24. Calmed and stilled

Lent Pilgrimage Meditations No.24: Calmed and stilled

Psa 131:1,2“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 quietened myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.”

There is a sense in which what we have been following, Jesus coming south to Jerusalem, produce an end result that is seriously disturbing. We saw how he raised Lazarus from the dead, thus stirring the crowds and then subsequently the authorities of Judaism in Jerusalem to act to bring about his death. His purposeful actions of all these things worked towards the Cross. Surely we cannot but feel disturbed if we catch the reality of this, that the glorious Son of God who left heaven (see Jn 6) and lived on earth, where at about the age of thirty started revealing the love of his Father for the people as he healed, delivered, and straightened out lives, we must have at least a glimmer of the awfulness of what this was leading to.

We keep on reminding ourselves that that is what all this is eventually leading to. Indeed as we read about the authorities yesterday and the high priest prophesying about Jesus’ death, it becomes ever more real what is about to happen, what this is working towards – and that is not good. It is disturbing, it is uncomfortable, it is horrible, and it is only not those things, if we have become so familiar with the Cross that we have lost its terrible nature and, even more, the awfulness of this happening to a man who did not deserve it!

So it is in the light of all this that we arrive at this three-verse twelfth ‘song of ascents’ that can act as a calming relief as it draws the pilgrim into a totally calm and peaceful attitude before the Lord as they approach Him. Like a child utterly content and at peace and secure with its mother, so as they recite or sing this short psalm, so they come to peace before Him. This pilgrimage should lead us into a place of peace in the Presence – despite the end result! Let’s look at it more closely.

Humility declared: The psalmist-pilgrim (David) comes in humility to the Lord, determining not to let pride in any way exalt him beyond who he really is, as he recognises his smallness and his need for comfort: “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.” (v.1) Perhaps we might put it in our own words, “Lord, I’m not going to let foolish conceit boost me up and I’m not going to have ambitions beyond that which you’ve called me to, I’m not going aspire to insights that only you can have, I want to hold a right perspective about myself before you.”

Stilled, Comforted & Content: With these opening words he has calmed himself down and settled himself snugly in the will of God, rather like a young baby snuggles close up to its mother and is utterly content: “But I have calmed and quietened myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.” (v.2)

A call to hope: “Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and for evermore.” (v.3) Hope here is a sure confidence and having come himself to a place of peace and contentment, he wants that for his people also, so it is a call to the pilgrim to come full of trust in the Lord with a confidence or sense of peace for the future that is grounded in the Lord and His all-wise and perfect will and purposes.

Now there are various things that flow out of these thoughts. First there is that thing we’ve noted a number of times before, that the world can be thoroughly unsettling and disturbing. But there is something more when we see it in the context of the pilgrimage that draws closer to the Lord. It is a truth that the closer to the Lord you come, the more conscious you become, not only of your own shortcomings, but increasingly you become aware of the negatives of the fallen world around is.

My wife and I pray together every day. Initially it was thanks for the new day and seeking blessing on our lives and the lives of our family. But then you start praying for the needs that you know about, of your wider family and friends, and then you find yourself praying for your church, and then the wider church, and then your country, and then war hotspots around the world, and you suddenly find you are praying for places you’ve never prayed for before (or thought much about) all over the world. But the danger about all this is that it is easy to lose focus and perspective and get taken up with needs and problems and difficulties and it is at this point that Paul’s teaching to “not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God,” (Phil 4:6) comes into play, especially the reminder to pray with thanksgiving. Thanking focuses us on the Lord’s goodness and although the world is fallen, Jesus is working into it. He is STILL Lord! So as we pilgrimage closer and closer to the Lord, we may become more aware of the world’s shortcomings, but we must balance that with an increasing awareness of Him, that He IS working into it, and we must learn to come to peace in Him. So, be still before Him and regain that sense of His presence, now.