The Quieted Soul: Impressions from Psalm 131
Filed under Scripture on March 27th, 2009 by Bryan Purtle
“O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
Surely I have composed and quieted my soul…” -Ps. 131.1-2a
In our society, which moves at breakneck speed in a multitude of directions and pursuits, there is a remarkable temptation to involve our minds and hearts with matters too great and difficult for us. It is a rare thing to run into souls who have learned the art of quieting the soul before God.
In the world, men make success, promotion and knowledge the aim of all things, and if you would advance in those realms you’ve got to be a “go-getter,” an active mind, an ambitious, almost machinic person. Promotion and advancement have got to mean more to you than truth, family, and life itself, and you must be willing to climb the ladder of success by walking over the backs of others.
In the Church, the same kind of wisdom often festers and spreads. If we are not pursuing the same toys and statuses that the world pursues, we are often trampling our own souls with religious pursuits, ministerial striving, or other “Kingdom matters” which are too difficult for us. We ought never to engage our hearts in matters which remove us from a vital communion with Him, even if they are topics or ministries that appear valid and noteworthy. It is one thing to wrestle with a matter the Lord Himself sets before you, and to go along the trying pilgrimage hand in hand with the Great Shepherd. In those cases, there will be trial, stretching, and enlargement, but the whole journey will be marked by His nearness.
It is quite another thing to take up matters prematurely, and engage in thoughts and situations that the Lord never called us to touch. Are you being overwhelmed by fast-moving thoughts and anxieties? Are you looking in a multitude of directions to find the answers to the matters of life and spirituality? The Psalmist gives us the key to eternal liberty from the powers that influence us negatively. “Surely I have composed and quieted my soul…”
Thank God that Moses waited on the back side of the desert until the bush was inflamed.
Thank God that David received the word of the prophet Nathan, and waited in repentance until the heavenly “hyssop” cleaned his soul.
Thank God that Simeon was waiting for the true consolation of Israel, and was not satisfied with anything less than the appearance of the Son of God Himself.
Thank God that John the Baptist didn’t try to move into public ministry prematurely, and that he was willing to quiet his soul in the wilderness until the day of his showing forth.
Thank God that Jesus shot down the attempts of Satan to stir his humanity in the wilderness, overlooked the desires of His kinsmen to appoint Him King before the proper time, and pressed through the piercing pain of Gethsemane and Calvary for the “joy set before Him.”
Thank God that the 120 quieted their souls in the upper room, rather than raising funds for a new building and starting a campaign for Christianity.
What would have happened if all of these saints had chosen expedience over obedience? What would have happened if they would have looked to the world for help, or listened to the multitudinous streams of opinion and thought in their day? The revelation of God has broken into history upon the shoulders of weak men and women who have quieted their souls enough to hear what God Himself is speaking. The Lord chooses to reveal Himself by those means alone, and the fact that we have busied our minds and hearts rather than quieting our souls before Him is the primary reason our cities have seen so little of Him.
Jesus’ soul was quieted in the secret place, where He listened intently to the Voice of His Father. Because of this, He had an inward stillness and clarity in the home of Jairus, though his daughter had died, and He was surrounded by relatives whose emotions were in earthquake-mode. He brought a whole new reality into the midst of the instability of that home, and resurrection glory resulted.
The Lord means for His own people to manifest the same stillness and authority in these last days, and it’s only by quieting our souls and hearing the Voice of the Lord that we have the capacity for that kind of an expression. We have a calling to come into the holy place of stillness and communion, that our children may see His wonders, and that Israel and the nations would see in the Church “the glory of God in the face of Christ.” Only a people which has “composed and quieted” its soul will have the love and authority to speak to a bewildered nation:
“O Israel, hope in the Lord,
From this time forth and forever.” (v. 3)
Have you quieted your soul today, dear saint? If you have not consciously quieted your soul, it will immediately be swept up in the tide of this age. You can be assured that the thoughts and fears and confusions which plague the nations will soon enwrap your soul, for it is only in the conscious decision to quiet your soul that you are enabled to hear the Voice of the Lord. Lay down that which is too great and difficult for your soul. “Be still,” and know that He is God. There is a wisdom, peace, and grace which rests on the quieted soul, and you have unobstructed access to this blessed reality through the Blood of Jesus Christ. You need only to compose and quiet your soul before Him.
Then, as a precious 80-year old intercessor once charged me in regard to coming into the holy place, “You have to enter!”
The community of saints which comes into this kind of soul-quietude before God will become a resounding voice in the cities of the earth, whose words are as His, “spirit and life.”
(Jn. 6.63b) Remarkably, the souls who have quieted their hearts are the same ones permitted and privileged to speak in the time of their showing forth. Those who have consciously quieted their own souls are the ones to hear His voice, thereby becoming more than an echo of other men.
The Lord is wanting to form a holy community in the earth, who can with one voice proclaim, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight!’” (Mt. 3.3)
For this, His voice must increase, and the activity of my soul and the varying voices in the world must decrease.
The quieting of the soul is not for the timid, dainty and cowardly. It is not simply a syrupy sweet journey through flat plains, highlighted by cloudless skies and warm breezes. It requires an inward violence to shut the gate against the hustle and bustle of this age and the distractions and pressures which will invariably strike our hearts when we set out to seek His face. We’ve got to come boldly, making every effort to enter His rest, and to quiet our souls before the Throne. John the Immerser “took it by force” (Mt. 11.12) in the wilderness, and so must we. Shut out the other voices, saints. If it requires shutting off the computer, unplugging the television, and taking the phone off of the hook, let it be done. Let your soul be composed and quieted before the Lord. There you will hear His voice, and Christ will be all in all to your soul.
Isn’t this what your spirit cries out for, after all?
Tags: Be still, God, hope, Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, listen, quiet, rest, the church, wait for the Lord
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That was timely Brian. Good word
Glad to hear it, Christy.
Surely a timely word. In cars, there is the omnipresent radio. In most homes there is always the radio or tv. In public places there is the radio and the tv. Even the elevators at my office have screens in them displaying trivia. It seems that this proliferation of trivial media has had the result that we seldom sit and think deeply of life. We are hurried through life with noise and distraction, reacting to the things that are pushed upon us via sounds and images and in this process rarely, if ever, consider the weighty issues of life. What a serious tool of the enemy in our day to keep us from considering what matters. I it contributes seriously to the overall shallowness of most westerners where the real issues of life are concerned.
May we be encouraged to live the “fasted lifestyle” with regard to silencing our distractions that we might hear a word from above!
Amen, Samuel!
March 29, 2009
Oh, BE STILL MY SOUL! Amen, Bryan, and Amen, again!!!!!
As the lyrics to a prophetic Glory Song “downloaded” via Ruach Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit) to me years ago states:
“AT HIS FEET, COME LAY YOUR BURDENS.
AT HIS FEET, COME RELEASE YOUR CARES,
AT HIS FEET, YOU MAY DIE A THOUSAND DEATHS.
BUT, HE’LL EXCHANGE YOUR STRENGTH FOR HIS.
“AT HIS FEET, COME LIE. AT HIS FEET YOU (YOUR FLESH) MUST DIE!
OH, BUT AT HIS FEET, HE’LL MAKE YOU NEW AGAIN. (2x)
“AT HIS FEET, HE LAYS WASTE YOUR HEART.
AT HIS FEET, HE REMOVES THE STONEY PARTS.
AT HIS FEET, YOU’RE FORCED TO FACE YOUR HIDDEN SINS.
BUT, AT HIS FEET, HE RESTORES YOUR SOUL AGAIN.
“AT HIS FEET, COME LIE.
AT HIS FEET, YOU (YOUR FLESH) MUST DIE!
OH, BUT AT HIS FEET, HE’LL MAKE YOU NEW AGAIN.
“AT HIS FEET, YOU MUST SUBMIT YOUR SOUL.
AT HIS FEET, YOUR LIFE IS NOT YOUR OWN.
AT HIS FEET, YOU MUST ENDURE THE SURGEON’S KNIFE,
AS HE REMOVES THE CANCER-ROOT OF STRIFE!
“AT HIS COME, COME LIE.
AT HIS FEET, YOU (YOUR FLESH) MUST DIE.
OH, BUT AT HIS FEET, HE’LL MAKE YOU NEW AGAIN.
YES, AT HIS FEET, COME BE MADE BRAND NEW, ONCE AGAIN!”
C (Copyright, Karen A. Surratt; Las Vegas, NV; 2000)
Yes, Bryan, as you said, a “fasted lifestyle” of silencing our distractions that we might hear a word from above!,” I have found to be SO TRUE!! And, not just a word, but a “SONG OF THE LORD” to his body; a Glory or Spiritual Song / Psalm in the night to encourage and QUIET OUR SOULS & INSPIRE OUR SPIRITS!
AMEN, BROTHER PURTLE, AMEN!
PRAYER DANCER (kAREN a sURRATT)
prpra
pRAY
A
Bryan, Thanks again for another rich devotional I pray that every eye that reads this message of life and truth, would recieve it to the depths of their inner man. So many people get burned out in prayer or devotion to our Lord. It is because they cannot let go of the distractions of this pressent age. As soon as we throw off every weight and sin that besets us or sets us back, or the distractions that intangle us; we will have room for Him in our thoughts and our minds. The intercessors and prophets of God are made by God because they have given him dominion in there hearts and minds. A dear saint asked the question what do you think about when you are free to think about the things your want to think about. (After you have spent your time with God, after the mundain things of this life are taken care of after the bills are paid, when all your religious obligations are met.) What does or where does your mind go to in recreation?
Bless you Karen, and thanks for the good word Tyson!
Here is an applicable word to leaders, which can be applied to all the saints:
“I, for one, am not a self-replenishing spring. My bucket leaks, even when it is not pouring. My spirit does not revive on the run. Without time of unhurried reading and reflection, beyond the press of sermon preparation, my soul shrinks, and the specter of ministerial death rises. Few things frighten me more than the beginnings of barrenness that come from frenzied activity with little spiritual food and meditation.
The great pressure on us today is to be productive managers. But the need of the church is for prayerful, spiritual poets. I don’t mean (necessarily) pastors who write poems. I mean pastors who feel the weight and glory of eternal reality even in the midst of a business meeting; who carry in their soul such a sense of God that they provide, by their very presence, a constant life-giving reorientation on the infinite God. For your own soul and for the life of your church, fight for time to feed your soul…
Almost all the forces in our culture are trivializing. If you want to stay alive to what is great and glorious and beautiful and eternal, you will have to fight for time…”
(John Piper, excerpted from his book BROTHERS, WE ARE NOT PROFESSIONALS: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry, p. 66)
smile! Ah-h-h-h, yes, that is so beautiful in it’s TRUTH — “prayerful, spiritual poets” — NEED of church and pastors and servants! Eternally plugged in the LOVER GOD OF OUR SOULS!!
Ahp Ah-h-h-h, yes, so encouraging that John Piper, as a modern day pastor GETS IT!!
Selah!
Prayer Dancer (Karen)
See
Bryan,
Thanks for the word of encouragement and guidance. I know quieting the soul is an area I could improve upon greatly. In fact, this is probably my greatest weakness. This article comes to me with the LORD’s impeccable timing. I do have a question however, for any and all to answer/help with…
How does the second part of this verse (Psalm 131:2(b) ) apply here? How has David quieted his soul? ”Like a weaned child with his mother”. What does this mean? This (the “how”) may be just as important as the very act of quieting one’s soul. A breastfeeding child trusts in its mother in one way, the weaned child in a completely different way.
Having seen all six of my children before and after their weaning from my wife, I know the difference between a weaned and unweaned child. They are dependent on her in both instances, they trust her before and after they are weaned. After the weaning though, they are not as frantically trying to get their needs met every time she comes near. They know they will be fed. Is this it? Does this ability and act of “quieting the soul” come with (or is it a sign of) spiritual maturity? Is there more? I understand the part about “inward violence” to accomplish the quieting. Is it possible that this quieting is just a conscious action? Something that happens with maturity? Both? Something else altogether?
I am very interested in this second half of verse 2. This comparison intruiges me. I want to explore this more and I’d like the help of anyone willing! What do you think?
Blessings,
Justin
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Justin,
Here are some thoughts from a master theologian of the Psalms:
“Verse 2 is an expression of the trust of unique tenderness and intimacy.
…the petitioner does not pray and plead in the passion that is familiar from other psalms; it is completely quiet. The picture of the child that lies in the arms of its mother, contented and sheltered, illustrates the complete confidence that silently looks up to Yahweh.
…As he waits for all help to come from Yahweh, so Israel is to live trustingly in the presence of Yahweh.” (PSALMS 60-150: A Continental Commentaryby Hans-Joachim Kraus, Fortress Press, p. 470)
I think his statements are in alignment with what you’re sharing here, brother.
You asked, “Is it possible that this quieting is just a conscious action? Something that happens with maturity? Both?”
I would say that mature believers who walk in this kind of “sabbath rest” and quietness of soul have only gotten to that place by the conscious action of stilling their hearts before God when they were in the place of youth and immaturity. This is the “exercising of faith” which Paul speaks of.
I have met believers who have walked with the Lord for decades, and who still seem to lack this blessing, and believers who have only been in the Lord for 5 or 6 years who seem to have come into a greater grace for this, and vice versa.
It may take longer for some than for others, but the gate to an abiding life of trust and rest has been graciously opened up to us all through the cross. We must continue to turn to the Lord in a simplicity which is not unlike that of a child with his mother.
Thanks for adding this, Justin. Six kids? You’ve got me beat by one.
Richest Blessings on You and Your Family,
BP
Bryan-
Thanks for your response! This article and the scripture portion it references have been on my mind quite a bit since I first read this. Thanks so much for giving my family and me this gift! The Lord has blessed me greatly through your writing!
Blessings on your family as well, we are both blessed in that our quivers are full!
Justin
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
It’s my joy to reflect on these things with other saints, Justin. Very happy to do it.
Oh man, I love Jesus.
Marc
(heknocks.com)