WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.160 The chapter is, come on Christ the King people. 00:00:06.700 --> 00:00:08.160 Psalm 117, very good. 00:00:08.220 --> 00:00:09.620 That has two verses. 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:12.919 Our chapter has a whopping three verses. 00:00:13.859 --> 00:00:16.460 I'll try and get through it in the time that's been allotted to me. 00:00:17.379 --> 00:00:19.460 But don't let its brevity fool you. 00:00:21.379 --> 00:00:25.320 What it lacks in length, it makes up for in light. 00:00:25.320 --> 00:00:33.340 This psalm is a lamp that we need for our feet with our sinful hearts living in our particular culture. 00:00:34.120 --> 00:00:36.399 So don't let its brevity fool you. 00:00:36.980 --> 00:00:44.939 As Charles Spurgeon says, Psalm 131 is one of the shortest chapters to read. 00:00:46.519 --> 00:00:49.439 But it's one of the longest psalms to learn. 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:55.899 It might be one of the shortest psalms to read, but it is one of the longest to learn. 00:00:56.019 --> 00:01:02.839 So let's make a concerted effort to not just read it this morning, but to begin to learn it. 00:01:04.019 --> 00:01:06.219 With that said, let's read our psalm. 00:01:06.859 --> 00:01:07.959 Psalm 131, 00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:37.939 Oh, Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forward. 00:01:37.959 --> 00:01:44.280 The psalm is constructed in two parts. 00:01:46.139 --> 00:01:50.939 The first is structured around a contrast between what David refuses to do on the one hand 00:01:50.939 --> 00:01:52.859 and what he's already done on the other. 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:54.319 That's verses 1 and 2. 00:01:57.399 --> 00:01:59.500 In the second part, verse 3, 00:02:00.699 --> 00:02:03.959 David urges God's people toward what they should be doing. 00:02:04.779 --> 00:02:08.819 So in part 1, David, what he refuses to do and what he's already done. 00:02:08.900 --> 00:02:11.079 And then in part 2, verse 3, 00:02:12.079 --> 00:02:14.840 what we as the people of God should be doing. 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:19.799 In the first part, David is addressing the Lord. 00:02:20.079 --> 00:02:21.219 That is, Yahweh. 00:02:22.099 --> 00:02:24.639 Remember, when you see the Lord in all caps in your Bible, 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:27.359 that means it represents God's personal name. 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:30.920 If God is what he is, 00:02:31.740 --> 00:02:34.360 the Lord, Yahweh, is who he is. 00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:37.600 But notice in the second part, verse 3, 00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:40.720 David turns to address all Israel, 00:02:41.720 --> 00:02:42.640 the people of God. 00:02:43.620 --> 00:02:45.100 Notice how verse 3 begins with, 00:02:45.260 --> 00:02:46.140 Oh, Israel. 00:02:47.260 --> 00:02:50.000 That's how we can tell there's two different parts to this psalm. 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:52.020 There's two different audiences. 00:02:52.020 --> 00:02:56.580 Let's begin with the contrast that makes up part 1. 00:02:58.860 --> 00:03:02.820 Notice the word not is used three times at the beginning of the psalm. 00:03:04.219 --> 00:03:06.480 My heart is not lifted up. 00:03:07.480 --> 00:03:10.360 My eyes are not raised too high. 00:03:10.600 --> 00:03:14.920 I do not occupy myself with things too great and marvelous for me. 00:03:16.540 --> 00:03:18.820 So this is something that David doesn't do, 00:03:18.820 --> 00:03:21.560 something he refuses to do. 00:03:22.020 --> 00:03:26.040 But what does it mean for a heart to be lifted up? 00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:31.000 What does it mean to have eyes that are raised too high? 00:03:32.040 --> 00:03:34.439 These are common expressions in Scripture. 00:03:35.719 --> 00:03:40.360 The word for lifted up is sometimes translated as haughty. 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:43.080 Thinking you're better than others. 00:03:44.140 --> 00:03:45.760 Thinking that you're superior. 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:52.780 You look down on others because of your self-perceived importance. 00:03:54.780 --> 00:03:56.840 Paul gets at this idea when he says, 00:03:57.039 --> 00:04:00.459 Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. 00:04:01.639 --> 00:04:03.399 When your heart is lifted up, 00:04:03.699 --> 00:04:07.079 it means you esteem yourself more highly than you ought to. 00:04:08.620 --> 00:04:10.659 You've exalted yourself in your heart. 00:04:10.659 --> 00:04:13.799 Similarly, 00:04:14.740 --> 00:04:16.639 when your eyes are raised too high, 00:04:16.719 --> 00:04:19.459 you are setting your sights on things that are out of reach. 00:04:21.019 --> 00:04:23.980 Such a person is characterized by ambition. 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:28.000 You covet something. 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:31.240 You aspire to be something. 00:04:31.699 --> 00:04:36.899 Your eyes are filled with the greed of wanting to be something more than you are. 00:04:37.939 --> 00:04:38.779 You ever feel that way? 00:04:38.779 --> 00:04:40.779 You're not. 00:04:42.219 --> 00:04:47.979 So David is saying that he has kept himself back from a prideful attitude of heart. 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:53.339 I refuse to think of myself as more important than others. 00:04:55.099 --> 00:04:59.000 I refuse, David says, to have an inflated view of my own gifting. 00:05:00.239 --> 00:05:01.500 My own abilities. 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:03.559 My own contribution. 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:09.379 David began with his heart. 00:05:11.639 --> 00:05:13.439 Then he moved to his eyes. 00:05:13.560 --> 00:05:15.560 And now he moves to his feet. 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:21.699 I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:26.139 The word translated occupy literally means to walk. 00:05:26.139 --> 00:05:30.240 And the ESV does a good job of getting to the heart of the expression. 00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:37.899 To walk in something too great or too wonderful means to try and deal in matters beyond your capacity. 00:05:37.899 --> 00:05:46.179 In other words, David recognizes that he has limits. 00:05:46.180 --> 00:05:51.400 There are things beyond David's understanding. 00:05:54.259 --> 00:05:57.660 There are things outside of David's control. 00:05:57.660 --> 00:06:04.100 There are things David doesn't have the necessary clearance for. 00:06:05.620 --> 00:06:12.620 In other words, David is saying that he doesn't spend his time trying to do things that God hasn't assigned to him. 00:06:12.620 --> 00:06:19.759 He doesn't spend his time trying to do things that God hasn't given him. 00:06:21.259 --> 00:06:27.079 For David, a calm and quiet soul is a product of living within limits. 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:32.600 A bit of self-disclosure here. 00:06:32.819 --> 00:06:36.160 Perhaps a number of you can relate to a recent season of life for me. 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:40.260 I was working long hours. 00:06:42.700 --> 00:06:43.920 Going in early. 00:06:44.040 --> 00:06:44.860 Coming home late. 00:06:46.620 --> 00:06:47.300 Stressed. 00:06:49.240 --> 00:06:54.300 I struggled to be a joyful presence with my family. 00:06:55.860 --> 00:06:59.820 Felt like I lived life under an ever-present cloud. 00:06:59.920 --> 00:07:00.940 I don't know if you ever feel that way. 00:07:00.939 --> 00:07:07.560 Easily frustrated with my kids when they'd misbehave. 00:07:10.060 --> 00:07:13.220 Emotionally distant at times even with those who are closest to me. 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:17.920 And I was convinced that this was just my cross to bear. 00:07:20.199 --> 00:07:24.060 I thought my unquiet soul was a product of my position. 00:07:24.620 --> 00:07:24.759 Right? 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:25.439 I'm a pastor. 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:27.220 After all, I'm doing the Lord's work. 00:07:27.220 --> 00:07:31.240 I'm doing my best to put God's gifts to good use. 00:07:34.340 --> 00:07:39.840 And if that meant routinely going in early or coming home late or staying up late into the night to write sermons like this one, 00:07:39.860 --> 00:07:40.960 then that's just how it had to be. 00:07:41.580 --> 00:07:41.800 Right? 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:50.580 But what the Lord used David to teach me through this psalm is that an unquiet soul is not a product of my position. 00:07:52.680 --> 00:07:54.220 It's a product of my pride. 00:07:54.220 --> 00:07:54.280 Right? 00:07:57.220 --> 00:07:59.740 It's a product of a heart that wants to impress. 00:08:00.960 --> 00:08:03.800 It's a product of eyes that are raised too high. 00:08:03.900 --> 00:08:10.200 It may be that my eyes or your eyes are raised too high. 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:14.420 If we're blowing past God-given limits. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:19.040 If our emotional resiliency is running thin. 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:28.340 If our constant busyness robs us of the necessary exercise or sleep or healthy community. 00:08:30.500 --> 00:08:34.340 If we're burning ourselves out in pursuit of another promotion. 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:37.259 Requiring more things. 00:08:40.420 --> 00:08:43.860 Might it be that our hearts are a bit inflated with pride? 00:08:43.860 --> 00:08:48.100 Psalm 127. 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:50.759 Just maybe a page back. 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:53.720 It's written by David's son. 00:08:54.419 --> 00:08:56.100 Who seemed to learn this lesson well. 00:08:56.180 --> 00:08:59.080 He says in verses 1 and 2. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:01.740 Unless the Lord builds the house. 00:09:03.740 --> 00:09:06.080 Those who build it labor in vain. 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:10.820 Unless the Lord watches over the city. 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:13.600 The watchman stays awake in vain. 00:09:15.340 --> 00:09:16.639 In other words. 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:18.600 If God's not in it. 00:09:18.700 --> 00:09:19.800 You're wasting your time. 00:09:23.700 --> 00:09:26.540 It's in vain that you rise up early. 00:09:26.540 --> 00:09:28.000 And go late to rest. 00:09:28.540 --> 00:09:31.400 Eating the bread of anxious toil. 00:09:31.399 --> 00:09:37.059 Man, I just feel like I need to work hard to please God. 00:09:37.139 --> 00:09:39.240 To earn a smile from God. 00:09:39.379 --> 00:09:42.539 And Solomon says that is a worthless pursuit. 00:09:42.620 --> 00:09:43.559 That is in vain. 00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:48.980 For God gives to his beloved sleep. 00:09:50.360 --> 00:09:53.199 God wants you to be a soul at rest. 00:09:53.899 --> 00:09:55.340 Love the way Dane Ortlund puts it. 00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:57.579 He says we live from the smile of God. 00:09:57.579 --> 00:10:00.139 More than we try and live for the smile of God. 00:10:01.399 --> 00:10:08.500 God gives to his beloved sleep. 00:10:09.959 --> 00:10:15.720 We don't want to busy ourselves in a vain pursuit of doing what God hasn't assigned us to do. 00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:17.779 Or try and get what God hasn't given. 00:10:22.459 --> 00:10:24.459 Now back to Psalm 131. 00:10:24.980 --> 00:10:25.819 The contrast. 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:28.600 Notice in verse 2 it begins with the word but. 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:31.620 Here's what David has done. 00:10:31.759 --> 00:10:34.379 So verse 1 what he refuses to do. 00:10:34.460 --> 00:10:35.500 Now here's what he has done. 00:10:35.560 --> 00:10:38.540 I have calmed and quieted my soul. 00:10:41.639 --> 00:10:45.399 It's not that his heart doesn't long at times for something more. 00:10:48.600 --> 00:10:50.759 He's tempted to think highly of himself. 00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:56.200 He's tempted to be driven by ambition and marked by arrogance. 00:10:56.340 --> 00:11:01.100 But David has made a concerted effort to quiet those thoughts when they come. 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:08.720 The words calmed and quieted provide the striking contrast between verses 1 and 2. 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:17.399 He has refused the restless pursuit of verse 1 in lieu of the rest and peace of verse 2. 00:11:20.440 --> 00:11:23.600 In light of the contrast, Christopher Ashe helpfully says, 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:37.139 One of the surprises of Psalm 131 is that the cause of an unquiet soul is not simply anxiety or pressure, but pride. 00:11:37.139 --> 00:11:45.639 David continues with an image that only heightens the contrast between verse 1 and 2. 00:11:45.960 --> 00:11:48.319 Like a weaned child with its mother. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:54.179 Like a weaned child is my soul within me. 00:11:56.419 --> 00:12:00.120 David likens himself to a child on his mother's lap. 00:12:00.120 --> 00:12:04.779 Not crying out. 00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:07.960 Not wanting to be fed. 00:12:08.779 --> 00:12:09.460 At peace. 00:12:10.600 --> 00:12:12.600 Just content to be with mom. 00:12:15.539 --> 00:12:17.560 I know that she'll provide what I need. 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:24.060 Rather than thinking too highly of himself, David compares himself to a little child. 00:12:25.480 --> 00:12:26.600 See the contrast? 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:29.340 I love the way Joe Rigney puts it. 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:33.159 He says, David is comforted by his own smallness. 00:12:34.820 --> 00:12:41.259 The more that you grow up in Christ, the more you begin to feel a sense of your own smallness. 00:12:42.360 --> 00:12:48.060 And as we mature in Christ, we begin to be comforted by that smallness. 00:12:48.059 --> 00:12:52.139 I'm just a child on my heavenly father's lap. 00:12:53.099 --> 00:12:54.779 And he'll provide what I need. 00:12:56.539 --> 00:13:02.659 I don't need to work or earn something that God isn't willing to give as though I'm trying to pry it from his fingers. 00:13:04.319 --> 00:13:07.000 God gives to his children good gifts. 00:13:07.500 --> 00:13:08.359 I can trust him. 00:13:08.360 --> 00:13:38.340 God gives to him. 00:13:38.360 --> 00:13:43.419 So they are doing the opposite of what David refused to do in verse 1. 00:13:43.539 --> 00:13:43.620 Right? 00:13:43.680 --> 00:13:47.340 What David refused to do, here are the disciples in that very disposition. 00:13:47.580 --> 00:13:49.340 And what does Jesus do in response? 00:13:51.539 --> 00:13:54.379 Taking his cues from David, he puts a child in front of them. 00:13:54.379 --> 00:14:03.500 And he said, truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 00:14:03.500 --> 00:14:10.899 You see, at the heart of what it means to follow Jesus is becoming like a child on mom's lap. 00:14:12.779 --> 00:14:15.419 Not grabbing for something God hasn't given. 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:22.779 Not marked by a restless pursuit, but cultivating rest and peace. 00:14:23.960 --> 00:14:28.080 Content just to be held by such a good and caring God. 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:30.560 Is that you? 00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:41.700 Jesus continues saying, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 00:14:43.040 --> 00:14:47.720 Greatness in God's kingdom is for those who are content to be small. 00:14:47.720 --> 00:14:54.480 That's what David has come to terms with here in Psalm 131. 00:14:56.940 --> 00:15:02.000 I imagine that David wrote this psalm after he was anointed as king. 00:15:04.259 --> 00:15:05.180 Here's David. 00:15:06.180 --> 00:15:07.440 He's a young man. 00:15:07.540 --> 00:15:09.180 Promised to be king one day. 00:15:09.179 --> 00:15:13.819 But for now, he's just a shepherd out in the field with the sheep. 00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:19.599 David is the recipient of such precious and great promises. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:23.979 And he could have let those promises or the anointing as king go to his head. 00:15:24.819 --> 00:15:27.139 He could have become inflated with pride. 00:15:28.819 --> 00:15:32.599 Or driven by restless ambition to seize the throne. 00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:39.440 But instead, David contented himself with just being a little child on his mom's lap. 00:15:40.500 --> 00:15:46.320 He contented himself with patiently waiting for God's promise to come to pass. 00:15:48.759 --> 00:15:51.639 I think that's how David calmed and quieted his soul. 00:15:54.519 --> 00:16:00.600 He recited those precious and great promises and trusted God at his word. 00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:06.019 So if you're asking the question, what does it mean to calm and quiet our soul? 00:16:08.759 --> 00:16:12.379 I think the answer is taking God at his word. 00:16:14.180 --> 00:16:16.740 And I'll explain that in just a minute as to why I think that. 00:16:19.980 --> 00:16:20.779 Here's David. 00:16:22.259 --> 00:16:28.500 Trusting that God will bring his promises to pass at the perfect time. 00:16:28.500 --> 00:16:32.360 I can just be content here in God's presence. 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:40.679 And the reason I think that there's a connection between calming and quieting in verse 2 00:16:40.679 --> 00:16:44.779 and patiently waiting for God to bring his promises to pass 00:16:44.779 --> 00:16:48.720 is how David moves from the first section in verses 1 and 2 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:50.700 to the second section in verse 3. 00:16:50.700 --> 00:16:58.540 So now God moves from addressing the Lord. 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:00.640 It moves from a prayer in verses 1 and 2. 00:17:00.700 --> 00:17:01.379 Oh, Lord. 00:17:01.820 --> 00:17:01.980 Right? 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:03.759 He's praying to the Lord. 00:17:03.820 --> 00:17:07.539 And now he's moving to address Israel with an encouragement. 00:17:09.600 --> 00:17:10.519 With a command. 00:17:10.519 --> 00:17:14.680 And he does so saying, hope in the Lord. 00:17:14.779 --> 00:17:14.920 Right? 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:17.839 That's the instruction from David here at the end of the psalm. 00:17:18.099 --> 00:17:21.400 Hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. 00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:25.019 And that word for hope literally means wait. 00:17:27.019 --> 00:17:28.220 Wait on the Lord. 00:17:30.859 --> 00:17:35.319 What's David learn from this experience of calming and quieting his own soul? 00:17:35.400 --> 00:17:37.960 What does he want to impart onto the people of God? 00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:39.779 It's to wait on the Lord. 00:17:43.380 --> 00:17:49.299 Patient waiting for God's promises is the process of calming and quieting our souls. 00:17:50.380 --> 00:17:54.059 This psalm is built on the rock of God's faithfulness. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:17:58.680 See, David is trusting God to provide. 00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:04.340 If God has promised something, then God will be faithful to bring what he has promised to pass. 00:18:04.339 --> 00:18:07.919 And so I don't have to eat the bread of anxious toil. 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:13.939 I can trust my heavenly Father. 00:18:17.939 --> 00:18:22.419 Maybe some of us are carrying the burden of anxiety and stress. 00:18:23.379 --> 00:18:27.500 Underneath a pressure that God never meant to be on our shoulders. 00:18:27.500 --> 00:18:34.119 But that pressure is coming from within. 00:18:36.119 --> 00:18:38.880 A heart that's prioritizing the wrong things. 00:18:41.799 --> 00:18:45.940 Discipled by our culture, we're after achievement and productivity and accomplishment. 00:18:46.099 --> 00:18:47.220 We want to impress. 00:18:47.220 --> 00:18:54.779 We want to be perceived as important in the eyes of others. 00:18:55.559 --> 00:18:57.839 So there's this pressure as a mom. 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:00.279 Or as an employee. 00:19:01.960 --> 00:19:03.000 Or as a friend. 00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:14.940 Meanwhile, God wants us to calm and quiet our souls by patiently waiting for his promises to come to pass. 00:19:17.420 --> 00:19:22.500 We can hope in the Lord because the Lord is faithful to his promises. 00:19:25.500 --> 00:19:28.019 Maybe some of you are coming in this morning feeling hopeless. 00:19:30.460 --> 00:19:32.960 Feeling like you lack a sense of joy. 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:36.940 Feeling like you don't have a dollar to your name. 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:39.819 Feeling lonely. 00:19:42.180 --> 00:19:45.240 So I want to invite you into these precious and very great promises. 00:19:46.539 --> 00:19:50.079 If David knew that God was faithful from his own experiences, 00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:52.720 how much more do we have reason to know God's faithfulness? 00:19:52.859 --> 00:19:55.099 Because he sent his son into the world. 00:19:57.099 --> 00:19:59.079 To die on a cross. 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:02.659 To be buried and to be raised from the dead. 00:20:02.659 --> 00:20:08.000 So that God's promises to us might come to pass through the person of Jesus Christ. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:13.319 We have every reason to trust God's faithfulness. 00:20:13.319 --> 00:20:15.960 To patiently hope in the Lord. 00:20:15.960 --> 00:20:23.299 And so this morning, if you're feeling hopeless, I want to invite you into the hope that there is in Jesus Christ. 00:20:23.980 --> 00:20:27.620 There is an inheritance that is unfading. 00:20:29.400 --> 00:20:31.100 Never going away. 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:33.120 Undefiled. 00:20:33.620 --> 00:20:35.180 Imperishable, as Peter would say. 00:20:35.180 --> 00:20:40.259 And it is for those who believe and trust in Christ. 00:20:40.259 --> 00:20:49.440 There is a rich fellowship with Jesus where you can come to know the very source of joy and satisfaction and light and life. 00:20:49.660 --> 00:20:54.799 He invites you to eternal life with him on the basis of his death and resurrection. 00:20:54.799 --> 00:21:00.339 We have every reason to take David at his word that we should hope in the Lord. 00:21:02.440 --> 00:21:06.500 So I want to invite you out of the season of pressure. 00:21:08.159 --> 00:21:09.919 Anxious toil and stress. 00:21:10.159 --> 00:21:15.379 And into a life of calming and quieting your soul on the very promises of God. 00:21:15.380 --> 00:21:26.340 As Charles Spurgeon said, Psalm 131 is one of the shortest psalms to read, but it's one of the longest psalms to learn. 00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:27.420 So how do we learn it? 00:21:30.600 --> 00:21:39.300 How do we learn to patiently calm and quiet our souls so that we're operating from a place of rest and not anxiety? 00:21:39.299 --> 00:21:47.299 Well, certainly we can learn it from David through his experiences as we encounter it in Psalm 131. 00:21:47.919 --> 00:21:52.819 But I want to encourage us to learn it not just from David, but from David's son, Jesus. 00:21:56.659 --> 00:22:00.680 Another point in the Gospels, Jesus is calling out to anyone who would hear him and he says, 00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:02.539 Take my yoke upon you. 00:22:02.539 --> 00:22:09.279 All you who are weary and heavy laden. 00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:13.700 Everybody who's tired of trying to live this restless lifestyle. 00:22:13.859 --> 00:22:15.879 You feel like you're burnt out and worn down. 00:22:15.980 --> 00:22:21.839 I'm calling all of you who are tired this morning to come and take my yoke upon you, Jesus says. 00:22:22.159 --> 00:22:24.259 Learn from me. 00:22:24.259 --> 00:22:33.220 Anybody know the next part? 00:22:34.759 --> 00:22:36.200 Rest for your souls. 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:43.740 Jesus says, I want you to come and learn from me what it means to be gentle and lowly in heart. 00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:47.279 Take my yoke upon you. 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:59.700 Jesus is not some authoritative taskmaster, but he is gentle and lowly in heart and he invites you into a life finding rest for your soul. 00:23:03.799 --> 00:23:10.139 And so let us learn the lesson of Psalm 131, not just from David, but from David's son, Jesus. 00:23:12.539 --> 00:23:15.779 Learn what it means to come and sit on Jesus' lap. 00:23:15.779 --> 00:23:23.240 There's the story of Mary and Martha in the Gospels, which is a beautiful one, where Martha is frustrated, tired, working. 00:23:24.619 --> 00:23:27.500 She sees her sister Mary just sitting at the feet of Jesus. 00:23:27.660 --> 00:23:30.059 And she says, Jesus, tell my sister to help. 00:23:31.660 --> 00:23:32.740 You know what Jesus says? 00:23:34.500 --> 00:23:35.200 Oh, Martha. 00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:44.299 You're anxious about a lot of things, but Mary, sitting at my feet, has chosen the good part. 00:23:45.779 --> 00:23:54.299 There's an instruction there for us as followers of Jesus that the good part, the life that Jesus is calling us to is life lived at his feet. 00:23:54.619 --> 00:23:56.839 Life lived in his lap, so to speak. 00:23:56.839 --> 00:24:02.299 Learn from me what it means to be gentle and lowly in heart. 00:24:04.299 --> 00:24:06.359 To have a heart that's not lifted up. 00:24:07.159 --> 00:24:09.139 Eyes that aren't raised too high. 00:24:10.679 --> 00:24:18.199 Feet that don't occupy themselves with things too great or too marvelous, but a life just content with the very lot God has provided for us. 00:24:18.200 --> 00:24:23.960 There's a beautiful Christian book called The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. 00:24:24.600 --> 00:24:28.840 It's a Puritan book written hundreds of years ago by a man named Jeremiah Burroughs. 00:24:29.420 --> 00:24:32.340 And I love that phrase, The Rare Jewel. 00:24:32.420 --> 00:24:37.900 He's speaking the very preciousness of Christian contentment. 00:24:37.900 --> 00:24:57.259 And what he says about Christian contentment is that it's a sweet inward disposition whereby we trust and rejoice in the very disposal of God in every season of life. 00:24:57.259 --> 00:25:10.960 That means whatever God has given us, wherever God has us, whatever God has given us to do in this season of life, I'm going to be content to live in this season, resting in my Father's care. 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:14.819 I'm not trying to be somebody else. 00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:19.440 I'm not stretching myself thin for another promotion. 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:27.039 I'm not thinking the grass is greener on the other side of having a different wife or a different job or a different house. 00:25:28.600 --> 00:25:29.720 Cooler vacations. 00:25:30.539 --> 00:25:36.240 No, I am content with what my Father has given me in this season of life. 00:25:36.320 --> 00:25:41.320 And so I will live joyfully happy with what God has given me now. 00:25:42.860 --> 00:25:44.640 And that, my friends, is a rare jewel. 00:25:47.160 --> 00:25:48.440 But you might be thinking, wait a minute. 00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:51.660 Is the Christian life purely like passive, right? 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:53.400 Where we just sit in our Heavenly Father's life. 00:25:54.039 --> 00:25:55.860 Aren't we to pick up our cross? 00:25:55.980 --> 00:25:58.940 Aren't we to labor and toil for the name of Christ? 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:02.380 Aren't we supposed to take the gospel to the ends of the earth? 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:04.920 And isn't that difficult, hard labor? 00:26:06.279 --> 00:26:06.680 Indeed. 00:26:08.519 --> 00:26:10.660 But I love the way that Dane Ortlund puts this. 00:26:10.660 --> 00:26:11.000 He says, 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:22.700 All Christian work flows from fellowship with the living Christ who's transcending, defining reality is gentle and lowly. 00:26:24.080 --> 00:26:28.880 He astounds and sustains us with his endless kindness. 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:38.460 Only as we walk ever deeper into this tender kindness can we live the Christian life as the New Testament calls us to. 00:26:40.060 --> 00:26:48.200 Only as we drink down the kindness of the heart of Christ will we leave in our wake, everywhere we go, the aroma of heaven. 00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:58.120 And die one day having startled the world with glimpses of a divine kindness too great to be boxed in by what we deserve. 00:26:59.559 --> 00:27:00.819 You see what he's saying? 00:27:00.819 --> 00:27:13.539 Accomplishing anything in the Christian life flows out of a heart that has come to learn what it means to be gentle and lowly. 00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:18.339 What it means to drink in the very kindness of Christ. 00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:27.039 If we want to be the aroma of heaven, then we need to be like a weaned child on our Heavenly Father's lap. 00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:32.119 So my encouragement to you is David's very encouragement. 00:27:33.099 --> 00:27:36.899 Christ the King, hope in the Lord from this day forth and forevermore. 00:27:36.940 --> 00:27:37.139 Amen? 00:27:37.960 --> 00:27:38.659 Let's pray. 00:27:48.339 --> 00:27:53.339 Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are faithful. 00:27:53.480 --> 00:27:55.399 We sang of your faithfulness. 00:27:55.400 --> 00:27:58.980 We worshiped you this morning for your faithfulness. 00:27:59.300 --> 00:28:01.560 But don't let that be just mere lip service. 00:28:03.480 --> 00:28:05.640 We want to stamp it with our lives. 00:28:05.840 --> 00:28:09.980 People who are patiently waiting for your promises to come to pass. 00:28:10.420 --> 00:28:12.519 People who have weaned their souls. 00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:18.380 Sitting on your lap, content just to be with you. 00:28:18.380 --> 00:28:30.860 So Father, by the power of your Spirit, would you give us that gift, that disposition of David to have a heart that is gentle and lowly like Christ. 00:28:32.700 --> 00:28:37.660 Father, would you give every heart and every soul in this room the rest that you intend? 00:28:37.660 --> 00:28:48.840 Father, would you fill the cups that are just empty, feeling burned out, feeling weary and tired. 00:28:48.940 --> 00:28:55.259 Would you give them a joy, a profound joy that flows from just being in your presence. 00:28:55.259 --> 00:28:58.420 God, would you make us unbusy. 00:29:01.299 --> 00:29:04.559 Would you give us hearts that are humbled underneath your word. 00:29:07.160 --> 00:29:10.299 So as to live in the very way that you've intended us to. 00:29:10.940 --> 00:29:12.640 With joy and peace. 00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:14.119 With calm and quiet. 00:29:14.220 --> 00:29:16.160 We pray in Jesus' name and all God's people said. 00:29:16.900 --> 00:29:17.200 Amen. 00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:17.339 Amen. 00:29:17.339 --> 00:29:17.379 Amen. 00:29:17.379 --> 00:29:17.379 00:29:17.379 --> 00:29:17.379 00:29:17.379 --> 00:29:17.379 00:29:17.379 --> 00:29:17.379 00:29:17.379 --> 00:29:17.379 00:29:17.379 --> 00:29:17.379 00:29:17.379 --> 00:29:17.379 00:29:17.379 --> 00:29:17.379 00:29:17.379 --> 00:29:17.379 00:29:17.379 --> 00:29:17.379 00:29:17.379 --> 00:29:17.379 00:29:17.379 --> 00:29:17.379 00:29:17.379 --> 00:29:17.379 00:29:17.379 --> 00:29:17.379 00:29:17.379 --> 00:29:17.379 00:29:17.379 --> 00:29:19.379 Amen. 00:29:19.379 --> 00:29:21.379 Amen.