The Songs Of Ascent – Part 15 – Psalm 131 – Resting In Contentment And The Hope Of Israel – Hope In The Lord Series

THE SONGS OF ASCENT – PART 15 – PSALM 131 – RESTING IN CONTENTMENT AND THE HOPE OF ISRAEL – HOPE IN THE LORD

PSALM 131 A SONG OF ASCENTS, OF DAVID

{{Psalm 131:1 “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.”}}

{{Psalm 131:2 “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.”}}

{{Psalm 131:3 “O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forever.”}}

We are nearing the end of these Songs of Ascent and come today to this short Psalm, just three verses that express the quietness in David’s soul. You remember these Psalms were sung as the pilgrims made their way to Jerusalem for the feasts, singing as they ascended to Jerusalem yearly. We will take each verse separately in this message today.

{{Psalm 131:1 “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.”}}

This is a most interesting testimony and one I am positive not one of us would give. David writes under inspiration of the Holy Spirit who is responsible for all scripture, so the verses contain the truth from the Spirit of God.

What a testimony! There are three parts to the verse, one for the heart; one for the eyes and one for the way of life. David could state the fact exactly as it was, but if we said what David did, then we’d be lying. Remember David was a special man before his God – Samuel spoke these words to Saul: {{1Samuel 13:14 “but now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself A MAN AFTER HIS OWN HEART, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”}}

What Samuel uttered is confirmed by Paul in the New Testament – {{Acts 13:22 After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.’}}

David was a man after the heart of God and sought the Lord all the days of his life. He is the only believer in the bible about whom this is said. Normally a man’s testimony of himself does not stand, but when God writes the bible, things are drastically different.

I found the following very interesting and it comes from Ron Edmondson of Immanuel Baptist Church -

The following words describe the heart of David as seen in his own writings:

(All verses New International Version)

Humble – Psalm 62:9

Reverent – Psalm 18:3

Respectful - Psalm 31:9

Trusting – Psalm 27:1

Loving – Psalm 18:1

Devoted – Psalm 4:7

Recognition – Psalm 9:1

Faithful – Psalm 23:6

Obedient – Psalm 119:34

Repentant – Psalm 25:11

(End of quotation)

Psalm 131 verse 1 speaks of a proud heart and proud, conceited eyes. That sums up roughly most of the world today. From government officials and politicians to the ordinary person walking the street, lives without God are controlled by the old nature and the old nature is sinful always. I won’t repeat all the descriptions of the old nature in Galatians 5:19-21 but those items are what control the unsaved person.

Speaking of the mouth and eyes, when they are corrupted, great evil can come. We see it in dictators and ruthless men speaking wickedness and eyes that survey what to subdue, but the most dictatorial and ruthless of them all will be the Antichrist/world leader who is coming and this is a description of him from Daniel – {{Daniel 7:20 “and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn WHICH HAD EYES AND A MOUTH UTTERING GREAT BOASTS, and which was larger in appearance than its associates.”}}

That is confirmed also by this verse – {{Revelation 13:5 “There was given to him A MOUTH SPEAKING ARROGANT WORDS and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.”}}

Through the Spirit of God, David confirmed he was not like that for his heart was after the heart of God. The second part of the verse, to me in my understanding, is that David sought simplicity, not involvement in challenging and difficult matters. {{Nor do I involve myself in great matters or in things too difficult for me.”}}. Is that the secret to living a contented life?

People today do not live contented lives. They rush around with involvement in all sorts of things. I don’t intend listing these extraneous activities but I see them in lives. Worry and stress brought about by complex matters removes peace and contentment. I am reminded of the tree mentioned in Psalm 1 – {{Psalm 1:3 “and he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither and in whatever he does, he prospers.”}}