Spiritual Development (Psalm 131)
Warren Wiersbe comments that the problem with too many people is that they have grown old without growing up. Many people look adult bodily, but once we begin to speak to them they reveal that they are immature. Sadly this can also happen in the Christian life, as is clear from 2 Peter 1:8-9: ‘For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.’
Similarly, the writer to the Hebrews rebukes his readers in Hebrews 5:12-14: ‘For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.’
The apostle John refers to three levels of believers when he writes 1 John 2:12-14: ‘I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.’ As we can see, in these verses John connects specific spiritual experiences to particular states of spiritual growth. I think it is safe to say that the young men would also experience what the little children had, and that the fathers would also experience what the young men and little children had. But the ‘little children’ would not yet have experience what those who had progressed further in the Christian life enjoyed.
Psalm 131 is concerned about progress or development in the religious life, and David uses the illustration of a weaned child to picture this increase in spiritual stature. His ‘weaning’ seems to have been connected to the Lord denying him a situation of great prominence which he describes in verse 1. There are two well-known occasions when David was denied a place of prominence: the first was the period of long years when the reign of Saul prevented David becoming king in practice although he had been anointed by Samuel; the second was when he desired to build a great temple for God, but was not allowed to by the Lord. Whether they were the occasions of the writing of this psalm cannot be known, but they would have been suitable because David responded to the denials with great humility.
The comfort of a clear conscience (v. 1)
In verse 1, David describes the state of his heart and uses three word pictures to illustrate it. The first word picture of a lifted up heart tells us that David did not think very much of himself. This is extraordinary, given the promises he had received from God and the actions he had done for God. The blessings that he had received and the deeds he had done did not make him conclude that he was better than another believer who not received such promises nor done such great things. David realised that he was a nobody whom God had blessed.
The second word picture of aspiring eyes tells us that David was not ambitious for a greater position than what God had already given him. He did not use his eyes to view positions that he might never see. When he was a shepherd, he was content to be with the sheep; when he became a servant in Saul’s palace, he was content to be a servant; when he was denied the opportunity to build the temple, he did his best to help Solomon build it. There was no jealousy in the heart of David. It is important to realise that much ambition rises out of covetousness, to want what God has given to somebody else. It is better to be satisfied with where God has put us rather than wish he had put us a few more rungs up the ladder. Believers who climb the ladder in their own strength and because of sinful ambition will come tumbling down it, whereas the believer who waits for God to place him somewhere will be secure.
The third word picture illustrates the folly of trying to understand what we are not capable of understanding. One of the strangest programmes on the TV, at least in my thinking, is Question Time where a group of non-experts assess and critique those who have some knowledge of the topic under discussion. For example, who really understands the economic consequences of the Budget? I don’t even understand the terms used, never mind the consequences. But apparently there are many people who know the topic better than the Chancellor and they come on that programme to reveal their understanding and prove his incompetence! In many cases, all they reveal is their ignorance.
But the same thing can happen with regard to Christian understanding. I look back with shame to the dogmatic statements I made as a young Christian when I imagined I was pointing out the errors of an experienced believer. I had read a few books and concluded that made me an expert on Christian experience. In reality, I was paddling with difficulty on the shore but the ones whom I critiqued were swimming quite well out in the deep. They were weaned, but I was still in the cradle.
There are many things in the Christian life that can only be answered by deeper experience. Two such features are strong doctrine and providence. Often, as we study the Bible we come across a passage that seems very complex to us, and our difficulty may be enhanced because others seem to understand it easily. Sometimes, our inability to understand can be sorted out by reading a commentary or asking another believer what the passage means. At other times, we cannot seem to find any help, and in that situation we must follow the advice of David here and not pursue it. The reason for our inability is likely the fact that we are not ready spiritually to appreciate that passage. To leave the passage is a sign of spiritual wisdom, that we are maturing, that we are confident the Lord will teach us the meaning of the passage in his own time. (Of course, we have to make sure that our inability is not the consequence of a failure to use the means of grace regularly, as was the case with the Hebrews who are rebuked in Hebrews 5. But if we are using the means of grace as we should and still don’t understand a passage, then leave it until God explains it to us, which he will.)
It is similar with providence. Is this not the message of the Book of Job? His friends tried to read providence, and their conclusions were wrong. Often we can only read events long after they have happened. It is silly to read great significance immediately into small events. If I have a puncture on the way to a church service, it is absurd for me to deduce that God did not want me to be there. It is more likely that he is telling me I should have checked the tyre pressures. The fact of the matter is that we cannot know why God allows things to happen and not happen in our lives. We will never have a book in our library that will detail the significance of most things that happen to us. It is far better for us to commit all these events to God and rest content in his arms, like a weaned child.
It is important to note before whom the Psalmist is claiming this state of heart. He is speaking these words expressing his humility to the Lord. This is a reminder that we can be totally honest before the Lord. We can speak truths about ourselves to the Lord that would be inappropriate to speak before humans, even Christians. It was appropriate for David to describe himself as humble before God, but it may not have been apposite for him to do so before men. ‘It is a grand thing for a man to know his own heart so as to be able to speak before the Lord about it’ (Spurgeon). ‘This was David’s rejoicing, that his heart could witness for him that he had walked humbly with his God, notwithstanding the censures he was under and the temptations he was in’ (Matthew Henry).
The calmness of a humble heart (v. 2)
It has been suggested that one reason why this psalm was suitable for inclusion in this set of pilgrim psalms is because it was common for children to be weaned on the long journey to Jerusalem or else for the pilgrims to observe children being weaned in Jerusalem. Apparently, the usual age for weaning a child during the period in which David lived was about the age of four or five. We can imagine how difficult it would be for the child, and the parent, when that happened. The child would regard it as a crisis, but once it was over, he would enjoy the new level at which he was living. Similarly, David has been through a crisis in which he was prevented from attaining a position. Yet, although he had been denied this place, he had gained something far more important which was quiet confidence in the One who had denied him the place. David realised that it was the Lord who had prevented him from achieving a particular role at that time. It was a crisis, perhaps with disappointment initially, but the comfort he received from God made up for what he had not been given. And he had developed in humility.
The Lord’s revealed will for his people is that they increase in humility. References to this are so many in the Bible that they need not be included here. But we can think of one of them: Paul’s thorn in the flesh. He asked that it be taken away, and God said no. The thorn was given to Paul to keep him from being exalted above measure, in other words to keep him humble. It was a crisis, but Paul accepted the denial. Instead of rebelling against God, Paul gives a cry of a weaned soul when he says, ‘But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me’ (2 Cor. 12:9).
Paul wrote many astounding statements in his letters. One of the most amazing is a statement he wrote in his final letter, after he had been a Christian for over three decades. In writing to Timothy, Paul describes himself as ‘the chief of sinners’. But he writes these humble description from the position of a ‘weaned child’ who has realised that ‘the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus’ (1 Tim. 1:14).
The obvious benefit of such experiences is Christlikeness. The humility of Jesus is a prominent feature of his beautiful character. It becomes ours as we spend time with him and he weans us from our previous stage in the spiritual life. ‘Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light’ (Matt. 11:28-20). At times, these periods of learning come after we have been denied something by God.
This state of soul is marked by calmness and confidence in the Lord. He knows best how to deal with us. It reflects these words of Murray McCheyne: ‘It has always been my aim, and it is my prayer, to have no plan as regards myself; well assured as I am that the place where the Saviour sees meet to place me must ever be the best place for me.’
The longing of a humble heart (v. 3)
When a person is developing in the spiritual life, one sign of it is that he thinks less of his own needs and more of the needs of Christ’s church. This is what David expresses in verse 3: ‘O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.’ He says to them, ‘I have discovered that the Lord guides my life, sometimes giving me this and at other times denying me that; yet he himself comes and comforts me when I trust in him, when I lie by faith in his arms, strengthened in his grace even although he has denied me in the meantime something that I expected.’ This understanding only comes by experience. David, having tasted the faithfulness and the consolations of God, exhorts others to also hope in the Lord. When we find such sentiments in our hearts, we can conclude that we are being weaned.
C. H. Spurgeon said of this psalm: ‘It is one of the shortest Psalms to read, but one of the longest to learn. It speaks of a young child, but it contains the experience of a man in Christ. Lowliness and humility are here seen in connection with a sanctified heart, a will subdued to the mind of God, and a hope looking to the Lord alone happy is the man who can without falsehood use these words as his own; for he wears about him the likeness of his Lord, who said, “I am meek and lowly in heart.”’