Songs of Ascent- Psalm 131 My heart is not lifted up

Psalm 131 is a very short psalm, but there is much to be thought about in each of the thee verses.

V1 “O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and marvellous for me.”

Obviously the psalmist should not be doing these things, and neither should we. So it’s very important to understand what it is that he is not doing. What fault is he avoiding, and what fault do we need to avoid? What exactly would constitute raising the heart and eyes to a level “too great and marvellous”?

I think there’s a very important clue in the book of Job, who confesses his own fault in very similar words.
“I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know” (Job ch42 v3).
And that expression “too wonderful” really is the same Hebrew word as the one translated “too marvellous” in the psalm.

All the way through the book, Job has been setting himself up as judge of the way God is running the world. He complained that God was acting unjustly and allowing injustice to prevail. In effect, he was claiming to have a better understanding than God of what is right and what is wrong. He was certainly “raising his sights”. He was occupying his mind with things that were too deep for him to understand, and therefore getting them wrong. He repeats in self-accusation God’s question “Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?”

I think the psalmist has been consciously refraining from imitating Job’s example.

V2 “But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a child quieted at its mother’s breast; like a child quieted is my soul”.

The repetition at the end reminds us that this would have been delivered musically. It would have provided a very powerful condensed aria. By a soloist?

Inevitably we think of the injunction of Jesus, on the need to “turn and become like children.”(Matthew ch18 v3). That is essentially about resting in God, resting in trust. Surely this verse has the same theme.

And that is exactly what Job did in the final chapter. He admitted “I know that thou canst do all things, an that no purpose of thine can be thwarted.” He submits to the Lord in humility; “I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job ch42 v2, v6). He has “turned away from” his former error.

I suggest that the book of Job can help us to understand this psalm, because they are alternative ways of reacting to to the same challenging situation.

In the first place, the major theme in Job is the presence or absence of sin. Job maintains, on the one hand, that he is righteous, and on the other hand, that he is being unjustly treated as though he were one of the wicked. Whereas his friends claim that he is not being unjustly treated, because he is as wicked as anyone else.

The previous psalm, Psalm 130, amounted to a confession of sin. If these psalms are being used in sequence, then this psalm may well follow on from that theme. For the purposes of worship, both psalms are expressing the same viewpoint (even if they have different authors). The same person or corporate “person” is speaking on both occasions. So the confession in Psalm 130 means that the psalmist is NOT echoing Job’s attempt to deny his sinful state, and that is what he means when he says in this psalm that his “heart is not lifted up.”

In the second place, I am convinced that the background of the writing of the book of Job is the traumatic experience of the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians and the destruction of the kingdom. In other words, behind the obvious question “Why did God allow these dreadful things to happen to me?” and the subsequent question “Why does God allow dreadful things to happen to men in general?”, there lies the original question “Why did God allow these dreadful things to happen to his people Israel?”

I have made this case in a previous set of threads, and I have argued in another set of threads that the Song of Solomon has the same background.

And the progressive study of the Songs of Ascent gives me reason to think, from accumulating clues, that the Songs of Ascent themselves, as a sequence, belong to the period of the Second Temple, after the return from exile. That is, they are the psalms of a community which has already been through the traumatic experience of the destruction of Jerusalem. Therefore I propose that the temptation being resisted in the first verse was the same temptation that Job experienced, namely the temptation to think ill of God for allowing these things to happen, and to plunge into despair, giving up the covenant relationship altogether. Many of the Jews must have given in to this temptation during the exile, which would explain why the returning remnant was so small.

V3 “O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and for evermore.”

The address to “Israel” in this response implies that Israel is deemed to have been speaking in the first two verses, as I have been arguing.

I always point out that there is no uncertainty implied in the Biblical word “hope”. It means confident faith, specifically directed towards the future. That is what “the Christian hope” means.

Hope is the opposite of Despair. Instead of allowing the experience of the Exile to traumatise them into giving up on the relationship, let them continue to trust in their covenant with the Lord and expect it to continue for ever, without ceasing.

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The above are my own independent thoughts on the psalm. Having got that far, I will now open up Weiser’s commentary to gain a different perspective, as I’ve been doing in the previous threads in this particular series.

As usual, he takes it for granted that the psalmist is speaking personally. So his understanding of “looking too high” can only be in terms of “ambitious desires, lofty projects, proud thoughts”. The psalmist is giving up his claim to a “full life” and is willing to accept what God has granted to him.

In v2, he reveals indirectly the previous turmoil and mental affliction implied by the necessity that he should “quiet his soul”. “We can but surmise how many struggles against his own arrogance and sinfulness and against striving for honour, wealth and recognition, how many renunciations of the beautiful dreams of youth and the headstrong ambitions of manhood are concealed behind that statement”. Now he has mastered himself and reached the peace “which passes all understanding”. No desire now comes between him and his God, because he is sure that God knows what he needs. His life’s centre of gravity has shifted. This gives him balance of mind and sufficient strength to subordinate his own wishes to the will of God.

In the third verse, the psalmist simply calls upon the cult community to follow his example.

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Hear also what Matthew Henry saith.
Naturally he treats it as David’s personal testimony. He had not aimed proudly at the kingdom [though to a student of history the beginning of 2 Samuel does rather look like doing his best to seize the kingdom]. He was humble as a little child in his possession of the kingdom. By the grace of God, a sanctified soul is weaned from the desire for worldly things. It lives comfortably upon God and the covenant-grace.

Thank you for this. It made my day.
It brings to mind the 'Our Father' prayer.

Jesus instructed us to simply ask God to give us our daily bread and forgive us our sins.

a reply to: ColeYounger
You're very welcome.

My second favorite chapter from my favorite book of the Bible. Psalms was also the book most quoted by our Lord and Saviour!

I enjoy these types of threads from you .
Keep on keepin on

Never mind your heart.

My I.Q. is now minus twice the international average.

BTW after the PFF its a jab it might be a somewhat bloated heart...

a reply to: infiniteMeow
I had the same jab, and I'm still here.

a reply to: Gothmog
I set out specifically to do the Songs of Ascent, which will take me down to Christmas. After that, Jeremiah, I think.
I get the impression that fewer people like the current focus on the psalms, but that wasn't enough reason to stop the project prematurely.

a reply to: Illumimasontruth
So which one is the favvourite?

Never been a big fan of psalms myself, not a big fan of looking back at my past, seems like psalms are based on passed failures
Ever looking at ways to be a better person, moving forward, psalms, more a season of remorse then moving forward with goals.

Each to their own, also king David, can’t say I identify with him at all

originally posted by: DISRAELI
a reply to: infiniteMeow
I had the same jab, and I'm still here.

Can't win em all. (although your word is no actual proof of this)

I did not have a vaccine and I am also still here.

originally posted by: DISRAELI
a reply to: Illumimasontruth
So which one is the favvourite?

It is 119, the longest and packed with great content. It is an awesome book throughout though. I often read chapter 91 to my kids before their bedtime prayers.

Many people would answer 23 and of course that is awesome as well. I always teach to spend time in Psalms and Proverbs daily, whatever else one is studying.

I am very much looking forward to your Jeremiah threads!

a reply to: Illumimasontruth

Proverbs? www.abovetopsecret.com...
That series looks at Proverbs in terms of the different "characters" found there.

Yawn! so so.