The Humble Path to Trust

Alberto Paredes

Psalms • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

Psalm 131

Humility

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Notes

Transcript

(An Homiletical Outline)

Introduction

Last week we were able to take a look to the relationship between who God is as someone powerful who is able and willing to strengthen his people. Today, continuing with the topic of becoming childlike, I would like to walk with you through this Psalm and see the progression with which the psalmist is constructing his poetry.

Now, because we are going to be dealing with the book of Psalms today, and the book of Proverbs next week, there are a couple thing worth noting as we approach Wisdom Literature.

The main purpose of Wisdom Literature is to teach the people of God how to live the covenant life.

Most of Wisdom Literature is written in what is called Hebrew Poetry

One of the most prominent features of Hebrew Poetry is repetition and parallelism.

Authors often repeat that which they want to emphasize.

And that repetition may take different forms.

So, our text is found in the Book of Psalms, which is also subdivided in fiver smaller books.

Our specific Psalm is found in the last book, (the fifth), which deals with the Celebration of God’s Salvation for His People.

Within this songs of celebration, there are some called the Songs of Ascent.

This songs were sung by those pilgrims walking towards Jerusalem for one of the big feasts of the OT Jews.

Going to Jerusalem was important because the Temple was there, and the Temple represented the presence of God among his people, as the Tabernacle used to do during the time of Moses and the wandering days in the dessert.

They would go singing this songs of ascent, sometimes singing about:

God’s care and providence.

God’s protection against the enemies.

The greatness of being among God’s people.

...and other themes.

Our Psalm is one of the shortest in Scripture, but it is indeed full of Wisdom for life.

Just as the journey towards Jerusalem was a dangerous journey, so also the Christian life is surely difficult and full of hardships.

So the wisdom provided by David through this psalm is fitting for us today.

And continuing with our study of Childlikeness, my purpose today is to show from this passage that to be childlike is to learn to humbly trust in the LORD.

Outline:

Identification

Image

Invitation

English Standard Version Psalm 131

I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul

131 A SONG OF ASCENTS. OF DAVID.

1 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.

2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,

like a weaned child with its mother;

like a weaned child is my soul within me.

3 O Israel, hope in the LORD

from this time forth and forevermore.

Pray.

An Identification of Humility

And so we begin by identifying the main theme in this Psalm: Humility.

The author begins by using a triple synonymous parallelism: He repeats the same idea in three ways.

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 purpose of this repetition is to call attention to David’s statement that he has not been proud.

Explanation:

Lofty Heart: Proverbs 12:8 “Before destruction, a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.”

High Eyes: Psalm 18:27 “For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.”

Things Too Marvelous: The Hebrew word used to reference the “things that are too marvelous” is the word often used to describe God’s works for his people. Psalm 26:7 “...and telling all your wondrous deeds.”

And so, each of these is an expression of pride.

David is saying: “I have not [surly and emphatically, NOT!] engaged in this activities which are a reflection of a lofty heart.”

With this, David is not only telling us what kind of activities he is not engaged on,

but, by the same token, he is making evident the character of he who has a lofty heart, he who is proud.

The proud man is concerned with more than he can handle.

The more you do, the more you are;

the more you accomplish, the more you are worth;

the more you have, the better you feel.

The Proud man is concerned with things too marvelous which are only and rightly attributed to the Almighty God.

And by doing this, his heart is trying to occupy a place that only is suitable for the LORD of wonders.

In contrast with this kind of man, David is able to identify with humility.

When you look at your life, what kind of man are you able to see?

Maybe you will object: “Preacher!, I’ve never tried to identify myself as God! I am not the proud man!”

Do you try to have control of every single detail in your life; and get frustrated when you don’t?

Only God is Sovereign

Do you accept more work and commit to more activities than you can handle?

Only God is Omnipotent

Do you try to keep-up with every single news around the world just to be able to share your your opinion in social media?

Only God is Omniscient

Do you believe that everybody should listen to your opinion on everything and you should always have the last word on every discussion?

Only God’s Word is final.

Do you tend to think that everybody else is wrong, and if things were done your way everything would be better?

Only God is Infallible.

When you look at your life, what kind of man are you able to identify?

One of the keys that prevents David from pride and allows him to identify himself as humble is found at the very beginning of the Psalm.

The first words of this Psalm form an address to the Covenant LORD: YHWH

Oh, Lord…the psalmist says.

He is in prayer, in a deep relationship with his Covenant God.

Here is the key to humility: Know the Lord Almighty.

It is easy to turn to pride when we only keep looking each other.

You may look at me and think of 20 ways in which you are better than I am; I can do the same, that’s the nature of the human heart.

But turn your sight to God, learn who he is, learn what he has done, learn about the covenant the Almighty, Creator of the Universe, who holds everything in his hand, has done with you, a sinner, then you shall be humbled.

Learn about this Triune God, about the Father who sent his only Son, to take a human nature. Learn about the Son, who humbled himself and lived and died as a payment for your sin. Learn about God the Spirit who comes forth and dwells your previously dead heart, to give it life, to purify that which was rotten, to sanctify you.

Learn about the Holy One, taking you as a Child, only then you will be humbled.

TRS> And so the first thing the Psalmist does is Identify Humility, then he turns to show an Image, a picture as it where for us to know how humility looks like in life.

An Image of Humility

(v) 2. But I have calmed and quieted my soul,

like a weaned child with its mother;

like a weaned child is my soul within me.

We need to understand the image David gives.

The comparison is not that of a weaned child and an adult,

but that of a weaned child with an unweaned child, an infant, a nursing baby.

Nursing babies cry despite their mother being there with them, until the breast would be put into their mouths.

I still can remember the first days of parenthood and how my little baby because of some underlying problems had difficulty nursing. And so she would cry, and cry, and cry. My wife and I needed to make almost extra-human efforts for her to finally latch and nurse appropriately. We are deeply grateful to see her now running around as happy as she may be, but those days of crying are something I do not think my wife and I are ever going to forget.

Frustration. Tiresomeness. Distress. Complete inability to calm and hold her peace.

Is this what you see when you look at your life?

On the other hand, the image of a weaned child is an image of peace.

Weaned children would be around 3 years old in Ancient Israel.

And so, they wouldn’t need the breast any longer to remain calmed and at peace.

The only thing they would require would be the presence of the person they trusted the most: their mother.

With his mother present, a weaned child is able to hold his peace, to be relaxed, to enjoy life, to play to explore.

Is it not this what toddlers do: they are playing, enjoying themselves, and every once in a while they turn to see what? That mommy or daddy are still there, with them, present. And so they go on with whatever they are doing.

When they are hungry, they go to mom, when they are thirsty, they go to mom, when they fall and scratch their knee, they go to mom. When they want to watch funny dog videos on the Internet, they come to Dad.

The image of the weaned child is adequate, because it shows forth both the maturity required to remain tranquil with the simple presence of the mother, and at the same time, the humility necessary to trust that because she is there with him, nothing will go wrong.

Is an image of Peace, and Trust because the Psalmist has quieted his soul.

Notice also, that this calming and quieting of the soul is not passive, but active.

Yes, it is true that every good gift comes from God.

No one is denying that.

However, God not only determines the ends, but also the means.

It is also truth that David speaks in very active terms:

I have calmed and quieted my soul...

And so, we may ask:

how is it that David has managed to do this?

He does not spell out exactly how he is doing it.

But we have already spoken about growing in knowledge of our God.

And, at the very least, we ought to mention prayer.

That is the very activity the Psalmist is engaged in after all.

Now, this Psalm was also a song of Ascent, so let us also include worship and communion with the saints.

So we can summarize all this by saying: David was constantly seeking the presence of the Lord.

Through Scripture, Prayer, Worship, and Communion with Believers.

God has given us those things as well, to calm and quiet our souls.

So do not be discouraged.

Do not fall into monotony.

But embrace these good gifts God had given us to be brought closer to him.

To Know Him

To Enjoy Him

To Glorify Him, forever.

TRS. Finally, after David has lead us through the identification and an image of Humility, there is only one thing left to do: He invites us to join him, He invites us to be Humble.

An Invitation to Humility

(v) 3. O Israel, hope in the LORD

from this time forth and forevermore.

There are two brief comments to make about this invitation.

First: The peace that the psalmist has reached is not a solitary, contemplative, introspective peace.

Though it might have some of that.

It is primarily a peace that ought to be shared among the covenant community.

Not alone, but together.

Notice the change from a one-on-one conversation with his LORD, to a general address to the whole nation of Israel.

That which David experienced personally is filling him in such a way that it reaches out to the rest of the people.

So, as David has been humble, and therefore able to trust in the LORD, he calls the people to hope in the LORD as well.

He calls them to humility, also; which is demonstrated by that confidence in the God who is indeed Almighty.

He calls them to a peace, like that of the weaned child, that is only available for those with a humble heart.

So, let me ask you a question: are you sharing this message of humility and peace with others? Are you calling others to be humble? Are you inviting others to trust in the LORD who is able to give them peace, through the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Please do so. Would you share this good news of peace with others? Would you pray for others to be humbled so that they would trust in the LORD?

Second: This trust, this call to be humble is not something momentaneous.

It is not something brief:

“We are humble today, we trust him today, and then we are done...”

But it goes on forever.

Just as the pilgrims would have sang this Psalms in its way to the Holy City, let us sing this to each other, on our way to the New Jerusalem.

Just as the Pilgrims would continue to sing this once they arrived at the Temple, at the presence of the Lord, let us continue singing this together when we be there: We have calmed, and quieted our souls.

The Christian life is full of hardships. There is a long way until we would be able to trust our LORD fully. But that way is one that is characterized, paved, enlarged, marked by humility. A childlike humility.