Psalm 131

I’d be interested in reading your thoughts on this psalm.  It’s short, but I had to chuckle as it at first made me think of something I say regularly.  As soon as you state your own humility,  you lost it.  Now, just as Israel does, we as Judeo-Christians tend to hold King David and his words quite highly.  So, maybe you read his Psalms of Ascents here without judgment.  That’s great!  Or maybe you struggle just as I do when you read Psalm 131 to take his words at face value.  I literally had to say, “ok God, what am I supposed to get out of this?”  Haughty judgments aside, I tried to remember what the Psalms of Ascents are supposed to be: a remembrance for people to repeat and sing while on their pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  

It is true, we see qualities of David in his story of humility, like when he refused to drink water that his soldiers stole for him.  Or when he chose to trim the edge of Saul’s cloak instead of killing him when he could in the cave.  We also see failures of pride in trying to hide his sinfulness.  I think it is also good to self-evaluate, and consider honestly if we are humble or if it is an area we need to work on.  Certainly, there is always the trap of false humility, which I don’t think is the case here.

Ultimately, this psalm serves as a reminder of how we are supposed to be humble!  There’s a concept in goal setting called “affirmations,” when you create statements of who you want to be, even though you aren’t there yet.  It’s a tricky thing, actually, since you want them to be truthful, although not complete yet so that you can work yourself towards the goal and program your own mind to guide you towards being the person you want to become.  

In David’s constant seeking to please the Lord, despite his faults, we can note that this psalm indeed comes from a humble and contrite heart.  Even if he struggles with pride, this psalm is a spiritual battle cry against pride.  He evaluates his pridefulness by not trying to prove himself (verse 1) and has learned to mature by living at peace despite having to go through growing pains (verse 2).  This was accomplished by hoping in the Lord (see my commentary on Psalm 130).  As a further exhortation, I love what the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 12.  I encourage you to read the whole chapter, as we usually focus on the first two verses.  He not only encourages us to be humble, but describes how to do it!

We all struggle with pride in some form or another.  Ironically, if you say you don’t, then you prove you do!  We can even be prideful in the lack of pride we have.  Another post for another time would consider being a doormat, where we simply allow everyone to take advantage of us.  This isn’t humility.  Additionally, it isn’t sinful to be proud of certain things, like our children’s achievements or our own team’s success. That is more like a celebration rather than pride.  However, when we begin to boast about our own strength, abilities, acumen, and skills, we begin to fall into the trap of considering ourselves to be “like God,” which is what got mankind in trouble in the Garden of Eden.

So let us take some time today to consider where we might be inappropriately prideful.  How can we humble ourselves?  What can we ask God to heal or correct in our lives before our pride leads to a fall?