Psalm 131 - Mystics

Psalm 131:1-3 NIV

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 quieted 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.

Psalm 131 is the prayer of a mystic. In two of the three verses of the psalm the prayer is directed to God from the person praying. First is acknowledgment of humility before the omniscience of God. God sees all. God knows all things past, present, and future. The Hebrews thought God had a book with all our days written in it.

Psalm 139:4, 6, 16 NIV

Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Too often in theological discourse there is a lack of this kind of humility. We think that we can know all that God knows, or rather, in a godless worldview, know what there is to know thereby disproving the existence of the God portrayed in the Bible, or any god at all.

Stephen Hawking wrote in His book, A Brief History of Time,

"What I have done is to show that it is possible for the way the universe began to be determined by the laws of science. In that case, it would not be necessary to appeal to God to decide how the universe began. This doesn't prove that there is no God, only that God is not necessary."

That's the kind of human arrogance I mean. It lacks humility before God. It's not that we should not explore the knowable universe and explore questions of existence, it's that we foolishly believe our scientific tools somehow compare to the omniscience of God.

Hawking exemplifies my point in this passage from his book.

"If we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason — for then we would know the mind of God."

What has been questions solely held within the realm of religion is now the objective goal of astrophysicists. It would be better if scientists pursued these questions with humility, open to the possibility that they might be wrong, that they have not seen the whole picture, in fact that they are only scratching the surface.

The psalmist knows this humility and it brings him closer to God where he finds peace.

Psalm 131:2 NIV

But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.

Contemplative prayer is a spiritual practice that leads one to the bosom of God where there is incredible peace, lifegiving and renewing. You won't find your way to the presence of God with an attitude that God does not exist, or that God is some impersonal force, or an absentee landlord. Only by faith can we please God. Only by a wholehearted search can God be found by our efforts. We find God only because God wants to be found by those who love Him. It's not that God is absent or hiding. It's that we are deaf and blind to ultimate reality. In Christ God removes our blinders.

That's why the composer of Amazing Grace wrote, "I once was lost but now I'm found, 'twas blind but now I see. Faith in God brings us to spiritual sight, and then only glimpses that carry us in great hope for full sight. Grace from God gives us that peace that passes all understanding. A contemplative prayer life will nurture peace like a satisfied babe upon the breast of her mother. Each day as we sit in silence seeking to experience the presence of the Almighty, a little more of the peace of heaven touches us. In that heavenly peace we bring peace into the world. Be humble and know peace.

And so I close with the urging of the psalmist,

"Put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore."