I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul: A Song of Quiet Trust

This is a song of contrasts. It is a short song, but an important one. It contrasts faith and pride. This songs shows the path to true hope. It gives us a path to know true comfort in God’s divine security.

And it is meant to help prepare our hearts for worship.

What is true about believers who have a quiet trust in the Lord?

I. Those who trust in the Lord remain humble (1)

Psalm 131:1 ESV

O Lord, 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.

A. They are not proud or presumptuous

The first verse has four different parts, four different cola or lines. The first two deal with attitudes and desires (heart and eyes)

Psalm 131:1 (ESV)

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high;

Firstly, the psalmist states that his heart is not lifted up. To what is the heart referring to? Our inner man, the locus of a person’s thoughts (mind), volition, emotions, and knowledge of right from wrong (conscience) understood as the heart.

Lifted up- to be high, exalted, haughty, to be overly confident in one’s abilities, greatness, or worth, to be exalted in one’s own eyes, it stresses an arrogant attitude and presumptuous activity.

Eyes? not our literal eyes… what is it referring to?

Proverbs 6:16–17 ESV

There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

Raising your eyes too high- what does that imply about you? This expresses ambition, an overreaching ambition, it includes ambitious thoughts. It is not ordinary ambition, but ambition joined with a proud heart and thus presumptuous ambition.

Those who have a quiet trust in the Lord remain humble- they are not proud or presumptuous.

B. They do not attempt things too extraordinary for them

Psalm 131:1 ESV

O Lord, 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.

The next two cola or lines in this song deal with actions.

I do not occupy myself with things too great. Lit. I do not involve myself in great things.

Things is in the plural- the psalmist does not walk about involving himself in many great or grand things. The verb also has the idea of continuous action. He is not constantly involved in many or great things.

Things that are too marvelous for me.

Things that are too extraordinary for me.

A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 3 (90–150): Commentary B. They Do Not Attempt Things Too Extraordinary for Them

means “to be wonderful, extraordinary, surpassing, incomprehensible.” It is used regularly in the Bible to describe some work of God that is amazing or surpassing. It is occasionally translated as “difficult” or “arduous,” but it describes something that is extraordinary, beyond human abilities, and not just too hard to do

“Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” — William Carey

Is Carey wrong? Is he full or pride? Is he in violation of Psalm 131:1?

Philippians 3:12–14 ESV

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Doesn’t this sound like occupying ourselves with great things? Things too marvelous for us?

Psalm 131:1 ESV

O Lord, 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.

Is the psalmist saying that it is wrong to want to do great things?

Read Long Obedience 146-147

A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 3 (90–150): Commentary B. They Do Not Attempt Things Too Extraordinary for Them

There is nothing wrong with wanting to do great things; but in this psalm with its emphasis on “proud” and “haughty” in the first line, the word here refers to acts of hubris—great activities that are beyond one’s abilities. And the implication is that being busy trying to accomplish things beyond one’s abilities is foolish.

“Humility is the obverse side of confidence in God, whereas pride is the obverse side of confidence in self.” —John Baillie

Illustration: I am not the pastor of a mega-church. (2000+ people) and that’s OK. God didn’t will and equip me to be that kind of a shepherd. God gave me 1 talent and he gave others 10. I am content with how God made me. I am content with how Christ gifted and equipped me. I love shepherding this church. And I will do so with all my heart, in the power of the Spirit, and for the glory of God. I will attempt great things in the context of God’s providential will for my life. And I will not fill myself with pride and look around with haughty eyes after things that are too great and marvelous for me. I will quietly trust God and serve him to the best of my ability within my own station. I will resist becoming proud and presumptuous and I will not set my heart on things that God has willed as too extraordinary for me.

Do you have that kind of quiet trust in the Lord? Are you content with the station / the calling in life that God has given you?

Within that station are you serving the Lord to the best of your ability?

Ecclesiastes 9:10 (ESV)

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,

Colossians 3:23–24 ESV

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

But as we work with all our might and as we work heartily as for the Lord, we must remain humble. We must become people with a quiet trust in the Lord.

What is true about believers who have a quiet trust in the Lord?

II. Those who trust in the Lord are secure in their faith (2)

Psalm 131:2 ESV

But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.

A. They have calmed their hearts in faith

Psalm 131:2 (ESV)

But I have calmed and quieted my soul,

A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 3 (90–150): Commentary A. They Have Calmed Their Hearts in Faith

David now expresses the corollary of the first point: not only does he not exhibit arrogance and ambition beyond his abilities, but has a simple but secure trust in the LORD

Calmed: to compose ⇔ make smooth v. — to compose or calm one’s disposition, conceived of as making something smooth.

The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament I שׁוה

a) to even out, level off arable land Is 28:25; b) to settle, meaning to soothe

Isaiah 28:25 ESV

When he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter dill, sow cumin, and put in wheat in rows and barley in its proper place, and emmer as the border?

Quieted- to calm v. — to make calm or still. - To be motionless, to stand still, to keep quiet…

Psalm 37:7 ESV

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!

The ones who exhibit a quiet trust in the Lord are the ones who can at all times, calm and quiet their soul.

B. They are secure in their faith

Psalm 131:2 ESV

But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.

A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 3 (90–150): Commentary B. They Are Secure in the Faith

The emblem, “like a weaned child upon his mother,” is meant to illustrate the kind of quiet, secure and safe trust the psalmist has in the LORD

Like a weaned child or a young child with its mother.

Illustration: 6 boys, wake up in the middle of the night, they are sick or they had a bad dream. It is almost no use for me to go into their room and settle them down. All they do is cry for their mom. But, when mom goes into their room and wraps them up in her arms what happens? The sobs slowly turn to soft murmurs. The shaking slowly subsides, the breathing slows. And soon that once scared child drifts back into calm and quiet rest.

Picture:

Like a weaned child / young child is my soul within me…

Is that the feeling you have in your soul? Those who have a quiet trust in the Lord, their soul is like this! Are you this secure in your faith?

What about next week if the election doesn’t go your way? Or the economy keeps getting worse? Or your health goes haywire?

Are you secure in your faith? Is your soul calm and quiet?

What does this kind of faith in the Lord require? A deep personal knowledge of the Lord! If you don’t know your God well it is impossible to have this kind of quiet trust.

What is true about believers who have a quiet trust in the Lord?

III. Those who trust in the Lord encourage others in their faith (3)

Psalm 131:3 ESV

O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.

A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 3 (90–150): Commentary III. Those Who Trust in the Lord Encourage Others in Their Faith (3)

In the final verse of the song David encourages the people of Israel to “hope” in the LORD. This word “hope” (יַחֵל; s.v. Ps. 31:24) is the same word used in the exhortation in Psalm 130; there the people were encouraged to hope for full forgiveness of sin. Here it is more general, encouraging people to put their full trust in the LORD rather than delude themselves into thinking they have the ability to solve all the problems of life.

Psalm 130:3–4 ESV

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

Psalm 130:5 ESV

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;

Psalm 130:7 ESV

O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.

A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 3 (90–150): Commentary III. Those Who Trust in the Lord Encourage Others in Their Faith (3)

A call to trust is therefore a call to humility; a refusal to trust is pride. It seems that behind the encouragement is the expectation that the LORD would intervene on their behalf—they were waiting in hope for the LORD, and he wanted the whole congregation to exhibit the kind of humble yet secure faith that he had.

For how long should we put our hope in the Lord?

A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 3 (90–150): Commentary III. Those Who Trust in the Lord Encourage Others in Their Faith (3)

The last colon extends the encouragement beyond any present need to “from this time and for ever” (a merism). It is a call for faith to wait for the LORD at all times.

A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 3 (90–150): Commentary Message and Application

The psalmist is in general exhorting the nation to exhibit such a basic, childlike faith in the LORD that enjoys complete rest and security, rather than follow an arrogant and ambitious approach to the needs and desires of this life. After all, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Genuine faith is demonstrated by a calm confidence in the Lord and not in self-sufficient ambition. The ambition of a true believer should be to please the Lord; and it is impossible to please him without faith.

How does this song prepare our hearts for worship? What is the right response to this truth about God?

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