The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 131:1-2,
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
"My heart is not proud, Lord,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
But I have calmed and quieted myself,
I am like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child I am content."
Here are the first two verses of this short three verse psalm. They contain a thought that is, at first blush, somewhat foreign to me. David says here that he is content to not have to know everything. "I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me." As a result of that, he finds himself calmed, quieted and just as content as a "weaned child" with its mother. Possibly the thought here is that if I simply trust the Lord for those things I do not quite comprehend, I can rest, with confidence, in him (as a weaned child with its mother), as he knows all things. Maybe I don't need to know it all - he can handle what it is I don't understand.
I have to admit, this isn't a disposition I very often find myself in (not in not knowing, but in being content when I don't). I always feel the impulse to understand a matter and often feel a bit of frustration if I don't. As an example, to know what is going on in some political event and why, or to wrestle with something I have tripped over in the Scriptures-- to understand how it fits into the things "I already know" (!), moods and shifting events in our culture, etc.
In Proverbs 25:27 we read, "It is not good to eat too much honey, nor is it honorable to search out matters that are too deep." I'm not quite sure I understand this verse completely, but it seems to be telling me there is a point at which I transgress wisdom in the hot pursuit of "knowing it all" and, thereby, falling into an arrogance that David avoided in Psalm 131.
I do recognize that studying the word of God is a responsibility for all of us. Paul tells us, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Through this I assume wisdom resides somewhere between Proverbs 25:27 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17 resulting in an enviable disposition that David had found.
And, what an enviable disposition! "Like a weaned child with its mother."
Just thinking out loud here…
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
But I have calmed and quieted myself,
I am like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child I am content."
Here are the first two verses of this short three verse psalm. They contain a thought that is, at first blush, somewhat foreign to me. David says here that he is content to not have to know everything. "I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me." As a result of that, he finds himself calmed, quieted and just as content as a "weaned child" with its mother. Possibly the thought here is that if I simply trust the Lord for those things I do not quite comprehend, I can rest, with confidence, in him (as a weaned child with its mother), as he knows all things. Maybe I don't need to know it all - he can handle what it is I don't understand.
I have to admit, this isn't a disposition I very often find myself in (not in not knowing, but in being content when I don't). I always feel the impulse to understand a matter and often feel a bit of frustration if I don't. As an example, to know what is going on in some political event and why, or to wrestle with something I have tripped over in the Scriptures-- to understand how it fits into the things "I already know" (!), moods and shifting events in our culture, etc.
In Proverbs 25:27 we read, "It is not good to eat too much honey, nor is it honorable to search out matters that are too deep." I'm not quite sure I understand this verse completely, but it seems to be telling me there is a point at which I transgress wisdom in the hot pursuit of "knowing it all" and, thereby, falling into an arrogance that David avoided in Psalm 131.
I do recognize that studying the word of God is a responsibility for all of us. Paul tells us, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Through this I assume wisdom resides somewhere between Proverbs 25:27 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17 resulting in an enviable disposition that David had found.
And, what an enviable disposition! "Like a weaned child with its mother."
Just thinking out loud here…
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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