“Peace Be Still”: Learning Psalm 131 by Heart - faithlafayette.org/psalm131
3 lessons to learn to facilitate a peaceful soul that can overflow with thankfulness
I. Understand the Root of a Noisy, Unthankful Soul – Pride
A. Exaltation of self over others – “proud” / “haughty” (cf. Deuteronomy 8:14; 17:20; Jeremiah 48:29; Ezekiel 31:10; Dan 5:20; 11:12; Hosea 13:6; Proverbs 30:13)
B. Seeking to do things only God can do – “great matters” / “things too difficult for me”
II. Realize What Is Necessary to Quiet a Noisy Soul – Intention Learned Effort
A. A recognition of when your soul is not “level” and “loud,” “noisy” requiring composing (“leveling”) and quieting (“silencing”)
B. A necessary intentional effort – “Surely/indeed I have composed”
“To gain composure is to go through a weaning process. Something that once meant everything to you comes to mean nothing. What is this composing, this quieting, this weaning? Notice that you are definitively different at the end of the process. You aren’t ‘sort of composed, sort of quiet, sort of weaned.’ You once were noisy, and now you’ve learned quiet. We always learn through a process, but in principle there are not gradations. You either have it or you don’t. You either know how to quiet yourself or you stay noisy. You’re either a nursing infant or a weaned child.” (David Powlison, “Peace Be Still”: Learning Psalm 131 by Heart)
III. Know the Only Cure for the Noisy Soul – Trust in the Lord from Now until Eternity
“Self, my heart is proud (I’m absorbed in myself), and my eyes are haughty (I look down on other people), and I chase after things too great and too difficult for me. So of course I’m noisy and restless inside, it comes naturally, like a hungry infant fussing on his mother’s lap, like a hungry infant, I’m restless with my demands and worries. I scatter my hopes onto anything and everybody all the time.” (David Powlison, “Peace Be Still”: Learning Psalm 131 by Heart)
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