QUIETING YOUR SOUL
PSALM 131:1-3
PSALM 131:1-3 NKJV
1 Lord, my heart is not haughty,
Nor my eyes lofty.
Neither do I concern myself with great matters,
Nor with things too profound for me.
2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
Like a weaned child with his mother;
Like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
OBSERVATION:
What a valuable skill in our current day to be able to calm your soul, mind, and emotions.
This is another psalm of David. I tend to appreciate his perspective because of all the stuff he went through.
Rejected by his family. Elevated to a folk hero of the nation. Hunted down by the most powerful man in the country. Constantly fighting with enemies within and without. Big moral failure and recovery. Major family problems. Pressures of leading a nation.
And yet, through it all, David never lost his faith in God, nor did he go stupid and end poorly as did so many before and after him.
So, with all that he had going on, when David speaks of quieting and calming his soul, I am all ears.
Before he mentions calming his soul, David mentions some things he does not do.
He is not full of pride and arrogance. He certainly could have been. The most powerful king in his entire area. Winner of multiple battles, David could have been full of himself, but he chose not to be.
He also stayed in his lane. He did not involve himself in things that were out of his reach.
He was able to calm and quiet his soul like a weaned child. An infant who is not weaned is dominated by his desire for food. But a weaned child has the ability to chill, knowing food is coming. A weaned child can exercise self-control.
By putting his trust in God. By placing his expectations on the Lord, David gained control over his soul and was able to stay calm and quiet regardless of the situation.
APPLICATION:
Staying away from pride and not thinking we are so amazing is part of the soul quieting process.
When we look to God and stay away from the things we can't control and the things that do not concern us, we eliminate a great deal of soul provoking scenarios.
PRAYER:
Help me learn to look to You, Lord, instead of thinking I can handle all that life brings me. Help me quiet my soul.