Psalm 131 "Like a Weaned Child" What is humility? Humility is one of those traits that if you think you have it, you probably don't! The central picture in the Psalm is the picture of a weaned child. Jesus said in Matthew 18 that whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. There is a conundrum for you! If you want to be great, humble yourself! So if your goal is to be great and exalted, high and lifted up, then you need to pretend to be humble! Right? Psalm 131 reminds us that we should not be pursuing "great things." Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. We are called to become like children indeed, like a weaned child, who has learned the secret of contentment in his mother's arms. Because the secret of contentment is humility. Introduction: Poetry and Context Psalm 131 is a bit unusual as a piece of Hebrew poetry. Usually Hebrew poetry follows a basic parallel structure. But Psalm 131 consists of two triplets and a concluding line. The poetic structure of this Psalm is quite simple. Verse 1 has three lines: the first two lines are very similar my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised high the third line is one poetic line, but longer than the first two. I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me Verse 2 also has three lines but this time the first one is the longer one, But I have calmed and quieted my soul and it is the last two lines that are nearly identical: like a weaned child with its mother like a weaned child is my soul within me. I realize that in English, those lines are all the same length. But in Hebrew the first line is five words long, while the second and the third are each three words. Then the last line (verse 3) stands alone. What is the effect of this poetic structure? Because Hebrew poetry is so overwhelmingly focus on parallelism, the occasional triplet has considerable force. And especially in this poem, the focus is on the last line of verse one, the first line of verse 2, and of course, the conclusion in verse 3. A brief comment on the title: Psalm 131 is called "A Song of Ascents. Of David." It comes toward the end of the 15 songs of ascents, Psalms 120-134. The songs of ascents appear to be songs that would be sung as pilgrims "ascended" up to Jerusalem on their way to the temple to worship the LORD. The title says "Of David" which probably means "by David" but could mean "about David." I generally assume that when the title says "Of David" it means "by David," but we don't know that for certain. It is interesting to think about the difference between what this song might have meant to David when he wrote it, and what it meant to Israel as they sang it. David was the king. Whenever this Psalm was written, it was the anointed king humbling himself before God. The most exalted man in all the history of Israel is singing this song to God. But when the people of Israel sang this Psalm, they were traveling together in pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The poor and lowly, together with the rich and famous, humbling themselves before God. So the song was written by the king, but was regularly sung by the people. And that is fitting, because that is how we sing this Psalm in the new covenant. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the one who sings it first, as he humbled himself before his Father. And therefore we sing this Psalm in him, having that same mind in us that was also in Christ Jesus. 1. The Direction of the Heart (v1) 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. This is a song of ascents. The whole point of the journey to Jerusalem was to ascend. If you are going to Jerusalem you are physically ascending: Jerusalem is at the top of a mountain, so if you are going to Jerusalem, you will be lifted up, raised high! Jerusalem is also the spiritual pinnacle of Israel. It is the place where God meets with his people. In the days of the kingdom of Israel, it was the place where God met with his people. There is no place on earth that is as exalted high and lifted up as Jerusalem. And yet the Psalm starts by saying "my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised high." Even though the singers of the Psalm are heading for the most exalted place on earth, they do not exalt themselves. Indeed, they say that they do not pursue things too great and too marvelous. This phrase for "lifted up" hearts is used frequently to refer to pride. For instance in Proverbs 18:12 "Before destruction a man's heart is lifted up." Or in Ezekiel 28:2 "Because your heart is lifted up" (speaking of the prince of Tyre), before God brought destruction against him! And twice in 2 Chronicles, speaking once of how Hezekiah's heart was lifted up when he did not thank God; but it is also used of Jehoshaphat, whose heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD (17:6). There is a good sense in which the heart can be lifted up! If you lift up your heart as an offering to the LORD, saying "here I am; send me!" Normally, a heart that is lifted up is a heart that is proud and arrogant a heart that exalt itself. And that is the tendency, isn't it? When we lift up our hearts, it is usually in self-aggrandizement, as we exalt ourselves and show off how good or how powerful we are. So David says, My heart is not lifted up. I do not seek to exalt myself. The key to humility is contentment. My heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised up. Yes, I am heading for Jerusalem, I am climbing the path to the holy place of God, but I am not puffed up. My eyes are on my path. What has God given you to do? If you seek to exalt yourself if your heart is lifted up by pride, then you will find that your path leads you through all sorts of tortuous ways. But if you humble yourself, if you are content to do that which God has called you to do here and now, then he will exalt you in due season. We've been talking about the spiritual theology of the Psalms. Doctrinal theology is what we are to believe concerning God who God is and what he has done in Jesus Christ for our salvation. Moral theology is what God requires of us faith, repentance, and new obedience. But as we've seen repeatedly, if all you have is a head full of facts, and a life full of rules, that is still not true Christian theology. Because Christian theology includes the experience of God the knowledge that comes from living in relationship with him. Spiritual theology has to do with that experience of God. Psalm 131 is a song of ascents for us as well. We are ascending the path to the heavenly temple. And as we go, as we walk in this valley of tears, we need to walk with contentment and humility. We do not experience God by pursuing arcane knowledge or unique moments of excitement rather, we experience God in the middle of the ordinary. One of my favorite examples of humility is one of my professors in seminary. He is a brilliant theologian, but he could sit in a Sunday school class and remain silent for the whole hour. I once taught that Sunday school class, and there were times that I wished that he would open his mouth and bring clarity out of my muddle but he just sat there smiling and thinking. He did not think of himself as an important theologian; he simply thought of himself as a part of the body of Christ. 2. The Soul as a Weaned Child (v2) Verse 2 uses a very different sort of example of humility: But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. When a baby is hungry, there is no rest for anyone until that baby gets fed! That baby will claw and scratch and wriggle and scream until its mother starts nursing it. We have a pretty steady flow of nursing infants in this congregation. Next week I'll be administering my 20th baptism in the last five years, and we don't show any signs of slowing down! And from time to time you hear them: "I'm hungry and I want it now!!!" Is that what you are like? Is your soul easily agitated? What is it that agitates you? What is it that gets your goat? Think about the image that David is using here. "I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother." Some children wean more easily than others, but eventually all children are weaned off of their mother's milk. The difference between a nursing infant and a weaned child is pretty obvious: where a nursing infant will frequently be rooting around looking for its mother's breast, a weaned child will rest content in its mother's arms. David says that he has calmed and quieted his soul like a weaned child with its mother. I'm not rooting around, looking to please myself; instead, I'm simply resting content in my mother's arms. God is weaning you and just like that child who is being weaned, you are called to calm and quiet your soul. What is God weaning you from? Think about the image again. God is like a mother, who is intent on weaning her child. And we are the children who are being weaned. Now, mother's milk is a good thing, right? Indeed, scientists tell us that it is the best food an infant could possibly have. But a fifteen year old who is still nursing would be a horrible thing. God wants us to grow up. As nursing infants we were selfish and grasping. After five children, I am thoroughly convinced of the doctrine of Original Sin. An infant's whole world revolves around itself. Weaning is a first step toward participation in a family. The nursing infant only wants Mommy, but the weaned child now starts to recognize Daddy as a real person too! If my soul is like a weaned child, then I am taking the first step toward maturity. As Paul will say in 1 Corinthians 13:11, When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. God is weaning us from our infantile ways. He wants us to grow up. And part of our growing up is learning to be content learning to be humble. As infants, we demanded our own way. We did our best to make our parents turn us into the center of their universe. But God, like a good mother, is working to show us that we are not the center of the universe. Are you comfortable with this picture of God as a mother? It is worth pointing out that scripture often uses this picture. God is like a mother. Never does scripture say that God is a mother, or that we should call God "mother." But scripture does say that God is a father, and commands us to call him "Father." The triune Name of God is "the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." But if humanity is created in the image of God, and that image includes both male and female, then we should not be surprised to find that scripture uses both masculine and feminine images of God. Indeed this never used to be an issue! The hymnody of the church used to include both in fact, the Trinity Hymnal has several hymns that include feminine imagery for God (After the sermon we'll sing one that was written in 1675!). So God is weaning us teaching us humility and contentment. But Psalm 131 makes it clear that we have some responsibility as well. I have calmed and quieted my soul within me. How do you calm and quiet your soul? You have plenty of provocations around you. If you have children, then your children are constantly provoking you! If you have brothers or sisters, then they are frequently irritating, aren't they? But even if you are single, you don't escape provocation! You may even be agitated about how to find a spouse! How do you calm and quiet your soul? What is the secret of contentment? Paul says in Philippians 4:11 that he had learned in whatever situation I am to be content. What is that secret? I can do all things through him who strengthens me (4:13). 3. The Secret of Humility (v3) Of course, Paul learned that secret from Psalm 131:3 (among other passages!). O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forever. Psalm 130 also ends with a call to Israel to hope in the LORD. O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. The secret of humility or contentment is found in where your hope is. Paul's hope like David's before him was in him who gives strength to the weary. It's all very nice and good to say this, and we all say that our hope is in the LORD but what does it mean? Where is your hope? In the midst of your provocations, what do you think will bring peace and happiness? Children, when your brother or sister hits you with a toy, what will bring peace and happiness? Do you think that hitting them back will make everything better? Do you? I think you do! Why else do you hit them back? You hit them back because deep down inside, you think that you will feel better if you get revenge. What would it mean to hope in the LORD in that moment? When our hope is in the LORD, we can endure unjust suffering. Because we remember that Jesus suffered for us. Did Jesus deserve the cross? NO! But he died for us he took our sins upon himself. And he has promised that in the end, he will make all things right. Your hope is in the God who is good and just. And in the end, he will make all things right. Therefore, you can endure when things don't go your way. Because you don't have to be in charge. You can calm and quiet your soul like a weaned child. No need to be rooting around, demanding your own way. You can be at peace with God and with one another. And this is not only to characterize our lives individually. Remember this Psalm is a Song of Ascents, and the people of God are singing this Psalm together as they ascend the hill of the LORD, going to Jerusalem together to worship him. O Israel, hope in the LORD, from this time forth and forevermore. This is a call to one another, reminding each other as we walk toward the heavenly Jerusalem, to hope in the LORD. It is so easy to forget this! As we ascend the hill of the LORD, as we walk together on our pilgrimage in this vale of tears, let us call one another to hope in the LORD. to be content and to humble ourselves in service to God and to one another.