Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Psalm 131 | Date: March 5, 2023 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

The Psalms of Trust

Psalm 131, a song of ascents. We will talk another time about this grouping of the Psalms. This is a Psalm of David. “Oh Lord, my heart is not lifted up. My eyes are not raised too high. I do not occupy myself with things too great or too marvelous for me, but I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. Oh Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.”

All right, we come this evening then to look at this next category or genre of the Psalms, and that is what we call the Psalms of Trust. These are Psalms that express a settled confidence in God and in His goodness, His continuing care. And that note of confidence in God and trust in God, of course, dominates the entire Psalter. But these Psalms, in particular, give expression to that trust and are devoted to that almost entirely.

In fact, you’ll remember now we’ve looked at the Lament Psalms, and one of the components of the Lament Psalms are the expressions of confidence. So he describes the situation where he is in; he might even complain about it, expressing genuine lament over the situation that he is in, but then through the psalm at some point he will turn and give some expression of confidence in God—that he loves me, he cares for me, his promises are good, and so on. Well, these Psalms of Trust, you can look at them as that confidence section of the Lament Psalms just lifted out on its own, and the notion of confidence becomes so prominent that the psalm itself in its entirety is devoted to that. It’s made more prominent. I’ve given you several of the samples there of the Psalms of Trust in the scriptures; if you’d like to, you can look at some of the others for that, and we’ll actually read through a few of these this evening and I have them on your handout.

Now, like the lament psalms, these songs of trust typically reflect some context of danger, some kind of trouble, some concern on the part of the psalmist. But the difference is that whereas in the lament psalms that context of danger and trouble, impending death or whatever it is, is prominent in the psalm—perhaps most prominent in those lament psalms—in these psalms of trust, that context of danger just lies in the background. There’ll be a slight reference to it, so it’s there, but you scarcely notice it. It’s a psalm given to express trust. Trust in the context of danger, so there’s a slight mention, but it lies in the background. And so we’ve called that an “interior lament” in these Psalms of trust. It’s there, but you almost miss it when you go through.

But there is that notion of danger in these. For example, Psalm 23: “You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies.” There’s just a brief mention of the danger that he’s in, and he goes on. Well, that’s what these psalms of confidence do. Whatever the danger is, it lies in the background. He doesn’t lament the danger and he doesn’t quite yet say, “thanks for delivering me” or give praise for that. He just expresses his trust, his confidence in the Lord’s faithful care through the situation.

Most of these Psalms of trust are individually oriented, like Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd.” Often they are, sometimes they are, community-oriented as well, like Psalm 125. But in either case, there’s some specific point of danger or trouble. It gives rise to a renewed expression of confidence in God’s care for the psalmist. Despite the danger, whatever the circumstances are, there’s this settled sense of peace. Like here in Psalm 131 verse 2: “I’ve calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.” So there’s a danger in the background—not in the background probably so far as the psalmist is concerned, but in the psalm itself the danger is in the background. There’s some kind of threat, but the psalmist reminds himself of who God is, what God has done for his people, what he has promised, and so his confidence is renewed and the psalm is devoted to an expression of that confidence in God. Because these give such bold and strong and robust expressions of confidence, these Psalms are often among people’s favorites and for good reason.

Typical Components Of These Psalms

Alright, I have in your handout the typical forms, form or components of these psalms. There’s no precise order of these, but these are the usual components that we have in these psalms of trust. Keep in mind, I don’t have it here on the outline, but I’ve already mentioned the interior laments, so there’s that context. That’s in the psalms somewhere typically. Aside from that, here are the typical components of these Psalms.

Typically, usually it will open with a declaration of trust. Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my shepherd.” Psalm 27:1, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” Psalm 125:1, “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.” So it opens usually—usually—the opening statements have to do with some declaration of trust in God.

And then it will move to a basis of trust. And often in expressing the basis of trust, we often have in this section striking metaphors that graphically portray God as trustworthy. So, Psalm 11:1, “In the Lord I take refuge.” 23:1, “The Lord is my shepherd.” There’s the metaphor of God as a shepherd. “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” These kinds of images are typical of these psalms of trust, these images that portray God as trustworthy. Psalm 62:1 is particularly full of imagery: “He alone is my rock, my salvation, my fortress. I shall not be greatly shaken.” Psalm 121:2, “He’s my help.” Psalm 121, “The Lord is your keeper.” We have these expressions of the basis of trust. I’ve declared my trust in God and now I’ll explain why or briefly state why. Well, because He’s my refuge, my fortress. I can go and hide behind Him. He’s my shepherd who cares for me. And these kinds of images are used in these Psalms of trust.

Now along with that I have in your outline the safety; he also mentions the safety of those who trust in him. Again, there’s some striking imagery in these. Psalm 23:5, “You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies.” Psalm 27, “Whom shall I fear?” Psalm 62 again, “He’s my fortress, my rock.” Psalm 125, “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.”

Now then, often in these Psalms of trust, the next component will be a calling or an encouraging of others to trust in God. And I’ve given you some examples of that on your handout. Psalm 27:14, here he’s addressing the congregation: “Wait for the Lord; be strong, let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.” So he’s addressing others, calling them to trust in God as the psalmist himself is doing in his psalm. Psalm 125 verse 1, we have the same: “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion.” Or what we’ll see a little bit later here, we’ve already read, Psalm 131 verse 3: “O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.”

Well, these are the usual components of the Psalms of Trust. They’re not always all present, and there’s no precise order. Remember, there’s always exceptions. The psalmist, poets, they’re not enslaved to a particular form. They use it, and they adapt it, and they obviously do, but they’re not enslaved to it. They can make exceptions, but these are the usual components of a Psalm of Trust. There’s the Declaration of Trust. God as the basis of trust—his past performance, his promises, his character, his majesty, his power. These kinds of things are highlighted. There’s the invitation for others to trust. And with that, there’s that interior lament with danger stated, but just sort of in the background and almost just in passing.

Examples Of Psalms Of Trust

All right, I’ve given you some examples of that, and I think it’ll be very helpful to demonstrate here what I’m talking about with all this, with some of these samples.

Psalm 62, this is a psalm of trust. First of all, we have the declaration of trust, verses one and two: “For God alone my soul waits in silence. From him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I shall not be greatly shaken.” Then verses 3 and 4, you have the background lament: “How long will all of you attack a man to batter him like a leaning wall, a tottering fence? They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse.” And then verses 5 through 7, we have a further affirmation of trust: “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.” And then we have the exhortation to others to trust in God, verse 8: “Trust in Him at all times, O people. Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us.” And then finally, verse 11 and 12, we have the basis of trust highlighted: “Once God has spoken, twice I have heard this, that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love, for you will render to a man according to his works.” So we have God’s power, his steadfast love, and his justice highlighted as a basis for trust.

All right, that’s Psalm 62. Move on then to Psalm 11, another example. Notice it starts with a declaration of trust: “In the Lord, I take refuge. How can you say to my soul, ‘flee like a bird to your mountain’? For behold, the wicked bend the bow. They have fitted their arrow to the string, to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” And then verses four to seven, we have the basis of trust: “The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord’s throne is in heaven. His eyes see. His eyelids test the children of men. The Lord tests the righteous,” and so on.

All right, Psalm 16. Another Psalm of trust, again by David. Starts out with a declaration of trust: “Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, ‘you are my Lord. I have no good apart from you.'” Beginning with verse 5, you have the basis of trust: “The Lord is my chosen portion, my cup. You hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel.” Here he extols God as the giver of all that he has. Beginning with verse 9, we have a further affirmation of trust: “Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices. My flesh also dwells secure, for you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your Holy One see corruption.” This obviously is the psalm that Peter quotes at Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. So he’s trusting God, verses 9 through 11; he’s trusting God in life and in death.

All right, one more sample. And that’s Psalm 23. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Obviously, this is a psalm of trust; the components here are not quite as clear as some of the others. He’s clearly resting in God’s protection and provision. Perhaps verse one, we can call that the declaration of trust: “The Lord is my shepherd.” Verses two to five, I think we can call that maybe the basis of trust—the shepherd metaphor and so on that he works out. And then finally, the further affirmation of trust in verse six: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”

All right, so that much is just to give you a feel for how these Psalms of trust work and how we can recognize some of the typical components of it.

What David Does Not Do

Now, as I’ve been trying to do, we’ll take the rest of the time now to look at one of the Psalms, one of the samples, and give a brief exposition of it. And that’s Psalm 131. Let’s read through it again. This is a song of ascents of David. First of all, we have the declaration of trust. “Oh 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, but I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.” And then verse three, we have the call to trust. “Oh Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.”

All right, a very brief psalm, one of the shortest. The theme, of course—it’s a psalm of trust. The theme is that of security, contentment in God’s care. For an overview, you can see the outline of it that I’ve given you. Verses one and two, we have the declaration of trust, but I’ve broken it down further.

Verse one, what David does not do: “O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high.” We have three points of reference here. First part of verse one, we have “my heart.” Then next, “my eyes.” And then the last part of the verse, “myself.”

First part of the verse, “my heart is not lifted up.” I think the sense of that is pretty obvious. He said, “I’ve not been haughty.” And the next part seems to bear that out: “My eyes are not raised too high.” Now that expression could have the sense of a look of superiority. You know, like you always see President Obama looking down like he’s a superior. That’s not a political statement, it’s just an observation. That expression, “my eyes are not raised too high,” can have that connotation of a superiority look. But in keeping with what comes next, I think the sense of it is, “I haven’t set my sights too high. I haven’t set my ambitions too high.” My eyes are not lifted up in that sense. The point seems to have to do with overambition. He’s not been self-seeking.

And I think you’ll see that in the next part of the verse: “I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.” So when we have this “I don’t occupy myself with things too great, too marvelous” added to what we see in the first part of the verse about pride and haughtiness and looking over ambition, I think the idea here is that of presumptuous ambition. I don’t attempt things too great for me. I haven’t done that.

Now what does he mean by that? I don’t think we should read this—we certainly should not misunderstand this to mean that David is excusing laziness. What he says here does not preclude healthy ambition. There’s certainly nothing wrong with trying to get ahead in life, even attempting some great things. The idea, I think, is that of self-promotion in a pride sense. I haven’t tried to put myself forward, presuming to obtain positions that really are not rightfully his or that he’s not fit for. Things that are beyond him or beyond his abilities. I’ve not tried to get things that are too marvelous for me or too great for me.

Now, what’s probably most striking about this is that David here is asserting his own humility. Now generally, if someone tells you they’re humble, that generally disqualifies them. You don’t want to believe it. You know, the old thing about “ten most humble people I’ve met and how I taught the other nine,” you know, that kind of book. You brag about your humility, it’s just not working. And here David is insisting on his own humility. And however uncomfortable that might be on one level, keep in mind here, David is talking to God. He’s saying this to God. He’s coming to God in devotion and he’s saying this honestly before the Lord. This is not the prayer of the Pharisee: “I’m glad I’m not like other men.” It’s not that. And this is not the “humble brag.” You know what that is? You know, you brag in a humble way. “I don’t know why I wasn’t, but I was invited to the civic ceremonies and I was invited to sit at the head table and I don’t belong there, but there I was and they invited me in there.” A humble brag. I get credit for humility; I get to brag at the same time. This is not that.

What he’s expressing here, I think, is just plain submission to God’s providence, God’s provision, and he’s content with what God has ordered for him. He hasn’t sought more than what God has given him. Now, what’s then the point of reference? What’s he talking about? And keep in mind, the Psalms are poems. And remember, one of the marks of poetry is a lot of white space on the page, and there’s a lot of white space on these pages. Poetry is terse. It’s crisp and compact. And you’ve got to take your time and say, “what’s he talking about here?” because he doesn’t explain it all. You’ve got to kind of read between the lines.

So what’s he talking about here? Well, the one major clue we have is the superscript. It’s the Psalm of David. And I suspect here he’s talking about his royal status that God has given him. This is not something he sought out. This is something God has given him. And in fact, even after he was anointed king by Samuel, you’ll remember—if you think back to 1 Samuel (you do read your Old Testaments, right?)—you think back to 1 Samuel, Samuel anointed David as king, and it was quite a while and quite an ordeal before David could become king. David did not force his way in. He didn’t thrust himself forward. This came on him unexpectedly. And in fact, after he was anointed, he patiently endured severe abasement until finally he received from God what God had promised for him. He spent something like 10 years running from Saul, being persecuted by Saul. He had been anointed king, and yet Saul was king; and so we got this odd situation where we have two kings at the same time. One was God’s choice, and one God had anointed him as well through Samuel. But that wasn’t the one God wanted, and it had to work its way out, and David is waiting patiently through all of that.

And you might remember, I think a classic example of what he’s talking about here is when David was in the cave and Saul was looking for him and David had the opportunity to kill Saul and he could have ended it right there. But in fact, David’s men encouraged him to do that. David said, “I won’t do that. I won’t touch God’s anointed. This is for God to do. God has made me king. It’s for him to make it happen.” And David was remarkably patient, waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promise. He did not push himself forward. And finally he became king at Hebron. That was seven years or more before it was a united kingdom. He was a patient man waiting for God to fulfill the promise to him. He left it entirely to God to remove Saul, to remove Ish-bosheth. David was a patient man waiting for God. He did not thrust himself forward in this. And so I think we should understand verse one then as saying, “I have not aimed at a position above me. I have not sought out responsibilities that were above me. I’ve not sought out greatness. God has promised this and I let him do it. I’ve waited for him to give me what he’s promised.”

What David Has Done

Then we come to verse two. Verse one, what David did not do. Number two, verse two, what David has done: “But I have calmed and quieted my soul.” There’s the interior lament. “I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.” He gives the imagery here, like poems usually do—they have imagery of some kind or another—and the imagery here is that of a toddler or a small child of some young age.

He says he’s a weaned child. So this is not an infant; this is a toddler or a very young child. And he said, “I’ve been like that. I’ve been like a weaned child.” Now there are sad exceptions of course, but the norm is that a toddler is supremely content with his mom. There might be danger, there might be injury and hurt, but a kiss will fix it. It might be the middle of a storm, might be the middle of a hurricane, but all he needs is to sit on mama’s lap and be hugged and he’s content now. He might be dirt poor; he doesn’t know that. He’s just happy with mom. And same with dad, but the imagery here is with mom. He holds his hand, he’s content, he’s safe. And that’s the imagery he’s giving us here. In other words, “I have a childlike trust in God’s providence. Like a weaned child is my soul within me.” So there’s a genuine contentment with God’s ordering of his life.

Now you might think, if you’re a cynic, “Well, if God had promised to make me a king, I’d be content with that too.” But keep in mind what it cost to get him there. And David said, “I’ve been content, waiting for God’s promise to be fulfilled.” Now don’t misunderstand this again. David’s contentment with God’s providence, on the one hand, does not preclude his own exercise of responsibility. I have no doubt that he trusted God to get rid of Goliath. But I also have no doubt that he took careful aim with that slingshot. Careful, careful exercise of responsibility. He trusted God when he went against Goliath, but he also exercised responsibility. And some of the Psalms talk like that. Psalm 4, for example, gives an example of David trusting in God contently. “I lie down, I’ll go to sleep. I wake up again. God took care of me.” It’s that kind of expression. But if you read the background to that Psalm, as we’ll see in a couple of months when we get there in our morning services, the background to that psalm is David working hard in establishing a pretty good spy ring against Absalom and the coup that was against him. So he exercises responsibility. He’s not saying “I don’t do that.” I’m just saying “I trust God.” Yes, I’ll exercise responsibility and be wise.

But more than that, don’t misunderstand in the sense that David might be claiming that he’s never feared. That’s not what he’s claiming either. In fact, he says as much here: “I have calmed and quieted my soul.” He was stressed. He had been stressed and fearful. “But I’ve calmed and quieted my soul.” In fact, in the Psalms, we see a reflection of many stressful times for David. He wrote the Lament Psalms where he’ll lament the situation. He’ll even complain and protest the situation sometimes. He speaks of his tears. He speaks of his tears all night long, his pillow soaked in tears. He speaks of the threat of death and all of that. But even in those Lament Psalms, we have that section of confidence where he expresses his confidence in God, where he strengthens his soul with thoughts about God and expresses confidence in him. By and large, David was remarkably content with God’s providence. You can imagine yourself, you’ve been given those promises that he had in those years, running from Saul and under threat for his life so often and so much. And yet, David’s saying, “I’m content with what God has promised.” So he’s learned through stress and he’s learned through severe threat to trust in God and to rest in him.

What All God’s People Should Do

So verse 1, what David does not do. Verse 2, what he has done. And then verse three, what all God’s people should do. And here we have the call to trust. He calls his fellow Israelites to the same kind of trust: “Oh Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.” So a call to humble trust in God’s provision and protection. That’s the struggle of faith: to rest content in God’s provision even when things are wrong.

And yet it’s precisely this kind of faith that this psalm and these psalms of trust—and throughout even the psalms of lament in the confidence section—it’s what these psalms call us to: to recognize God’s power, God’s goodness, God’s wisdom, God’s promises, and to rest in them. I think my favorite illustration of this from the scriptures is Mark chapter 4. You might remember, I’m sure you do, the storm at sea. They’re out in the Sea of Galilee and Jesus is down sleeping in the boat. The disciples are panicking. Finally they run down and wake up Jesus. “Don’t you care? We’re going to die out here!” Remember what Jesus said? “O you of little faith, wherefore, why did you doubt?” And I can imagine Peter standing there, “What was I worried about? Is that what you’re asking me? What was I worried about? Don’t you see what’s going on here?” That’s a remarkable thing that Jesus is saying implicitly: “Even in this storm, when you are about to die, it seems, what are you afraid of?” Can’t you trust God’s providence like he was, sleeping?

We are obliged, and these Psalms call us to this, we are obliged to honor God with the trust that he deserves. Let me say it again. We are obliged to honor God with the trust that he deserves. When your life is falling apart and your plans aren’t working out and things are all astray, you owe it to God to honor him with the trust that he deserves. We trust God to keep us safe for eternity. Isn’t it an odd thing that we can’t trust him as well for life? And that’s what this psalm is calling us to. It’s brief, it’s simple, yet it’s a beautiful expression of contented confidence in God’s care—a psalm of trust.

Charles Spurgeon commented about this psalm that it is one of the shortest psalms to read, but one of the longest to learn. And yet, this is exactly the kind of trust we have all learned on the way in. At the very beginning, on the way in, we confessed our utter helplessness. And to use Jesus’ own imagery, as helpless little children, we came to him confessing our helplessness and our weaknesses. And we rested entirely in his care. And these Psalms of trust call us to that kind of trust for all of life. This God who in grace has given us his son, this God who in grace has secured our eternity, surely is worthy of our trust for all of life as well. He will fulfill every promise. And at the end of it all, he still will be the good and faithful God that he has promised to be. Psalms of trust.

All right, next Sunday morning we will—no, yeah, next Sunday morning we’ll begin our series of expositions now through the Psalms. We’ll begin with Psalm 1 if you would like to take time to look through that this week. And then we’ll continue these evening studies on how to read and understand the Psalms for the next few weeks at least. But we’ll be doing both for a while. Let’s be dismissed in prayer.