Quiet Soul

We all have different seasons of busyness where events and responsibilities can seem overwhelming and never-ending. Holidays are a common example – shopping, family gatherings, parties, holiday baking, and meeting up with visiting friends. This week I have four writing projects – two I need to finish (this is one) and two that could wait (but I’m excited to get them to the next stage of publishing). Along with the writing, there is youth group, church, Winter Retreat with the youth group, sewing quilts, and appointments. You probably have your own long weekly to-do-list.

Busyness reminds me of noise, lots, and lots of it. On a recent trip, I tried to watch a video at the airport on our layover. I could hear a myriad of other conversations, announcements over the paging system, the beeping of the little people carts, suitcases rolling by, and children being children. I longed for quiet, so I could hear and focus on the video I was watching. I put in my noise-cancelling earbuds, and suddenly I could clearly hear my video.

But what about in our everyday lives midst the busyness as well as churning emotions like worry? What about the myriad of voices trying to speak into our lives, some directly and some through the media? We are surrounded by all forms of noise and busyness. Psalm 131 talks about a quieted soul, something most of us need.

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

1 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.

2 But 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. [1]

Tradition suggests that the fifteen Psalms of Ascents were sung as Jewish pilgrims sojourned to Zion to worship God. Psalm 131 is one of these psalms. As we study through it, you will see why it was a good psalm to sing and prepare for worship, and why its truths are still important to prepare our hearts for worship.

David begins this Psalm with humility (vs 1). We cannot worship God from a position of pride. David has a humble heart. He is dependent on God. He trusts God completely. He is secure in God. Pride is self-reliant. When we rely on self, we are struggling to maintain our own security, significance, and control.

David is humble in his demeanor. His eyes are not raised too high. I read two explanations of this. First, David is not looking down on others. He is humble before God, but he also is humble with others, counting them as more significant than himself (Philippians 2:3). Second, David is not looking to other people or things for his security and identity. He looks to God alone.

David is humble in his actions. He is not occupying himself with things too great and marvelous for him (Deuteronomy 29:29). He isn’t caught in selfish ambition which can even impact the ministries in which we serve. He isn’t frantically running through life trying to do and gain more. He is content with what God has given him and where God has placed him.[2] He trusts God with every aspect of his life.

David moves from humility to a purposeful decision. “But I have calmed and quieted my soul (vs 2). David’s action comes after his humble heart. A calm and quiet soul does not co-exist with pride. It can exist midst the busyness of life or in suffering. Note that David is calming and quieting his soul not his circumstances. He doesn’t say that he escaped to a resort on the Sea of Galilee for calm and quiet. No, he quieted and calmed his soul in his current circumstance.

In Hebrew, David’s words are an oath. They are forceful. He is taking serious action to experience this calm and quiet soul. A calmed and quieted soul cannot happen apart from God, but David demonstrates the responsibility we have. We don’t sit back and wait for calm and quiet in our soul to magically happen. We do something.

Before we look at what we do, let’s examine the description of the calmed and quieted soul. “like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.” A hungry, nursing baby often gets even fussier when they are near their mother. The baby is seeking to satisfy his or her tummy, but a weaned child is not seeking nearness to mom for a meal. They come and snuggle with mom just because they want to be with mom. Mom is a place of security and love. They are still dependent on their mother to care for them, but not in the same ways as a nursing baby. There is a calm and quiet compared to the nursing baby.

Now back to a calm and quiet soul. First, David realizes his need. Because he has a humble dependence on God, he can recognize his need. Second, David remembers the source for a calm and quiet soul. David addresses the Psalm to, “O Lord” (vs 1) and tells Israel to “hope in the Lord” (vs 3). We can have a calm and quiet soul when we know the God of Scripture. Whatever busyness or noise is in your life, it is nothing before a holy, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, sovereign, loving, faithful, good, merciful, gracious, just, and compassionate God. God is our refuge and fortress. We can never be separated from His love. He has prepared a place for us with Himself in eternity. He leads and guides us. He has given us His Word and His Spirit to equip us. He sent His own Son to die, taking the penalty for our sin and gave us Jesus’ righteousness.

In light of that, how can we not choose to calm and quiet our souls in awe of our amazing God? We have everything we need in Jesus. Our security, identity, and significance are all in Jesus. Essentially David remembers truth. He remembers who God is. He hopes in God alone. We can do the same.

The psalm ends with a transition from personal lifestyle to ministry. David’s calm and quiet soul prompt him to consider and minister to others. He wants Israel to hope in God, to have a humble dependence on God which will lead to calm and quiet souls like his own. David desires Israel to learn the good truth he has experienced.

Reflection

1. Evaluate specifically where you are clinging to pride in your heart, demeanor, or actions. In what current circumstances do you need to humbly depend on God instead of yourself?

2. David could hope in the Lord because he knew God personally. Choose one or two characteristics of God to meditate on to calm and quiet your soul.

3. Now in your humble dependence on God and in your calm and quiet soul, spend time worshipping God in thanksgiving, song, or prayer.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 131:title–3. [2] There is a difference between godly desires (Philippians 3:12-14) and selfish ambition.