Humble Trust

now uh we have a couple of bible readings they'll both be up on the screen the first is from Isaiah

Isaiah 55 · chapter mention

chapter 55 and then we'll be in Psalm 131 so Isaiah 55 first of all let's hear God's word

come all you who are thirsty come to the waters and you who have no money come buy and eat come

buy wine and milk without money and without cost why spend money on what is not bread and your labor

on what does not satisfy listen listen to me and eat what is good and you will delight in the richest

of fear give ear and come to me listen that you may live I will make an everlasting covenant with you

my faithful love promised to David see I have made him a witness to the peoples a ruler and

commander of the peoples surely you will summon nations you know not and nations you do not know

will come running to you because of the Lord your God the Holy One of Israel for he has endowed you

with splendor seek the Lord while he may be found call on him while he is near let the wicked forsake

their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts let them turn to the Lord and he will have mercy on them

and to our God for he will freely pardon for my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways

my ways declares the Lord as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to

it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread

for the eater so is my word that goes out from my mouth it will not return to me empty but will

accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it you will go out in joy and be led

forth in peace the mountains and hills will burst into song before you and all the trees of the field

will clap their hands instead of the thorn bush will grow the juniper and instead of briars the myrtle

will grow this will be for the Lord's renown for an everlasting sign that will endure forever

and then in Psalm 131 one of the the shortest Psalms that we have in the Bible

so let's read together from Psalm 131

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 Israel put your hope in the Lord both now and

forevermore amen so as I was saying earlier

this is a focus on trust that we find in this Psalm this is going to be our last time

in the the book of Psalms for the next couple of months in our mornings we're going to look

at the heart of Jesus as we find it in John's gospel but I wanted to finish here

our study on the Psalms thinking about trust and how essential that is and I deliberately chose this

really short Psalm because it has a really powerful image at its center they say a picture is worth a

thousand words and so I'm hoping as we think about this picture that we have in verse two of the

contented child in its mother's arms that it will open the curtains and let the light of Christian hope

and the Christian life shine for us whoever we are that we would recognize that in God we can find

contentment as we learn to humbly trust in a wise and a loving father in heaven so it's a small lesson

it's a small psalm but it's got this massive truth that if we want to find rest in the storms of life if

we want to find shelter then we can do that in the arms of our God who made us and who wants to be with us

and for us it seems important for the times in which we live I imagine all of us have found ourselves

trying to anticipate what the next set of regulations and restrictions might be speculating

when they might come to an end figuring out how our plans need to reorganize because of the changes that

come in many of us are facing uncertainty some that's because of ongoing health concerns

for many there's the new concern to do with health and employment for our young people and students

the concern is about education for all of us family friendships relationships in the short to medium term

what's it going to look like and the impact of all of that is that anxiety and fear and frustration

can dominate our minds and dominate our horizons we can find all our energy going into figuring out

what are the rules and why are they there and when will it come to an end but here we have an

invitation and my prayer is that our experience will be that of David that in suffering and worry and

discontent we would lean into God our father and that we would find rest from and with him that we would

go to him that we might be wrapped in his loving everlasting arms

Jesus was asked on a number of occasions who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven that kind of

discussion would come up and Psalm 131 anticipates the answer that he gave greatness in the kingdom looks

like becoming as a little child learning to trust learning to depend on our father in heaven

so let's explore this psalm of David together and we'll begin in verse 2 with this picture of

contentment where David says I have calmed and quietened myself I am like a weaned child with its

mother like a weaned child I am content it's a lovely family image that God gives to us perhaps if we're

parents here we can remember those moments we can look back and think about those times where

our children were happy to find themselves in our arms wanting nothing other than to just rest there for a

while there's a wonderful moment to enjoy maybe we remember those feelings as children and here is

where David goes as he wants to express his trust he says I'm like a small child nestling in its mother's

arms here is David coming to enjoy the comfort and rest of his father's love and God puts it this way in

Isaiah 66 God says to his people as a mother comforts her child so I will comfort you so God in kindness

gives us this motherly image to speak of his tender love and care and in verse 2 we have a picture of

contentment this is a weaned child not a little baby who sometimes might be content in our mother's arms

other times fussing and squawking for food here is a here is a toddler a small child simply content to be

simply content to rest in the closeness and the love of their mother's arms

it's an invitation for us notice that David is making an active choice in all of this

in verse 1 he said my heart is not proud I do not concern myself with great matters but I have calmed

and quietened myself he's making an active choice to find contentment in God he's looking to still the

storm that he feels in his heart and his mind he's looking to quieten that urge to frantic fixing or

restless pursuit that perhaps we can all feel even although he is the king of Israel he's not straining

under the illusion that I should be able to figure out all life's conundrums that I can manage these

crises by myself rather he is humbling himself to trust in God his father and again I think this is a

really gracious invitation for us if your mind is like mine probably you find itself from day to day

going in a thousand different directions all at once and that can be exhausting but here is a call

from God to lean into him as father and to rest if you find your energy is getting taken up by fear

and frustration if your faith feels weak and you feel discouraged here is an invitation

come to this God or return to this God as your place of refuge

I read an article yesterday entitled when God says no to earnest prayers

and the author was exploring the difficulties that come when you pray sincerely and answers don't come

and he was looking to the Bible to to find answers for how do we respond as Christians in those moments and

he directed in one of his points readers to Psalm 131 to say that in all circumstances we have this

invitation to trust in God's wisdom when we don't know why answers don't come when we don't know why

circumstances don't change like David we have to recognize there's a point where there are things

that are too wonderful for us to recognize that God's ways are not our ways and to rest in that

knowing that we can trust our good father in heaven and to trust in his wisdom David is able to rest

contented because he knows his God and he knows God's character I wonder if we've come to discover God

as father in that way so that we too can rest content because we know we have a father in heaven we know

his character we know that he is for us so that he would be the one safe place the refuge the fortress

that we would run to this is an invitation that we all need to hear it's an invitation to enjoy God's love

and to know that love in our experience to make that choice to move towards this God who loves us

I was thinking about the first of the Harry Potter books and a little conversation towards the end

where Dumbledore is talking to Harry about his scar and about his mother and Dumbledore said this

to him he said your mother died to save you if there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand it is love

and then this love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark to have been loved so deeply

will give us some protection forever love as powerful as your mother's well at the heart of the Bible

is the powerful love of God the father a love so great that he would send his one and only son

so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life the mark of our father's powerful love

we see at the cross where Jesus the one and only son of his father is given in our place for our sins

so that we by faith might become sons and daughters

that to trust in Jesus according to the language of first Peter is to be shielded

by God's powerful love now and until final salvation when Jesus returns

we can rest content when we know the love of our father

let the cross show us and teach us how deep the father's love for us is

and that we would find contentment and trust in him

from there I want us to go back to verse one and to recognize

that to have that kind of contentment we need humility before God

I don't know if all schools are the same but the school that our boys go to is very big on

trying to help children understand their emotions they seem to get a lot of classes on emotions

and we know we understand emotions we understand opposites happy and sad or opposites love and hate

or opposite verse one's really interesting because David is appreciating and helping us to see that the

opposite of anxiety the anxiety that perhaps we feel isn't always calmness and peace the answer to

anxiety in verse one is humility and especially humility before God what kind of anxiety does David have in view

in verse one what is it that he is trying to rid himself of verse one 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

he understands there is an anxiety that we can feel when we are overreaching overstepping our limits when our desires are too great

so he's trying to put those to one side a desire for greatness compared to others

and a failure to accept our limitations before God

he's come to understand that that path that way of living leads to restlessness and frustration and discontent

and so the answer the antidote to that then is humility

and so he's showing us a pattern of humility against in the first place

the temptation of pride my heart is not proud Lord my eyes are not haughty

that temptation to have an overinflated view of ourselves

that would then at the same time undervalue others

it's a warning against that drive to be great and to ambition

that is severed from a concern for God's glory and a desire to serve others

it's an understanding that pride feeds on comparison and competition

and that is not the pathway to peace and contentment

where we're not just happy to be good we have to be better than

the other person we're not content with being smart we need to be smarter than someone else

constantly fighting for recognition and approval will not lead to contentment

rather it will make frustration inevitable

because it's very unlikely we're ever going to reach that point where

we've we can say I have enough or I truly am at the top of the game and there's nobody above me

even David is king he has to make that deliberate choice to fight against pride so he can be content

how does our image of the content child in verse 2 help us in that battle that we face against pride and competition

we're here as Christians

those who are in Jesus Christ

we have that wonderful truth

that in Jesus we have full approval

from our father in heaven when we are in him

that our position

is secure

as loved and adopted

children of God

our inheritance

is certain

eternal life in glory

ruling in the new heavens

and the new earth

if we live for the approval of the one

who matters for God almighty

then we have the freedom to be humble

we can be overlooked

and not be crushed by that

we can miss out on opportunities

and not feel as if the world has come to an end

we can be free to suffer

and knowing that we are loved

we are kept

and we have a glorious future

if we learn the contentment of resting

in the loving arms

of our father

the second part of verse 1

moves from pride

to presumption

when David says

I do not concern myself

with great matters

or things too wonderful for me

he's saying again

he's put to one side

an overestimating of himself

and his own abilities

in particular

he's determined not to forget

his limits

compared to God

David is

content to say

even although I am the king

I cannot understand

and I cannot manage

many of the great things

there is a set of wisdom

that belongs to God alone

and I'm going to trust him

and I'm going to trust his will

I'm going to trust his character

and I'm going to rest

rather than trying to become God-like

and reach for

those kind of wisdoms

the Bible teaches that

distinction really clearly for us

God is the creator

and we are created

God is all-knowing

and all-powerful

he is all-wise

he knows the past

the present and the future

and we do not

we are limited

compared to God

and if we try and break free

of our limits

again we will find ourselves

frustrated

we will find ourselves

anxious

because we are trying to

make decisions

and to control things

that are ultimately

outwith our control

what does that look like?

it might look like

sleepless nights

and agonizing

over the future

because we want to know

what's God's will

why this

why me

what can I do

to change things

and sometimes

we need to learn

to rest

and wait

on God

David has come

to discover

that freedom

of living

within those limits

that God has set

resting and knowing

I can't control everything

I can't fix everything

I can't understand everything

not now

and not in my future

so if you are

anxious today

frustrated

or fearful today

let Psalm 131

be God's gift

to each of us

so that in humility

we would be ready

to accept our limits

and trust our unlimited God

and that at the same time

we would take our cares

to our Father in Heaven

knowing that He loves us

and that He cares for us

one last thing to notice

verse 3

as David draws the Psalm

to a close

and it's this

that trust

is the basic

posture

of faith

so David's given us

this wonderful testimony

as the king

you know

before God

I want to be

like a child

I want to live

with humble trust

and then

he calls on

the worshipping people

of God

to learn that lesson

with Him

as he says

in verse 3

Israel

put your hope

in the Lord

both now

and forever

more

he has found

security

he has found

a solid basis

for his hope

and he wants

to pass that on

God is his centre

of gravity

God is the sun

around which

his life orbits

not himself

as the king

and he's found

that to be a place

of peace

and a place

of rest

he's been weaned

off

false ambitions

he's been weaned

off misplacing

his desires

he's been weaned

off an anxiety

from fighting

against those

proper limits

and he's found

rest

and so he calls

the church

to trust

as the king

he says

trust in the much

greater than me

trust in the Lord

God

now and evermore

it's a wonderful

testimony

from King David

and it's a testimony

echoed

perfectly

by King

Jesus

while David's

heart at times

would waver

Jesus

never did

how do we see

the humility

of King

Jesus

we see it

in his

willingness

to leave

the glory

of heaven

to become

one of us

in order

that he might

be the promised

suffering

servant

he lived

a humble

life

as the man

of sorrows

and died

in our place

for our sins

how do we see

the contentment

of Jesus

with his

father

in heaven

we hear him

so often

talking about

his delight

in doing

his father's

will

he didn't

ever want

to say

or do

anything

outside

of his

father's

will

at all

points

in his

life

he was

fully

obedient

and had

joy

in that

even

when it

took him

to the cross

and his

trust

again

was

absolute

so that

even

as he

was

dying

having

completed

his

mission

of coming

to be

the once

for all

sacrifice

for sinners

he prayed

to his

father

into your

hands

I commit

my spirit

trust

from first

to last

the great

king

who gives

that testimony

and who

calls us

to follow

in his

path

so as we

leave this

psalm

and indeed

as we leave

the book

of psalms

for a time

and there

are so

many trust

psalms

to explore

are we

trusting

God

as our

father

have we

come to

know

and are we

looking to

experience

that love

in an

ongoing

way

are we

making

that active

choice

and all

the busyness

and all

the fear

and all

the stuff

buzzing

around in

our head

to come

and to

quiet

ourselves

before him

do we

hear his

call to

come

and rest

to come

with that

childlike

faith

to enjoy

him