Psalm 131 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

Psalm 131 Short Summary:

Psalm 131 is an expression of humility. We don’t know why it was written or when it was written, but it could be a response to accusations of arrogance. The psalmist wrote as if speaking to God, and he told the Lord that he was not arrogant, haughty, or sinfully ambitious. He compared his soul to a calm and quiet child, a weaned child.

Psalm 131 Summary

AUTHOR:

• No author is named for Psalm 131.

NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES:

• No Known New Testament References.

THEMES:

• A rejection of pride and a haughty heart, the author of Psalm 131 compares himself to a child, humble and quiet.

DEFINITIONS:

• Song of Ascents (131:1) – The exact meaning of this term is debated, but many believe it was a label applied to psalms the people of Israel sang as they were travelling to Jerusalem for the holy days. Jerusalem was on the top of a hill, so the people would have physically ascended as they walked up to the Temple.

• Weaned (131:2) – A weaned child is one that has transitioned from drinking breastmilk to another form of food.

OUTLINE:

• A HUMBLE AND QUIET SPIRIT (131:1-3):

  • Psalm 131 is an expression of humility. We don’t know why it was written or when it was written, but it could be a response to accusations of arrogance.

  • The psalmist wrote as if speaking to God, and he told the Lord that he was not arrogant, haughty, or sinfully ambitious.

  • “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 too marvelous for me” (131:1).

  • He compared himself to a calm and quiet child, a weaned child.

  • The metaphor might be that unlike a newborn baby that embraces its mother for nourishment and is discontented and cries until it finds milk, a weaned child embraces its mother solely out of love, it seeks nothing but its mother’s presence.

  • The author’s soul was quiet and content like a weaned child.

  • He concluded the psalm encouraging Israel to hope in the Lord. He wrote, “O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore” (131:3).

APPLICATION:

• How does one occupy themselves with things too great and too marvelous for them?

• One application I thought of is when people spend all their time and brainpower hyper focused on the spiritual realm and spiritual mysteries that God hasn’t provided us insight into.

• Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with trying to understand the spiritual realm using the information found in the scriptures, I admit, it can be very fascinating, but I’m talking about people who take the limited amount of information we have in the Bible and start wildly speculating about what goes on between angels, demons, spiritual beings, and the details of heavenly places.

• Some of these people write books, influence others, and make whole careers by speaking authoritatively about what they know nothing about.

• Some people waste hundreds of hours speculating about the spiritual realm rather than obeying God’s clear instructions and working in the physical realm.

• Those who obsess over what God has not seen fit to give us details about, probably fall into the camp of those who occupy themselves with things too great and too marvelous for them.  

• We are so small, so simple, and so limited, that trying to peer into spaces of the spiritual realm that God has not revealed is nothing short of presumptuous.