A Song of Ascents of David.
1. O Yahweh, not high is my heart,
And not exalted are my eyes,
And I do not walk in great things,
And in things too wonderful for me.
1. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul
Like a weaned child on his mother.
Like a weaned child on me is my soul.
2. Hope, O Israel, in Yahweh
From now on and forever.
Psalm 131 is not itself a petition that the Lord’s will be done, but it is a prayer and a prayer that illustrates what disposition of heart is necessary for us to pray sincerely with our Lord, “Not my will…”
Though very brief, it is also a psalm that illustrates well several Christian virtues, and we’ll be looking at those virtues as the parts of that disposition required of us in praying, “Thy will be done.”
- Resting in the Will of the Lord with Humility
There are two words for pride here – haughty and lofty – and they are applied to different parts of the body – heart and eyes. Let’s take a look first at the words for pride.
The first word is a word that means “high:” not high is my heart. It’s a word that applies to objects and people such a high walls, tall people, and so on. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament demonstrates that it is sometimes used metaphorically and in a positive way. God is on high (Psalm 113:5), and his ways are higher than ours (Isa 55:9). The servant of the Lord will be very high (Isa 52:13). In Job 40:10 God says to Job, “Adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, and array yourself with glory and beauty.” Splendor is from the same root as our word. In 2 Chronicles 17:6, the NKJV says that Jehoshaphat’s heart took delight (was high) in the ways of the Lord. But the word also frequently has the connotation of pride, and it is applied to different parts of man: the heart (as here), the eyes (Ps. 101:5), the spirit (Prov. 16:18), and the nose or face (Ps. 10:4). Uzziah’s heart was high when he tried to offer incense in the temple (2 Chron. 26:16), and the prince of Tyre in his pride said, “I am a god. I sit in the seat of gods, in the midst of the seas” (Ezek. 28:2, 17).
When our heart is not high then we do not imagine ourselves to be greater than we are or assume to ourselves privileges and powers that do not belong to us. We do not, in other words, commit the sin of Adam and Eve and think that we can be like God. The opposite of pride is knowing our place both as creatures before God and among all the creatures and other men, so that we do not assert ourselves beyond our station or rights.
But note in the next phrase that David externalizes this pride as being expressed or revealed in the eyes. He says, “My eyes are not exalted.” The word here is another word that is not directly a word for pride. It is a very common word in the OT that means to be exalted. So again, it is used metaphorically of the sin of pride, and especially of the sin of pride as expressed in exalted eyes. This expression could be understood in two ways. First, it might mean that pride prevents the eyes from looking at what we consider to be beneath us. Our eyes are lofty in the sense that we think that we are above doing some things or taking notice of some things. The other idea would be that the eyes indicate the desire; we turn our eyes toward the things that we desire. When our eyes are lofty, we set our eyes on things that we should not. We want things that are above our station. Deuteronomy 8:14 anticipates a time when the heart of Israel will be exalted and they will forget the Lord who brought them out of Egypt. Deuteronomy 17:20 commands that the king not have an exalted heart to forget the commandment. 2 Sam 22:28 (people), 2 Kings 19:22 accuses the king of Assyria: Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice, and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 10:15 is also a question for the king of Assyria: Shall the axe boast itself against him who chops with it? Or shall the saw exalted itself against him who saws with it? As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up, Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood!
The Scriptures also use this word in a positive sense: In 1 Samuel 2:1, 7, 8, 10 Hannah sang of the Lord’s mercy in exalting her horn, the low, the poor and beggars, and his anointed. God exalts the humble, but we may not exalt ourselves. That is pride, which the Lord hates.
Pride then is thinking more of ourselves than we ought. We think we are more capable, more deserving, more powerful, having more rights, than God has actually given.
David gives us a specific example of his humility. He did not concern himself with great matters, nor with things too profound for him. The second word is the same from which the Old Testament derives the word for wonders – the extraordinary works of God. So, we could translate as “things too wonderful for me.” David did not meddle in the matter of making himself king. We have another example of his humility in 2 Samuel 6:21,22. Samson’s parents wanted to know the name of the angel who talked to them, but his name was wonderful, too high for them to comprehend or even to be entrusted with the knowledge of it.
Clearly David means by great matters and things too profound, matters that are beyond the scope of his responsibility or beyond the comprehension of his mind. We must not try to penetrate into things that God has hidden from us. He has hidden much of his counsel (not all of it) from us, and we must not try to know it. Thus, he has told us that Jesus will come again, and we should study to find out what the Scriptures reveal about it. However, he has hidden from us the time of it, and we must not try to find it out. He has hidden from us specific purposes in our lives. He sends trouble and we know that he tries us by it, but we do not know exactly what he intends with it. We ask why, but he does not always show us why. He has given each of us a specific station and calling, and we are not to exalt ourselves above it, as if we, being servants, may conduct ourselves like kings, or, being children, may conduct ourselves as independent adults.
This recognition of the limits of our capacities, of our authority, of our rights is called humility. And the failure to recognize it is called pride. It is one virtue necessary to pray sincerely, “Thy will be done.” We must acknowledge the limits of our knowledge, of our wisdom, of our rights, of our station and calling. And this has to be accompanied by a recognition of our Father’s superior knowledge, wisdom, rights and station. In his commentary on this psalm, John Calvin said, There are two different forms which the presumption of those takes who will not submit to be humble followers of God, but must needs run before him. Some rush forward with a reckless precipitancy, and seem as if they would build to the skies; others do not so openly exhibit the inordinateness of their desires, are slower in their movements, and cautiously calculate upon the future, and yet their presumption appears no less from the very fact, that, with a total oversight of God, as if heaven and earth were subject to them, they pass their decree as to what shall be done by them some ten or twenty years hereafter. These build, as it were, in the deep sea. But never shall it come to the surface, however extended may be the term of their lives; while those who, like David, submit themselves to God, keeping in their own sphere, moderate in their desires, will enjoy a life of tranquillity and assurance.
- Resting in the Will of the Lord with Contentment
In verse 2 David describes another virtue. It is the virtue of contentment. Contentment is not being displeased or downcast by failing to receive what we want. Paul learned in whatever state he was, even in imprisonment, to be content. Job learned in a state of extreme loss to be content—the Lord gave, the Lord has taken away…— but then became discontented as the trials continued. Discontent is evident in complaining, anger, and despair.
David expresses this idea of contentment by saying that he is like a weaned child with his mother. We are reminded of Jesus’ words to his disciples that they must become like little children. We may imagine here that weaned means a baby who has just finished nursing, but will nurse again in a few hours. That baby is content because his belly is full. He doesn’t need any more food right now, so he is quiet, doesn’t fuss or cry, but perhaps sleeps on his mother’s shoulder. That is not the idea of weaned. The word is used in Genesis 21:8, 1 Samuel 1:22–24, Isaaiah 28:9 and Hosea 1:8 of the child whose nursing days have been brought to an end. The difference between the nursed child and the weaned child is that the weaned child has learned to do without his mother’s milk. He had it at one time. There was probably a period of adjustment for him when he was weaned and he may have been rather unhappy about that, missing the comfort and satisfaction of nursing, but he has learned to be content.
David means, therefore, that the Lord has not given him everything he desires, but he has learned to be content without it.
There’s another side to this picture. The child is still small enough to depend heavily on his mother. The translation would be better if we read, “like a weaned child upon his mother.” Though he may not have his mother’s milk, he’s cuddled in his mother’s arms, and finds comfort for his loss and peace there. That’s exactly what David is getting at here. He wanted something that has been denied him. He has not only learned to be content without it, but he knows that he is still in his Father’s arms. That has become enough for him.
David carries on in the next line by saying, “like a weaned child is my soul within me.” Again, the translation would be more precise if we read “my soul upon me.” He uses the same language he used with the child on his mother. His soul then becomes the little child held in his own arms. His soul has the same kind of contentment that the weaned child has on his mother.
That’s why he says in the first line of the verse that he has calmed and quieted his soul. His soul had been deprived of its desire and was restless, but he has calmed and quieted it. The first word here is a difficult one. It’s basic meaning is to level, but its application is diverse. If we take it to mean level then I think we can get the basic idea. In its restlessness the soul is, as it were, like a turbulent sea. When it gets back to level it is unruffled by unpleasant circumstances.
The second word used here means to be silent. This is not a complete silence, but a silence that voices no complaint, anger dissatisfaction with God’s ways.
Contentment, therefore, has two parts. It is a being satisfied to do without the things that God denies us. But it is at the same time finding what he does provide sufficient for peace and happiness.
This contentment is also necessary to pray properly, “Thy will be done.” When we pray that sincerely, it may often, even always, be when we have been refused something we want or have been deprived of something we loved. It may involve very difficult circumstances. Yet we can say, “thy will be done” and mean it. We can say even in deprivation and loss, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”
- Resting in the Will of the Lord with Hope
In the third verse of the psalm David changes tactics. He has learned humility and contentment. Now he wants to pass the lesson along to Israel, to his fellow saints. But in doing so, he doesn’t simply say, be humble and content. He adds yet another element to the picture, and that element is hope.
I think that we may say that hope is two things. First, it is the expectation of good to come. We hope for things that lie in the future, and what we hope for in this case is the goodness of the Lord. We long for the things encompassed in it and promised in the word. And we have an expectation, even a certainty, that our longing will be satisfied. The second element of this hope is waiting. The expectation and certainty of good are there, but we do not know when it will be granted. So, there is an element of patience. Paul says, when we hope for what we do not see, then we wait patiently for it. A significant part of the Christian life is waiting on the Lord, sometimes even waiting for the fulfillment of his promises. Waiting is not easy, but it is, in the wisdom of our Father, necessary.
This hope takes us out of ourselves. It is not focused on ourselves, our souls and our souls’ desires. It is not always asking, “What does my soul want, what has it received, and what has it been denied?” Instead, it says, “All my desire is in you.” It looks not inward, but outward. It looks not to self, but to God.
It is this hope that makes humility and contentment possible. We say, I do not need to assert myself beyond my rights, I do not need to trouble myself about what my soul may desire. My hope is in the Lord. His promises are far better than anything I can imagine or desire by myself. All that baggage of desire and pride can be left behind because it is not important. What is important is what the Lord has promised. Emily Dickinson wrote that renunciation is a piercing virtue, but when we combine renunciation of lesser good with hope of the greatest good, then our souls find peace.
Praying thy will be done is a fixing of our desires on the will of God as our highest good. Our Lord prayed thus, “My heart is not haughty, My soul is like a weaned child” because he hoped in the Lord.
So put away pride that meddles in things too great and wonderful for you. Put away the discontent that says, “I have lost my desire.” Say instead, “Lord, grant me to desire your will always and in all things.”