Psalm 131 - Calm, Quiet Contentment

The world will always be stressful, but you don't need to be stressed!

Wooden dock over calm water at sunset with text "I have learned to calm and quiet myself, Psalm 131:2" conveying serenity.

Psalm 131 (NIV)

A song of ascents. Of David.

1 My heart is not proud, Lord,

my eyes are not haughty;

I do not concern myself with great matters

or things too wonderful for me.

2 But I have calmed and quieted myself,

I am like a weaned child with its mother;

like a weaned child I am content.

3 Israel, put your hope in the Lord

both now and forevermore.

Canons of Dordt

Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election

Articles 1-14

Article 18: The Proper Attitude Toward Election and Reprobation

To those who complain
1. about this grace of an undeserved election
2. and about the severity of a just reprobation,
we reply with the words of the apostle,
1. “Who are you, O man, to talk back to God?” (Rom. 9:20),
2. and with the words of our Savior, “Have I no right to do what I want with my own?” (Matt. 20:15).

Summary

A Psalm of ascents is one that Jewish pilgrims sang as they traveled to worship in the Jerusalem temple from whatever far flung village they called home. Since Jerusalem sits at a higher elevation than most of the surrounding areas, these folks had an uphill climb - an ascent. They would sing these short psalms as they moved up the mountain with other worshipers.

Although your day to day life certainly looks different than those early Israelites (we don't have many ascents here in the upper Midwest!), they - just like so many of us - were stressed out. Maybe an ancient, agrarian lifestyle in a temperate climate seems like the antidote to anxiety, but David shows that people in all times and places have that one, ugly aspect in common: as sinners, we all are crushed by stress.

But David also demonstrates stress can be defeated. He first identifies two key sources of stress that he has learned to avoid.

The first is pride / haughtiness - that innate tendency we all have to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. Pride is a contentment killer. Your work assignments will always seem less significant than you think they should be; your house never be quite as impressive as the one down the street; your kids won't measure up to the goals you have for them or you won't measure up to goals your parents had for you; and on and on and on. Life will continually seem to be pressing down on you because your proud heart and haughty eyes will make you think you're getting the shaft.

The second stressor David has learned to eliminate is worrying about great matters and things too wonderful [NET: things beyond] himself. How worried are you right now about wars that are world away or silly things a politician did or said on TV? Can you do anything about such things? It's not wrong for you to be concerned, or to have an informed opinion, but worrying about things you have no control over only adds stress to your life.

Dig Deeper

Instead of letting his life be consumed with pride and things beyond, David has learned the key to contentment: calming and quieting himself in a hectic and noisy world. David doesn't give specific how-to's here in this short psalm of ascents, rather he sums it all up in the final verse: put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore.

The world has all sorts of remedies for the stresses you (and everyone else) are being crushed by: vacations, conveniences, luxuries, escapes, distractions... there's no end to it. Certainly not all of those things are worthless in and of themselves, but at best all they can offer is temporary relief.

But if you want true freedom from the stress that's continually afflicted mankind from the moment that Adam succumbed to the serpent, follow David's - really, the Holy Spirit's - advice here: eliminate the sin that makes you so susceptible to stressors, learn to quiet yourself in the midst of noise, and above all, put your hope in the LORD!

AAA Prayer (About)

ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose grace is stronger than we are, and who is worthy of all of our hope;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for strength and wisdom to eliminate sinful stressors, quiet yourself in the midst of the chaos, and to put your hope in the LORD;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: