Though one of the shortest psalms, it’s one of the hardest to learn. Why? Because it’s all about humility and contentment and peace in our hearts — which doesn’t exactly come easy.

Paul said, ‘I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content’ (Phil. 4:11). He was not (we gather) a naturally contented person. He didn’t suffer fools gladly. That may explain why God sent him a thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:1-10). God intended (by hook or by crook) to humble him because without humility there is no true holiness.

According to the title this is, ‘A Song of Ascents and a Psalm of David’. We don’t know whether David wrote it early or late in his life. D.A. Carson suggests that it’s more likely to come toward the end of his life, after he has been humbled by such matters as Bathsheba and Uriah, and by the revolt led by his son Absalom. Humbled, less quick to imagine he alone understands, slower to take umbrage, and more impressed with the wise providence of God, he now writes, ‘My heart is not proud, O Lord, my eyes are not haughty, I do not concern myself with great matters, or things too wonderful for me’ (1).

1. The Picture of Contentment (2)⤒🔗

‘I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me’ (NIV). David describes himself — not as a nursing child — but a weaned child. The days of breast and bottle are over. The child has grown and developed. The toddler is now on solids. Perhaps for some, weaning involved a struggle. For others, the transition may have been smooth and crisis free. But whatever the experience, the toddler has left something behind that it once valued. One writer says, ‘When we are weaned as infants we lose the milk we desired, in order to receive the solid food we need’ (Ferguson).

For the toddler, it’s enough to know that Mum is there; that Mum can hear; that Mum can see; that Mum’s hand is available; that Mum is there to give a reassuring cuddle and a kiss to make things better. It’s enough to know that Mum knows everything and can do everything; that Mum loves and cares. That’s the picture at the heart of this psalm. It’s an en­couragement to be childlike — but not childish. As Alex Motyer says, ‘It’s one thing for an adult to be childish — and unfortunately, all too possible. It’s quite another to be childlike — and that takes a lot of working at!’

Jesus said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven’ (Matt. 18:3). The follower of Jesus must be childlike — content with the basic knowledge that he or she is known, ac­cepted, loved, and cared for by God every day in every way.

2. The Pathway to Contentment (1)←⤒🔗

Look at the three ‘nots’ in verse one. Reading between the lines it would seem that these were areas that David had difficulty in — and had to work at to overcome. There was a spiritual battle to be fought. Spiritual maturity, contentedness and humility does not come readily or naturally. There are things we have to do; we have spiritual responsibilities — both negative and posi­tive.

Consider the negatives. ‘My heart is not proud,’ or ‘My heart is not lifted up’. Literally ‘My heart is not high’ (1). The problem with the heart is that it has outgrown itself. It’s out of proportion. It is too proud by nature. We smile at the proud Pharisee who ‘prayed’ in the temple, ‘God, I thank you I am not like other men’ (Luke 18: 11). But we are like that proud Pharisee more than we recognise. We are proud of our achievements. We are proud of our family. We are proud of our children. We are proud of our education. We are proud of our choices. We are proud of our church. We are proud that we are not as bad as some others. But if we are going to reach hu­mility, we need more of the attitude of the tax collector who wasn’t even able to raise his eyes to heaven. John Flavel commented, ‘They that know God will be humble; they that know themselves cannot be proud’.

Peter exhorts us to ‘clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble’ (1 Peter 5:5). Usually the first thing we notice about a person is the clothes that they wear. They’re visible and noticeable. Pride is immediately notice­able. So is humility. The word that Peter uses for ‘clothe’ can also mean ‘tie on oneself’. Per­haps Peter had in mind the night when Jesus tied a towel around His waist and washed the feet of the disciples — something only a domestic servant would ordinarily do (John 13:4). Jesus was the essence of humility. He ‘did not come to be served but to serve’ (Mark 10:45). He described Himself as ‘gentle and humble in heart’ (Matt. 11:28). Though He had everything to boast about, yet ‘He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross’ (Phil. 2:8). Jesus sought the will of God and the welfare of others above everything else. Humility is not thinking great things about yourself. The hum­ble person is not full of self importance, nor does he insist on his own rights.

David says, ‘My eyes are not haughty’ (1). The eye in the Bi­ble is often the organ of greed and desire. Eve saw that ‘the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes ... so she took of it and ate’ (Gen. 3:6). David had been guilty of wandering eyes when he saw Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11). He has learned his lesson the hard way. We too must be careful that our eyes don’t lead us off into covetousness and sin. The advertising business seeks to do just that. It wants us to believe that our life will be so much more pleasurable if only we have this or that. Not that there is anything wrong with wanting something good. The problem comes when you want it too much; when a good thing becomes an ultimate thing, when a desire becomes a demand. John counsels us, ‘little children, keep yourselves from idols’ (1 John 5:21). Jesus warns us, ‘The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness’ (Matt. 6:22-23).

David continues, ‘I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.’ There are many things beyond our understanding. Life brings an endless stream of unexplained providences and problems that we can’t solve. There are more questions than answers. There are pieces in the puzzle we can’t quite fit. Things happen in our personal and family lives that we don’t understand. Tragedies and atrocities are reported daily. There are things we can’t explain. David had come to recognise that. But he was content to leave it in the hands of the all knowing and wise God. ‘The secret things belong to the Lord our God’ (Deut. 29:29). The Lord declares, ‘as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts’ (Isaiah 55:9). Alex Motyer writes, ‘Our task is to learn to live with unsolved conundrums, resting upon the huge volume of truth that has been revealed to us in Scripture and upon the Lord God who has revealed himself as totally trustworthy’.

Consider the positive pathway to contentment. David says, ‘I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother’ (2). Remember the picture of the weaned child. The toddler need not be anxious in Mum’s presence within the sound of her voice. For the child of God, there’s nothing more important than walking in the presence of God and hearing His word. Remember the differ­ence between Mary and Martha when Jesus came to visit. ‘Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was anxious and troubled with much serving.’ Jesus commended Mary. ‘Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken away from her’ (Luke 10:38-42). We need not merely listen to the word but, like Mary, drink it in.

Peter exhorts us to, ‘Cast all your anxieties upon Him for He cares for you’ (1 Peter 5:7). We worry because we do not trust our Heavenly Father. Worry is a sign of unbelief. Worry is the quiet side of pride. If pride is sin, so is worry. We should treat worry as we treat sin. Hand it over in confession to the Lord as it occurs. We might have to do it many times a day — so be it. Jesus tells us, ‘Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body what you will wear. Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them’ (Matt. 6:25-27). ‘He cares for you’. Martyn Lloyd Jones has said, ‘The secret of a successful Christian life is just to realise two things; I must have complete confidence in God, and no confidence in myself’.

3. A Prayer for Contentment (3)←⤒🔗

‘O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore’. This is a similar conclusion to the previous psalm. The psalmist becomes an evangelist. His desire is that others too may enter into the peace and joy and confidence of trusting in the LORD. Let us then live as weaned children knowing that our Heavenly Father will not withhold any good thing from those who walk uprightly (Ps. 84:11). ‘Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God’ (Corrie ten Boom).

Prayer:←⤒🔗

O Lord, You are the One who opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Help us to humble ourselves under Your mighty hand. May we have more of the mind of Christ in us. May we know more peace and joy and confidence as we rest in You and feed upon Your word. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen