now uh we have a couple of bible readings they'll both be up on the screen the first is from Isaiah
chapter 55 and then we'll be in Psalm 131 so Isaiah 55 first of all let's hear God's word
come all you who are thirsty come to the waters and you who have no money come buy and eat come
buy wine and milk without money and without cost why spend money on what is not bread and your labor
on what does not satisfy listen listen to me and eat what is good and you will delight in the richest
of fear give ear and come to me listen that you may live I will make an everlasting covenant with you
my faithful love promised to David see I have made him a witness to the peoples a ruler and
commander of the peoples surely you will summon nations you know not and nations you do not know
will come running to you because of the Lord your God the Holy One of Israel for he has endowed you
with splendor seek the Lord while he may be found call on him while he is near let the wicked forsake
their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts let them turn to the Lord and he will have mercy on them
and to our God for he will freely pardon for my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways
my ways declares the Lord as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to
it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread
for the eater so is my word that goes out from my mouth it will not return to me empty but will
accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it you will go out in joy and be led
forth in peace the mountains and hills will burst into song before you and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands instead of the thorn bush will grow the juniper and instead of briars the myrtle
will grow this will be for the Lord's renown for an everlasting sign that will endure forever
and then in Psalm 131 one of the the shortest Psalms that we have in the Bible
so let's read together from Psalm 131
my heart is not proud Lord my eyes are not haughty I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me but I have calmed and quietened myself I am like a weaned child with
its mother like a weaned child I am content Israel put your hope in the Lord both now and
forevermore amen so as I was saying earlier
this is a focus on trust that we find in this Psalm this is going to be our last time
in the the book of Psalms for the next couple of months in our mornings we're going to look
at the heart of Jesus as we find it in John's gospel but I wanted to finish here
our study on the Psalms thinking about trust and how essential that is and I deliberately chose this
really short Psalm because it has a really powerful image at its center they say a picture is worth a
thousand words and so I'm hoping as we think about this picture that we have in verse two of the
contented child in its mother's arms that it will open the curtains and let the light of Christian hope
and the Christian life shine for us whoever we are that we would recognize that in God we can find
contentment as we learn to humbly trust in a wise and a loving father in heaven so it's a small lesson
it's a small psalm but it's got this massive truth that if we want to find rest in the storms of life if
we want to find shelter then we can do that in the arms of our God who made us and who wants to be with us
and for us it seems important for the times in which we live I imagine all of us have found ourselves
trying to anticipate what the next set of regulations and restrictions might be speculating
when they might come to an end figuring out how our plans need to reorganize because of the changes that
come in many of us are facing uncertainty some that's because of ongoing health concerns
for many there's the new concern to do with health and employment for our young people and students
the concern is about education for all of us family friendships relationships in the short to medium term
what's it going to look like and the impact of all of that is that anxiety and fear and frustration
can dominate our minds and dominate our horizons we can find all our energy going into figuring out
what are the rules and why are they there and when will it come to an end but here we have an
invitation and my prayer is that our experience will be that of David that in suffering and worry and
discontent we would lean into God our father and that we would find rest from and with him that we would
go to him that we might be wrapped in his loving everlasting arms
Jesus was asked on a number of occasions who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven that kind of
discussion would come up and Psalm 131 anticipates the answer that he gave greatness in the kingdom looks
like becoming as a little child learning to trust learning to depend on our father in heaven
so let's explore this psalm of David together and we'll begin in verse 2 with this picture of
contentment where David says I have calmed and quietened myself I am like a weaned child with its
mother like a weaned child I am content it's a lovely family image that God gives to us perhaps if we're
parents here we can remember those moments we can look back and think about those times where
our children were happy to find themselves in our arms wanting nothing other than to just rest there for a
while there's a wonderful moment to enjoy maybe we remember those feelings as children and here is
where David goes as he wants to express his trust he says I'm like a small child nestling in its mother's
arms here is David coming to enjoy the comfort and rest of his father's love and God puts it this way in
Isaiah 66 God says to his people as a mother comforts her child so I will comfort you so God in kindness
gives us this motherly image to speak of his tender love and care and in verse 2 we have a picture of
contentment this is a weaned child not a little baby who sometimes might be content in our mother's arms
other times fussing and squawking for food here is a here is a toddler a small child simply content to be
simply content to rest in the closeness and the love of their mother's arms
it's an invitation for us notice that David is making an active choice in all of this
in verse 1 he said my heart is not proud I do not concern myself with great matters but I have calmed
and quietened myself he's making an active choice to find contentment in God he's looking to still the
storm that he feels in his heart and his mind he's looking to quieten that urge to frantic fixing or
restless pursuit that perhaps we can all feel even although he is the king of Israel he's not straining
under the illusion that I should be able to figure out all life's conundrums that I can manage these
crises by myself rather he is humbling himself to trust in God his father and again I think this is a
really gracious invitation for us if your mind is like mine probably you find itself from day to day
going in a thousand different directions all at once and that can be exhausting but here is a call
from God to lean into him as father and to rest if you find your energy is getting taken up by fear
and frustration if your faith feels weak and you feel discouraged here is an invitation
come to this God or return to this God as your place of refuge
I read an article yesterday entitled when God says no to earnest prayers
and the author was exploring the difficulties that come when you pray sincerely and answers don't come
and he was looking to the Bible to to find answers for how do we respond as Christians in those moments and
he directed in one of his points readers to Psalm 131 to say that in all circumstances we have this
invitation to trust in God's wisdom when we don't know why answers don't come when we don't know why
circumstances don't change like David we have to recognize there's a point where there are things
that are too wonderful for us to recognize that God's ways are not our ways and to rest in that
knowing that we can trust our good father in heaven and to trust in his wisdom David is able to rest
contented because he knows his God and he knows God's character I wonder if we've come to discover God
as father in that way so that we too can rest content because we know we have a father in heaven we know
his character we know that he is for us so that he would be the one safe place the refuge the fortress
that we would run to this is an invitation that we all need to hear it's an invitation to enjoy God's love
and to know that love in our experience to make that choice to move towards this God who loves us
I was thinking about the first of the Harry Potter books and a little conversation towards the end
where Dumbledore is talking to Harry about his scar and about his mother and Dumbledore said this
to him he said your mother died to save you if there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand it is love
and then this love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark to have been loved so deeply
will give us some protection forever love as powerful as your mother's well at the heart of the Bible
is the powerful love of God the father a love so great that he would send his one and only son
so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life the mark of our father's powerful love
we see at the cross where Jesus the one and only son of his father is given in our place for our sins
so that we by faith might become sons and daughters
that to trust in Jesus according to the language of first Peter is to be shielded
by God's powerful love now and until final salvation when Jesus returns
we can rest content when we know the love of our father
let the cross show us and teach us how deep the father's love for us is
and that we would find contentment and trust in him
from there I want us to go back to verse one and to recognize
that to have that kind of contentment we need humility before God
I don't know if all schools are the same but the school that our boys go to is very big on
trying to help children understand their emotions they seem to get a lot of classes on emotions
and we know we understand emotions we understand opposites happy and sad or opposites love and hate
or opposite verse one's really interesting because David is appreciating and helping us to see that the
opposite of anxiety the anxiety that perhaps we feel isn't always calmness and peace the answer to
anxiety in verse one is humility and especially humility before God what kind of anxiety does David have in view
in verse one what is it that he is trying to rid himself of verse one my heart is not proud Lord
my eyes are not haughty I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me
he understands there is an anxiety that we can feel when we are overreaching overstepping our limits when our desires are too great
so he's trying to put those to one side a desire for greatness compared to others
and a failure to accept our limitations before God
he's come to understand that that path that way of living leads to restlessness and frustration and discontent
and so the answer the antidote to that then is humility
and so he's showing us a pattern of humility against in the first place
the temptation of pride my heart is not proud Lord my eyes are not haughty
that temptation to have an overinflated view of ourselves
that would then at the same time undervalue others
it's a warning against that drive to be great and to ambition
that is severed from a concern for God's glory and a desire to serve others
it's an understanding that pride feeds on comparison and competition
and that is not the pathway to peace and contentment
where we're not just happy to be good we have to be better than
the other person we're not content with being smart we need to be smarter than someone else
constantly fighting for recognition and approval will not lead to contentment
rather it will make frustration inevitable
because it's very unlikely we're ever going to reach that point where
we've we can say I have enough or I truly am at the top of the game and there's nobody above me
even David is king he has to make that deliberate choice to fight against pride so he can be content
how does our image of the content child in verse 2 help us in that battle that we face against pride and competition
we're here as Christians
those who are in Jesus Christ
we have that wonderful truth
that in Jesus we have full approval
from our father in heaven when we are in him
that our position
is secure
as loved and adopted
children of God
our inheritance
is certain
eternal life in glory
ruling in the new heavens
and the new earth
if we live for the approval of the one
who matters for God almighty
then we have the freedom to be humble
we can be overlooked
and not be crushed by that
we can miss out on opportunities
and not feel as if the world has come to an end
we can be free to suffer
and knowing that we are loved
we are kept
and we have a glorious future
if we learn the contentment of resting
in the loving arms
of our father
the second part of verse 1
moves from pride
to presumption
when David says
I do not concern myself
with great matters
or things too wonderful for me
he's saying again
he's put to one side
an overestimating of himself
and his own abilities
in particular
he's determined not to forget
his limits
compared to God
David is
content to say
even although I am the king
I cannot understand
and I cannot manage
many of the great things
there is a set of wisdom
that belongs to God alone
and I'm going to trust him
and I'm going to trust his will
I'm going to trust his character
and I'm going to rest
rather than trying to become God-like
and reach for
those kind of wisdoms
the Bible teaches that
distinction really clearly for us
God is the creator
and we are created
God is all-knowing
and all-powerful
he is all-wise
he knows the past
the present and the future
and we do not
we are limited
compared to God
and if we try and break free
of our limits
again we will find ourselves
frustrated
we will find ourselves
anxious
because we are trying to
make decisions
and to control things
that are ultimately
outwith our control
what does that look like?
it might look like
sleepless nights
and agonizing
over the future
because we want to know
what's God's will
why this
why me
what can I do
to change things
and sometimes
we need to learn
to rest
and wait
on God
David has come
to discover
that freedom
of living
within those limits
that God has set
resting and knowing
I can't control everything
I can't fix everything
I can't understand everything
not now
and not in my future
so if you are
anxious today
frustrated
or fearful today
let Psalm 131
be God's gift
to each of us
so that in humility
we would be ready
to accept our limits
and trust our unlimited God
and that at the same time
we would take our cares
to our Father in Heaven
knowing that He loves us
and that He cares for us
one last thing to notice
verse 3
as David draws the Psalm
to a close
and it's this
that trust
is the basic
posture
of faith
so David's given us
this wonderful testimony
as the king
you know
before God
I want to be
like a child
I want to live
with humble trust
and then
he calls on
the worshipping people
of God
to learn that lesson
with Him
as he says
in verse 3
Israel
put your hope
in the Lord
both now
and forever
more
he has found
security
he has found
a solid basis
for his hope
and he wants
to pass that on
God is his centre
of gravity
God is the sun
around which
his life orbits
not himself
as the king
and he's found
that to be a place
of peace
and a place
of rest
he's been weaned
off
false ambitions
he's been weaned
off misplacing
his desires
he's been weaned
off an anxiety
from fighting
against those
proper limits
and he's found
rest
and so he calls
the church
to trust
as the king
he says
trust in the much
greater than me
trust in the Lord
God
now and evermore
it's a wonderful
testimony
from King David
and it's a testimony
echoed
perfectly
by King
Jesus
while David's
heart at times
would waver
Jesus
never did
how do we see
the humility
of King
Jesus
we see it
in his
willingness
to leave
the glory
of heaven
to become
one of us
in order
that he might
be the promised
suffering
servant
he lived
a humble
life
as the man
of sorrows
and died
in our place
for our sins
how do we see
the contentment
of Jesus
with his
father
in heaven
we hear him
so often
talking about
his delight
in doing
his father's
will
he didn't
ever want
to say
or do
anything
outside
of his
father's
will
at all
points
in his
life
he was
fully
obedient
and had
joy
in that
even
when it
took him
to the cross
and his
trust
again
was
absolute
so that
even
as he
was
dying
having
completed
his
mission
of coming
to be
the once
for all
sacrifice
for sinners
he prayed
to his
father
into your
hands
I commit
my spirit
trust
from first
to last
the great
king
who gives
that testimony
and who
calls us
to follow
in his
path
so as we
leave this
psalm
and indeed
as we leave
the book
of psalms
for a time
and there
are so
many trust
psalms
to explore
are we
trusting
God
as our
father
have we
come to
know
and are we
looking to
experience
that love
in an
ongoing
way
are we
making
that active
choice
and all
the busyness
and all
the fear
and all
the stuff
buzzing
around in
our head
to come
and to
quiet
ourselves
before him
do we
hear his
call to
come
and rest
to come
with that
childlike
faith
to enjoy
him