Psalm 131
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
[READING]
A Song of Ascents, of David. 1 O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; Nor do I involve myself in great matters, Or in things too difficult for me. 2 Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me. 3 O Israel, hope in the Lord From this time forth and forever.
[PRAYER]
[CONTEXT] Psalms 120-134 are psalms of ascent, psalms that were likely used by Jewish pilgrims or travelers as they ascended to or made their way up to Jerusalem for one of the annual feasts.
As we’ve followed this pilgrim since Psalm 120 we’ve seen his trials as a Jew living in a Gentile land, his trials of traveling to Jerusalem (121), his joyous arrival in the holy city (122), his eyes lifted to the Lord for grace (123), his joy in deliverance from enemies past, present, and future (124-126), and his joy in the blessing that his family life (127-128).
In Psalm 129 he prays for the overthrow of Israel’s enemies. And in Psalm 130 he hopes in God’s forgiving love.
[INTER] But perhaps thoughts of persecution and sin have stirred up questions in the heart of the pilgrim—questions like: Why does God allow his people to be persecuted at all? He could just stop it, right? So, why doesn’t he?
Or, why doesn’t God just make his people perfectly sinless? He could, so why doesn’t he?
[CIT] Psalm 131 is the Jewish pilgrim’s expression of childlike trust in God even when he doesn’t have all the answers.
[PROP] We usually don’t have all the answers, do we?
What are some questions that you’d like answered that only God can answer?
We might wonder why God won’t just bring someone we love to faith in Jesus. We might wonder why he won’t heal someone. We might wonder why he won’t just cause someone to repent of the hurt they’ve caused us.
We might wonder why atrocities happen to kind or vulnerable people.
Why doesn’t God just end child abuse?
Why does he allow criminals to prey upon the elderly?
We sometimes wonder why God won’t just take away our desire for some besetting sin especially when we’ve asked him to do so.
Why won’t he just take away the lusts of our flesh?
Why won’t he just take away our appetite for worldliness?
The truth is we may not always get the answers to our questions, but we do know that we can trust the Lord even when we don’t have all the answers.
That’s the truth that Psalm 131 communicates.
[TS] In order to trust him like this, there are three REQUIREMENTS…
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
REQUIREMENT #1: Humility (Psalm 131:1)
REQUIREMENT #1: Humility (Psalm 131:1)
1 O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; Nor do I involve myself in great matters, Or in things too difficult for me.
[EXP] In Ezekiel 28:2, the Prince of Tyre lifts up his heart and says, “I am a god.”
The proud heart exalts itself exalts itself against God, demands God-like privileges for itself.
Haughty eyes are eyes lifted high in sinful pride.
Haughty eyes are sometimes depicted as looking down on others with arrogance and disdain, but here the idea is arrogantly demanding to see or know things and even decide things as God knows and decides things.
The humble pilgrim doesn’t lift up his heart against God or lift up his eyes demanding to know as God knows.
The humble pilgrim knows that God is god and that he is not, so he humbles his heart and lowers his eyes before Almighty God.
[INTER] How do we see people lifting up their hearts against God today? What God-like privileges to people demand for themselves?
People today demand to determine right and wrong for themselves when it is God alone who determines right and wrong (Gen. 3:5).
People today demand to have things their way or according to their will when it is God who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will (Eph. 1:11).
People today demand answers to God-sized questions when his wisdom, knowledge, judgments, and ways are beyond us (Rom. 11:33).
[APP] The opposite of this sinful pride is the holy humility that recognizes that God is God and we are not.
He determines right and wrong, not us.
And we say, “Praise the Lord.”
He accomplishes his will, not ours.
And we say, “Praise the Lord.”
He knows and sees, not us.
And we say, “Praise the Lord” because he is God and we are not.
[TS] Now, the second REQUIREMENT is INTENTIONALITY because it will take intentional effort to humble our prideful hearts before the Lord.
Look at vv. 1-2 again…
REQUIREMENT #2: Intentionality (Psalm 131:1-2)
REQUIREMENT #2: Intentionality (Psalm 131:1-2)
1 O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; Nor do I involve myself in great matters, Or in things too difficult for me. 2 Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me.
[EXP] Where do we see the pilgrim’s intentional humility in vv. 1-2?
We see it at the end of v. 1 when he writes, “Nor do I involve myself in great matters, or in things too difficult for me.”
This doesn’t meant that the pilgrim didn’t involve himself in important things.
Although used by pilgrims going up to Jerusalem, this psalm was originally written by David who certainly involved himself in important things as the ruler of God’s people.
The “great matters” and “things too difficult” refer to the secret things of God. Deuteronomy 29:29 says…
29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.
The pilgrim was certainly concerned about obedience to the things revealed to God’s people in God’s word, but he didn’t seek to figure out the secret things that belong to God alone.
On Deuteronomy 29:29, the ESV SB says, “Not everything that is true of God has been revealed. That there are secret things anticipates the need to trust, obey, and be humble before God. What God has revealed is for the sake of obedience.”
The pilgrim is in Psalm 131 is saying that he will be intentional about obeying the revealed things of God and intentional about trusting God with the unrevealed or secret things that belong to God alone—things like why God allows this or that and things like how God will use it all for the good of his people and the glory of himself.
We also see the pilgrim’s intentional humility at the beginning of v. 2 when he says, “Surely I have composed and quieted my soul…”
Another word for ‘composed’ might be calmed, soothed, or stilled. The psalmist could grow anxious about all that he doesn’t know, but when anxiety begins to grow he intentionally composes and quiets his soul.
It reminds me of the intentional calming and quieting of the anxious soul in Psalm 43:5…
5 Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.
The anxious soul is composed and quieted when it is turned back to the truth that God is god and we are not.
[INTER] Does your soul tend toward anxiety? What might make your soul anxious? Why does you think that makes your soul anxious? Based on what we’ve talked about tonight, how might you compose and quiet your soul?
The things that make us most anxious are likely things that we have no control over. It’s in those moments that we have to trust in God.
[APP] We compose and quiet our anxious souls by intentionally reminding ourselves that God is God and that he can handle whatever we are worried about.
[TS] HUMILITY, INTENTIONALITY, and a third REQUIREMENT—CONTENTMENT…
REQUIREMENT #3: Contentment (Psalm 131:2)
REQUIREMENT #3: Contentment (Psalm 131:2)
2 Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me.
[EXP] The pilgrim compares his soul to that of weaned child.
Before a child is weaned, the child’s cry will only be soothed by his mother’s milk.
But once the child is weaned, the child is soothed by the presence of his mother alone.
Likewise, the pilgrim has matured so that his anxiety is soothed with God’s presence alone.
He doesn’t have to know what God knows or see what God sees in order to have peace.
He doesn’t have to understand the secret things of God in order to have rest.
He has the presence of God, and so long as he has that, he has rest.
[INTER] How do we enter into the presence of God and find rest with God?
[APP] Jesus said to us in Matthew 11:28-29…
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Hebrews 4:3 says, “we who have believed enter that rest...”
Only when we trust in Jesus whom God the Father sent to live for us, die for us, and rise for us do we enter into that rest that characterizes Psalm 131.
[TS]…
Conclusion
Conclusion
[PRAYER]