Bible Study - Psalm 131

Our Bible study this week is Psalm 131. It is very short and yet has much to us that is very important, from what David learned from the Lord. Some suggest that it is a good follow-up to Psalm 130, where we are called to “wait for” and “hope” in the Lord. Sometimes, David “cried out” to the Lord in times of great “trouble” and brought his “complaint” loudly to the Lord with “uplifted hands,” “pleading for mercy” (Psalms 141 and 142).

In Psalm 131, though, David knew that he also needed to approach the Lord, not in a haughty and prideful way, thinking that he deserved God’s favor, but with humility. Some translate v.1 as saying, “O Lord, my heart is not haughty.” Many Scriptures warn about the danger of too much pride in oneself. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Isaiah 2:11-12 says, “The haughty looks of man shall be brought low; and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. The Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up - and it shall be brought low.”

David is, in verse 1, bowing in humility before the Lord, his heart not lifted up and his eyes not raised too high before the Lord. As he said in Psalm 138:6, “Though the Lord is high, He regards the lowly, but the haughty He knows from afar.” See many other New Testament passages that tell us the same thing. Romans 12:16 says, “Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.” James reminds us, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God…
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you" (James 4:6,7,10). Peter puts it this way, ”Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you” (1 Peter 5:5-6).

Paul points us to Christ Jesus and says, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and ever circumstance I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

Back in Psalm 131, still in v.1, David also says, “I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.” This does not mean that David was unwilling to grow and learn and ask God honest questions. He was a simple shepherd boy and yet grew into a mighty king, with God’s blessings. As one commentator says, David was not in any way a “sluggard,” someone that the Bible calls lazy and lacking personal motivation. At the same time, David knew that he was only a weak, sinful human being (see Psalm 51 and he words in v.17: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart You will not despise”).

In contrast, God was God, and there was so much about God and His ways that David could not and would not understand, but he was still called to trust the Lord. David says in Psalm 139:1,2,4,6, “O Lord, You have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar… Even before a word is on my tongue, You know it altogether… Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.”

In a sense, you could say that David had learned (though he was far from perfect) what Job struggled to learn in his book of Scripture. Job’s friend had said, early on, “As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause, who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number.” Job spent much, much time arguing with his friends and with God, feeling that God had been unfair and unjust with him. (Do we do the same, at times, simply not understanding God’s ways and why He does and allows things that don’t seem right to us? It is a struggle for us all, at times, when our prayers don’t seem to be answered, at least in the way we would expect and desire.)

God finally has to confront Job very strongly, saying in Job 41:34 that “He sees everything that is high; He is King over all the sons of pride.” Job then finally has to admit, “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted… Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know… I had heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see You. Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:2,3,5-6).

As Job 42 ends, Job prays for his “friends,” too, that they would be forgiven their “folly” in trying to straighten him out with human ideas and thoughts that were often not correct, either. The Lord forgives them, too, as He does us, as we sometimes struggle to find the right things to say to others, in a time of sorrow and grief, and other times.

Go back now to Psalm 131, v.2. David uses here a surprising picture image for himself - being like a “weaned child.” He says, “I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.” This might be a hard picture image to understand unless you have been a nursing mother or a husband or close family who has seen this process. (In earlier times, there were no baby formulas or good ways effectively to preserve milk and keep it from spoiling very quickly. Women had to nurse their babies; and babies will cry and fuss whenever they are hungry and won’t stop until they are satisfied. And before long, they will be crying and fussing again and again and again.) In fact, Peter uses this very image in describing how all believers in Christ should be continually eager for God’s Word - and the Word connected with Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (1 Peter 2:2).

A mom who has nursed can better describe the special bond with a child during this time  - but also how challenging and tiring this time can be, until the child is finally weaned - done with nursing and happy with other foods and content just quietly to be with Mom. (That time of weaning was even celebrated in the Old Testament. See Genesis 21:8 and 1 Samuel 1:21-28, for example.)

That is what David is describing in Psalm 131:2. His soul is “calmed down.” (The Hebrew suggests the image of a stormy sea that has finally smoothed down and become “a glassy sea,” as mentioned in Revelation 4:6. It is a picture of being at peace.) David also says his soul is “quieted.” He does not have to cry and fuss at the Lord all the time, trying to get answers and figure things out himself. He can rather just trust the Lord and His ways and plans, knowing they are “too great” for him to comprehend.

This idea of being quiet and silent before the Lord is often mentioned in other Scriptures, too. David wrote in Psalm 37:5,7: “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will act… 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!” See also Psalm 46:10-11: “Be still and know that I am God”… The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” David also writes in Psalm 62:1-2, “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation. He alone is my Rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.” See also Lamentations 3:24-26, Habakkuk 2:20, and passages like Exodus 14:9-14, where the Egyptians are chasing after God’s people and have them trapped, it seemed, and the people are in a panic. Moses simply says, “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” (How hard that is for all of us to grasp. How often don’t we panic, too, instead of quietly and calmly trusting our Lord?)

Twice in Psalm 131:2, David also calls himself a “child.” Compared with God that is what he always would be, and what we are, too - just children. Think of how Jesus taught us the same thing, in passages like Matthew 18:1-3, where we are called to “turn and become like children,” in “humble” trust in Him. Jesus also taught in v.6 that “little ones” could believe in Him, too, by the gift of God’s grace, through Baptism (John 3:5) and the Word (1 Peter 1:23). See also Matthew 11:25-30 and Mark 10:13-16 and other such passages, where children are welcomed and the Good News is revealed to them. Of course, children, even little children, are also sinners, with a sinful nature, and continually need God’s mercy and forgiveness and love, as we all do. See these words of our Lord in Zephaniah 3:16-17: “Fear not, O Zion; let not you hearts grow weak. The Lord your God is in your midst, a Mighty One who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.” That is the voice of a Heavenly Father who truly cares for His dear children.

Finally, in Psalm 131:3, David says that he wishes all Israel to have the humble calmness and quietness and trust in the Lord that he describes. “O Israel, hope in the Lord, from this time forth and forevermore.” In two different places (2 Samuel 22:28-29 and Psalm 18:27-28), the following words of David about the Lord are recorded: “You save a humble people, but the haughty eyes You bring down. For it is You who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness.” David is affirming what was said in Psalm 130:7-8: “O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with Him is plenteous redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all His iniquities.” This is Good News enough for David and for all people who will humbly trust in the Lord, ultimately through the coming work of Jesus our Savior. It will also carry all us children of God by faith through this life and to eternal life forever with our Heavenly Father.

Did David really live out what he describes in Psalm 131? David was far from perfect and had to live by God’s grace and forgiveness. But there was also a long period of time where he really did have to wait patiently and humbly on the Lord’s plans for him, as the commentator, F. Delitzsch, described.

Saul was already the first King of Israel when David courageously defeated Goliath. Saul became rebellious and drifted away from the Lord, though, and the Lord had Samuel anoint David to be the future King. David then went through nearly 10 years of persecution by King Saul. He had chances to kill Saul and might have tried to overthrow Saul by force. Instead, he patiently waited for God to take care of the problem with Saul. When Saul was killed, David was chosen to be King by his own tribe of Judah, but Saul’s son Ishbosheth became King of all the other tribes. Again, David had to wait a few years until Ishbosheth was killed and then about give more years before he could truly become King of all Israel in Jerusalem.

That was over 17 years of waiting until God’s promise to him was finally fulfilled. God’s promises were fulfilled, but in His own time and way for David. That could be our situation in life, too, at times. This psalm of David is for our own learning, in waiting for the Lord and trusting that He knows what is best for us.

Think above all of our Lord Jesus, who came from the family line of David as a real human baby boy and yet was also true God, the second person of the Trinity. He had to wait patiently for 30 years, growing up and doing His Father’s will perfectly and being tempted and tested and troubled all that time. Then there were the three years of public ministry, with disciples who did not fully understand Him and many religious leaders who opposed Him and Satan constantly tempting Him.

And finally, when the time for His final suffering and death was near, Jesus said, “What shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify Your Name.” Then a voice came from heaven, ’I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again’” (John 12:27-28).

Jesus then fully glorified His Father and His Father’s will by suffering and then dying on the cross to pay the penalty for the sins of all humanity. Before His accusers, Jesus was largely calm and quiet and silent. From the cross He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me.” That is the worst part of hell - to be forsaken by God and separated entirely from Him and all His goodness.

Yet that is what Jesus suffered for us, in our place. We don’t understand how that could happen. It is “too great” and “too marvelous” for us all. Yet that is what Jesus did; and we hope and trust in this that He did for us. He never lost trust in His Heavenly Father, no matter what. His first words from the cross were, “Father, forgive them;” and His last words were, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit,” even as He died. Only in His resurrection from the dead were His kingdom, power, and glory more fully seen again. And all of this was for us, that that we can confidently hope and trust in Him, now and forever, just as David said.