has deteriorated, puts on his clothes, they do not get hot for a long time.

He must warm them by the fire, and even then they will soon be cold again.

But this Psalm is about a kind of contentment, a kind of rest and quietness of soul that isn’t rooted in your circumstances.

This kind of rest that David is singing about is rooted in the unchanging God.

Our God will always be faithful to us.

In preparation for this message, I thought through my short time here (although it’s feeling longer every year) and all the things I’ve been through.

And it is amazing to think of the many times I have been at wits end over some dire situation in my life, I have been through some hard things.

I think it that is what maturity is, experiencing something and learning that God will be there in the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of it.

And when the next adversity comes, remembering that He was there the last time, so He will be there this time, and the next, and the next.

And the more we go through, the more this becomes clear to us.

It’s like we are ascending steps of suffering on the way up to glory, and singing songs of hope the whole way.

One of my favorite passages, that I go to often when I talk about suffering is in Romans 5:

There is this progression of learning that we go through and in the end we have more hope than we did before.

Why?

Because God is faithful to us through Christ and every time we look to Him He provides, through whatever suffering we are facing.

And He takes this experience and turns it into more hope for the next bout with suffering.

David’s experience with God’s faithfulness through trouble was certainly no different.

That is how he could confidently write this song that teaches us that...

Our souls must find rest in God

By Humbling Ourselves v.1

A soul that finds rest in God is the soul of a humble person.

Our world is full of the noise of arrogance and pride.

It surrounds us.

Every one is special, every one’s opinion is right.

There is the pride of having in those that are superior, which comes out in boasting.

Then there is the pride of wanting.

This is from those who don’t believe they have superiority, but want it.

They believe that if they just had whatever is important to them, they would be good.

It is often easier to spot the pride of having over the pride of wanting, but both lead to unrest.

They both lead to feeling insecure, insignificant and out of control.

The arrogant person looks for ways to satisfy this need for security, significance, and control in 3 ways according to David.

Their feelings

psa131.1 “...my heart is not lifted up…”

The heart is the seat of the emotions, and David doesn’t lift his emotions up to a level that they control him.

We live in a culture that lifts up the feelings and emotions to a maximum level.

This, to our culture, is the ultimate path to happiness, to feel good about yourself, to feel good about your situation.

No one can correct you, or think differently about a topic that you feel strongly about.

If the wrong president is elected, our lives are ruined.

If we feel like we were supposed to be the opposite gender, we should pretend that we are the opposite gender.

We are the most sensitive and cautious generation about what we say that isn’t politically correct.

But has this made us any more satisfied with our lives?

No we are less satisfied now then ever.

Those turning into adults now are the most medicated, but the most depressed generation we have produced.

The world is telling them that they should follow their heart, but then their heart meets with this fallen world and their expectations are shattered.

Don’t get married, wait to have kids and don’t have too many.

You’ll be happy if you have things things, money, a career.

Everyone’s oppressed and a victim.

So much noise and foolish advice from others who are living their lives outside of the reality of God’s revealed will.

There is no surprise here that we live unhappy lives.

One of the things we must do to rest in God is to bring our feelings under the control of scripture.

Those who humble themselves have God’s help to keep their emotions in the right perspective.

Their status

psa131.1 “...my eyes are not raised too high...”

David doesn’t look down his nose at others.

Even though he is the king and reigned over Israel on the way up to the height of the kingdom, he didn’t find his soul’s satisfaction in reaching the top.

He knew his position was given to him by God.

He taught his son, Solomon this truth as well:

The arrogant are concerned about their status.

They are concerned with how they appear to others.

There is no rest in constant anxiety about how you appear to others.

There is no rest in falsely believing that you made it to where you are by your own strength, and have to make it to where you want to be without anyone’s help either.

Their actions

psa131.1 “...I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.”

This literally means, “I have not walked around in things too great and too marvelous for me.”

Trying to find satisfaction and security in the things we do by themselves will always lead to disappointment.

Frantically running from one thing to the next trying to do more and more.

Our culture tends to look for happiness in the next thing.

I’ll find happiness in the next job.

When the kids get out of diapers or go to school or leave the house.

I’ll be happier at the other job, or when I finally retire.

David said, “no.”

I don’t need to look any where else.

He was commited to humility.

Pride is one of the most natural things for the flesh to engage in, and we must decide not to seek satisfaction through our feelings, our status, or our actions.

In order to truly find rest in God we must humble ourselves.

When we humble ourselves we discover our satisfaction comes from someone outside of ourselves.

By Finding Satisfaction in God v.2

The alternative to pride in verse 2 is wonderful peace and a calm and quiet soul.

Notice the focus on his soul, his heart, his deepest inner person.

It is peace and calm and quiet all the way down to the bottom of your person.

No more frantically running around looking for approval or security in your feelings.

No more wading through the endless noise of whats going on around to find satisfaction.

And we have the master song writer writing such wonderful pictures of what this is like for him.

This weaned child is a picture of contentment.