LORD! I have a heart nor arrogant nor haughty eyes, I do not agree in matters too great and too marvelous for me.
2Loin there, I imposed silence and calmness to my soul,
Like a weaned child with his mother;
My soul is in me like a weaned child.
3Israël, expect to Jehovah
Now and forever!
Dear mammals and sisters, dear friends
,
The great preacher Charles Spurgeon said of this psalm he was one of the shortest to read and one of the longest to learn. Psalm 131, he said, "is a very short scale that will take us yet very high."
What gives us this Psalm if we appropriate it, millions of people around us and recerchent would be willing to pay a fortune to possess: a heart calm and without anxiety.
It's not easy to stay calm. Are you still able to keep your heart at peace? For most of us, we really struggle to get there. We are often tossed by the waves of our emotions. One day we're all happy and we live next to frustration or discouragement. Our daily life often resembles the turbulent waters. How often our lives do they look like the quiet and peaceful waters of Psalm 131? David wrote this psalm to express the peace that God has placed in his heart. The Holy Spirit gave this psalm to the Church for the turbulent waters of our hearts are transformed in calm water.
1.
The calm is rooted in humility (v. 1)
2.
Calm rests in contentment (v. 2)
3.
Calm feeds hope (v. 3)
1.
The calm is rooted in humility (v. 1) David
requests dramatically. He begins by talking about his heart. V. 1: "Lord, I do not have a heart orgeuilleux." David addressed to Him who knows our hearts! That means having a heart proud or arrogant? This means refusing the place God assigned us in his creation. This means denying that everything I own (my abilities, my property ...) comes ulti of God and not myself. That means rising to the place of God, determining what is right and wrong to me and think over the others. Pride is this natural instinct that we all receive at birth and afflicts us in many ways. Then David mentions
eyes: "I do not have looks."
Heart arrogant look down on others with contempt.
David had a heart nor arrogant nor haughty eyes. Yet, the temptation was very real for him. He was a talented musician, an accomplished poet. It was a fearsome warrior who has won great victories. Was King of Israel! It had everything to swell with pride. But by the grace of God,
he kept a humble heart before God and a soft look to men. In his youth he was a simple shepherd and it suited him. When David became king, then he knew that this honor and responsibility came from the grace of God alone, and not its merits. David knew he was a sinner, and even a great sinner. He humbled himself, he asked forgiveness for his sins.
David adds: "I do not agree in matters too great and too marvelous for me." Estce that mean we should avoid thinking about the big questions of the Bible or human life?
Not at all! David wanted to continuously deepen their knowledge of the Word of God. He pondered the Word regularly. But you see, there are many things that God has not revealed, many questions remain unanswered because God has chosen to remain silent and that our only rasion not know the address. There are more than 9 centuries, a monk called Anselm wrote this prayer: "I do not seek, O Lord, to penetrate thy depths. I do not consider my intellect equal to them, but I want to understand least in part, your truth, my heart believes and loves. Because I do not try to understand to believe, but to believe to understand. " It is an expression of maturity and humility that befits those who love God and are conscious of their own limitations.
David knew that questions were too big, too beautiful for him. He humbly accepted his limitations, without trying to understand all the secrets of God. Humility procured David a calm and peaceful heart to the circumstances of his life he did not understand.
David was the image of another king, a king who would come 1000 years later. Jesus, our great King, Jesus the Son of David, has perfectly fulfilled Psalm 131. Jesus said in Matt. 11:28-29: "I am meek and humble of heart. Come to me ... and ye shall find rest for your souls. "His humility is the source of our peace! The apostle Paul said: "He whose condition was God ... emptied himself ... he humbled himself and became obedient unto death on the cross." (Phil. 2:6-8). Jesus is a King far more excellent than
David. It is the eternal Son of God, the Almighty full of majesty, without sin, unlike David. This great king was glorious humiliated unto death on the cross for our sins of pride and arrogance. He has reconciled us with God. His humility is the source of our peace with God! His humility calm our hearts! Jesus our King sends his Holy Spirit in our hearts that our turn we become humble. It leads us to confess our sins, as David did. He urges us to recognize that everything we have, we have received by grace. We can not boast of anything.
Because Jesus humbled himself, says Paul, have the same feelings as him. "Do nothing from rivalry or vainglory, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. "(Phil. 2:3).
is often the pride that causes baffles in the Church. Humility is the source of peace in ourselves, in our hearts.
Humility is also the source of peace between us in the Church. We are pilgrims of God. We're on our way to New Jerusalem. We help each other on the road instead of making us eighth-legged!
Are we able to pray like David: "Lord! I have neither a heart arrogant nor haughty eyes "?
What about all our issues that trouble us and disturb our mind? "Why is this happening to me test it? Why God sent me there this disease, this accident, this difficulty? Why does God turn of events this way? How God Will he go about achieving his plan? "Let
humility to recognize our limitations. "I do not agree in matters too great and too marvelous for me." Yes, I study the Bible thoroughly, I want to know everything he told me, but questions concerning the secrets of God, I leave it in his hands. And then God soothe our hearts.
His Spirit will give us his peace in our souls.
sits in the quiet contentment (v. 2)
In verse 2, David continues his prayer: "Far from that, I imposed silence and calmness to my soul like a weaned child with its mother my soul is in me as a weaned child. "
In Hebrew," impose calm "means grading, leveling, as it equalizes land. David has leveled his emotions, he calmed his heart, he's content turbulence. If he needed to calm down, it's probably because his soul was sometimes troubled. In all
its adversities of his adventurous life, David had to learn to calm down. It was not easy. "I imposed silence and calmness to my soul like a weaned child with its mother." What a beautiful picture! Weaning a child is a painful process for both mother and child. The mother must give up this close and intimate contact with his child. It is heartbreaking to deprive her child from the womb and hearing the child cry and cry. The child is accustomed to feed on the milk of its mother. It's so good! It does not stop. The mother needs to be strong: "No, Better for you to change your food. "
Stirring continues until the withdrawal is complete. Once weaned, the child remains calm at last with her mother. He is just happy to be at his side. From there, he will understand that it is much more than a source of milk! He knows she loves him and takes care of him, even if it has more milk. Similarly, we learn, especially winning in spiritual maturity, to live with God and to trust him. It becomes a vital part of our existence, not only because of what we derive from this relationship. We just learn to appreciate God for who he is.
Psalm 131 we draw the picture of contentment.
David had to learn contentment. He was weaned from his pride. He was weaned from his desire to find answers to his questions too great and too marvelous for him. He has weaned her spiritual soul finally find peace and contentment in the Lord himself, not for the blessings he received, but in the person of his God.
David had to learn contentment. In adversity, it was capablede calm down because he has learned to rest in the love and the grace of God. He just very person of God.
thousand years later, God's promise to David was finally accomplished in Jesus Christ. Jesus lived aparfaitement Psalm 131. He imposed the calm and silence in his soul when he was trampled when he was despised, when we laughed at him, when he was falsely accused. True, Jesus experienced the thrill of Gethsemane. Profound anxieties have disturbed before the cup of wrath was Dieuqu'il drink for us. But he calmed his heart, humbly accepting the will of His Father. He trusted in his Father, without going beyond with questions that are too deep. At the time of death for our sins, our sins of pride and arrogance, Jesus has imposed calm his soul. "Father, I commit my spirit into your hands." (Luke 23:46). He did not attempt to take over his reputation, his justice, his honor. He relied in the right hands of his Father. He simply
the promise of His Father. Promise of resurrection, the promise of receiving eternal throne in the kingdom of heaven, a promise to reign, the promise of a church gathered for His glory.
Today, Jesus our King tells us: "My grace is sufficient." (2 Cor. 12:9). When the shards and thorns pierce come to us, let us the Lord's grace is sufficient for us. He poured out upon us his Holy Spirit that we may learn contentment. Paul in prison because of his faith wrote this in Phil. 4:11-12: "I learned to simply state I am. I know live in humiliation and I know how to abound. "Contentment does not come alone. We must learn to be content. It requires a withdrawal. Paul was weaned to be able to
rest calmly in God in all circumstances, even when he was in prison because of his faith. The secret of contentment does not lie in what happens to us, but rather in what we do with our
circumstances. Too often we imagine it takes a number of conditions are fulfilled to be happy. "If only I had another job, then I'd be happy. If I had a husband, wife, children, if I had another house, if I had more money, if I had other talents, if, if ..., then I'd be happy
''rather learn to say with David: "I imposed silence and calmness to my soul like a weaned child with its mother. "I contented myself with the grace of God and His love for me. I contented myself with his blessed presence. I'm next and I am fully happy and satisfied. The heart appeased
feeds on hope (v. 3) David
How could he keep his cool inside? Her "recipe" is found in verse 3: "Israel, expect the Lord now and forever!" It is for Israel, but of course he started with himself.
the midst of trials, David not looking at himself, he looked to the Lord his God. "I do not know why this happens to me, Lord, but I know you know. Father, I do not know what is the purpose of the test, but I know you have a goal. And I know the goal you have for me and all your children is always full of grace, full of love, and it's for my own good that this has happened. "
David went through the difficult process to teach his soul not to drink the milk's natural self-confidence and no longer think that we have all the answers. He learned to eat better food, that of trust in God, that of hope in God. "I put my hope in the Lord and the Lord alone."
with David himself learned this lesson he teaches then to Israel. Toutle David calls God's people to follow his example. You, my brothers and sisters, put your hope in the Lord! Believe in His promises, every day of our pilgrimage.
Is not that liberating? What happens there when we lack confidence in God? The pride resurfaced. We ruminons grudges in our hearts. Bitterness eats out the bones. We seek to
defend our reputation. We put all our energy to protect us. We are never free to relax. Never free to rest in contentment and rejoicing in the grace that God has given us
. Have you ever noticed that people are most unhappy, most cranky, most critics are those who spend their time living for themselves? Put our hope in the Lord
. That our soul is free, rest! Put your hope in him who has restored and fprotégé David, who has done justice to Jesus by resurrecting the dead and giving him the
eternal throne of David. Leave your question in the hands of the Lord. Wean your souls that trust in yourself and put your trust solely in the Lord your God. When the day of misfortune - sickness, accident, financial failure or sudden loss of a loved one you will not lose your peace. There will be turbulence, yes, but you can calm your heart in Jesus Christ.