Psalms 131:1-3

Psalms 131

We know not at what period of David's life this Psalm was written. We know not what matters they were which were too high for him to meddle with, matters about which he had to refrain his soul, to quiet his feelings, to suspend his judgment, to check his curiosity, and say about them simply, Trust in the Lord. Human life, human fortune, human history, human agony, nay the whole universe, the more we know of it, is full of such mysteries. Only the shallow and conceited are unaware of their presence. Only the shallow and the conceited pretend to explain them, and have a "why" ready for every "how."

I. The sight of so much human woe, without a purpose and without a cause, is too much for many, as without faith in God it ought to be too much for us. The mystery of human vanity and vexation of spirit, the mystery which weighed down the soul of David, and of Solomon, and of him who sang the song of Job, and of St. Paul, and of St. Augustine, and all the great theologians of old times, is to them nought but utter darkness. For they see not yet, as our great modern poet says, "hands athwart the darkness, shaping men."

II. "I became dumb, and opened not my mouth, because it was Thy doing." So says the Burial Psalm. So let us say likewise. So let us be dumb, but dumb not from despair, but from faith; dumb not like a wretch weary with calling for help that does not come, but dumb like a child sitting at its mother's feet, and looking up into her face, and watching her doings, understanding none of them as yet, but certain that they all are done in love.

C. Kingsley, Westminster Sermons,p. 280.

Humility is the root of hope. Hope is the blossom of meekness. The sorrows of a broken heart, the self-restraint of a meek and quiet spirit, the posture and temper of a little child these are the forerunners and the sources of a lively hope.

I. A large portion of experimental religion and of the Divine life within a man may be considered under the form of hope. Religious experience is a strong and well-grounded expectation that the promise which God has made to us will not be broken.

II. There are certain characteristics of hope expressed in this Psalm, which we can at once transfer to our own experience. (1) It is a Divine hope: "Hope in the Lord;" "Hope thou in God;" "Truly my soul waiteth upon God." (2) It is a diffusive hope. The hope of the old Psalmist was strong enough to quicken the hope of all around him; he sang, "Let Israel hope in the Lord." A true hope has the power of infusing itself into the heart of others. (3) It is a practical hope. This characteristic is to be gathered out of the words "from henceforth." It is a hope that should take its start from the actual circumstances in which we are placed. (4) It is an eternal hope. "From henceforth, even for ever," is the watchword of our Psalm. Our hope should and must take the long "forever" in. It has to do with unchanging realities, with an everlasting salvation; it looks forward to unseen things; it anticipates the ultimate fulfilment and accomplishment of all things that have been spoken by holy prophets since the world began.

H. R. Reynolds, Notes of the Christian Life,p. 87.

References: Psalms 131 F. D. Maurice, Sermons,vol. ii., p. 135; H. Thompson, Concionalia: Outlines for Parochial Use,p. 274; S. Cox, The Pilgrim Psalms,p. 241.Psalms 132:8. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year,vol. i., p. 310.