Calmed and Quieted
Psalm 131 (ESV)
1O 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.
2But 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.
Did you know that you can choose to calm and quiet your soul?
Sounds great, right? Of course we long for peace: peace within our homes, upon our land, within our relationships, among our church families, and in our very minds.
Sometimes peace can seem so out of reach, but for the truly regenerated believer, it isn’t.
Peace is the third listed fruit of The Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). As we abide in Christ and Christ abides in us, and as we walk in the fullness of The Holy Spirit, we will know and walk in His peace.
Let’s turn our gaze back to Psalm 131 noticing the progression of the Psalmist.
He starts out by saying “O Lord.”
That’s step one of knowing peace. Is Jesus Christ your Lord? Have you submitted to Him as your boss and Master? In short, who calls the shots in and over your life? Jesus or you?
Secondly, he says, “My heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not lifted too high.”
Humility is demonstrated here. Humility is the opposite of pride. Humility is taking our proper place at the foot of the cross of our Lord. It’s kneeling in our hearts before Him and letting Him have His will and way in our lives. It’s thinking of ourselves less, not thinking less of ourselves.
Third, the psalmist says, “I do not occupy myself with things too great and too wonderful for me.”
In other words, he is choosing not to think, dwell on, try to figure out all the ends and outs of his life. He understands there are things that he will never fully understand, and rather than fretting about all the unknowns and unanswered questions, he is choosing to rest in the sovereignty of God.
As a result, the psalmist then writes, “But I have calmed and quieted my soul.” In contrast to fretting, he chooses to calm and quiet his soul. He does this by submitting to God, resisting the devil, and finding that the devil will flee (James 4:6-8). He finds himself feeling like a child with his mother, being safe, at rest, secure, and within the arms of the one appointed to care for and nurture him from birth. He admonishes others to put their “hope in the Lord both now and forevermore.”
So the sequence of calming and quieting our souls is:
Lord. Jesus is Lord, not us, the sooner we can embrace that concept the better off we will be. Let us be regularly apprehended by Christ. He will have His will and way because His plans cannot be thwarted. We, on the other hand, may not always get our way or what we think we need or want, and that is a good thing.
Humility. Strive to accept the frail state of our humanity by befriending humility.
A mind correctly occupied. Sometimes things are too great and too marvelous for us to know. Let’s rest in that.
Calmed and quieted. We experience the peace we seek.
Do you long to be calmed and quieted but cannot find your way to lasting peace?
Speaking with a trained counselor who shares your Christian faith can help.
Let’s get in touch and explore together how counseling can help you live a life lead by a peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7).
Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Hope
