Psalm 131 - Growing Up

Warren Wiersbe comments that the problem with too many people is that they have grown old without growing up. Sadly, this can also happen in the Christian life, as is clear from 2 Peter 1:8-9 and Hebrews 5:12-14. The apostle John refers to three stages of spiritual growth (1 John 2:12-14) found in believers.

Psalm 131 is concerned about progress or development in the religious life, and David uses the illustration of a weaned child to picture this increase in spiritual stature. His ‘weaning’ seems to have been connected to the Lord denying him a situation of great prominence which he describes in verse 1.

David describes the state of his heart and uses three pictures to illustrate it. The first picture of a lifted-up heart tells us that David did not think very much of himself.  The second picture of aspiring eyes tells us that he was not ambitious for a greater position than what God had already given him. The third picture illustrates the folly of trying to understand what we are not capable of understanding.

There are many things in the Christian life that can only be answered by deeper experience. Two such features are strong doctrine and providence. Sometimes, it takes personal experiences and spiritual maturity before we can appreciate what God is saying in some passages of his Word. Regarding providence, the fact of the matter is that we cannot know why God allows things to happen and not happen in our lives. We will never have a book in our library that will detail the significance of most things that happen to us. It is far better for us to commit all these events to God and rest content in his arms, like a weaned child.

It is important to note before whom the Psalmist is claiming this state of heart. He is speaking these words expressing his humility to the Lord. This is a reminder that we can be totally honest before him. We can speak truths about ourselves to the Lord that would be inappropriate to speak before humans, even Christians.

The Lord’s revealed will for his people is that they increase in humility. References to this are so many in the Bible that they need not be included here. The obvious benefit of such experiences is Christlikeness. The humility of Jesus is a prominent feature of his beautiful character. It becomes ours as we spend time with him and he weans us from our previous stage in the spiritual life. At times, these periods of learning come after we have been denied something by God.

When a person is developing in the spiritual life, one sign of it is that he thinks less of his own needs and more of the needs of Christ’s church. This is what David expresses in verse 3: ‘O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore’ (v. 3). He says to them, ‘I have discovered that the Lord guides my life, sometimes giving me this and at other times denying me that; yet he himself comes and comforts me when I trust in him.’ This understanding only comes by experience. David, having tasted the faithfulness and the consolations of God, exhorts others to also hope in the Lord. When we find such sentiments in our hearts, we can conclude that we are being weaned.