# 368 A journey through the Psalms. Psalm 131. Godliness with contentment.

⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  (1 Timothy 6:6-7)

I wonder, if you had a piece of equipment that could read your level of contentment, just like a Blood Pressure Monitor measures your BP, would it be high, low, or somewhere in between?

Our psalm for today is a very simple expression of the psalmist’s contentment and trust in God. Listen to his words and check if this is where your heart is on the contentment scale at this time in your life.

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem. A psalm of David.

¹ Lord, my heart is not proud;
    my eyes are not haughty.
I don’t concern myself with matters too great
    or too awesome for me to grasp.
² Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself,
    like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.
    Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

³ O Israel, put your hope in the Lord—
    now and always.  (NLT)

Broyle comments:

“Though one of the shortest of psalms, Psalm 131 is one of the most profound. Its image of tranquillity we readily admire, but its advice we all too readily dismiss as impractical. When things go wrong, the temptation is to make ambitious plans and redouble our efforts… The psalm’s overall purpose is to teach and encourage the people of God, by means of an exemplary confession, to give less attention to human efforts and more to God’s ordering of affairs. The opening ‘I’ verses, while personal confessions, encourage the listeners to curb ambition and to find contentment and rest.” (# 4)

Brueggemann adds:

“Psalm 131 is also a simple expression of submission to the reliable ordering of life… There is here a glad acceptance of life on the terms God gives… The speaker has not thought too highly of himself, which means he understands the proper relation to God. It is not a relationship between equals, but is one of subordination, submission, trust, which this speaker gladly accepts.” (# 2)

To illustrate his point, the psalmist uses what Brueggemann calls “this remarkable domestic metaphor [which] makes a stunning theological affirmation about the proper ordering of life.” (# 2) He speaks of his “soul” being Like a weaned child [resting] with his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me [composed and freed from discontent]. (Amplified Bible)

Sadly, the philosophy of our age generally considers these attitudes totally unacceptable. It teaches instead a philosophy of independence, autonomy, self-sufficiency as the aim in life. “The myth of modernity believes that real maturity is to be free of every relationship of dependence.” (# 2)

From the point of view of the New Testament, Paul, in writing to the Romans makes a simple suggestion:

³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. (Romans 12:3)

And then there are those amazing words of Jesus:

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

² He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. ³ And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:1-4)

And then Paul’s personal testimony:

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:11-13)

May the Father enable us “not to rate others low and ourselves high; to recognize our limitations; [to grasp] … like a child weaned from the breast, that even without what we thought we needed, we are still loved and cared for; to have a confidence in God which will be as sure tomorrow as it is today… [all] lessons worth learning.” (# 5). Amen.