A CALMED AND QUIETED SOUL
Read Time: 4 min 20 sec
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them."
Elisabeth Elliot
THE GOOD STUFF
A CALMED AND QUIETED SOUL
by Brock Graham | Lead Pastor
“O 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.” - Psalm 131:1-2
A few weeks back someone close to me said, “You are unsettled.” We can often say that to describe a temporary state we are in as we transition or have a big decision to make, but this trusted friend and counselor in my life didn’t mean I was unsettled in the moment. They were pointing out that "unsettled" is a word that can describe a way of life for me.
As they said it, it was one of those Holy Spirit moments where the conviction of their words and the love of the Lord in the midst of that conviction crashed over the bulwark of my defenses. I knew they were right.
That short, pointed statement from my loved one paved the way for a powerful moment for me days later during my devotion time. I came to Psalm 131, and in it, the Lord had some healing balm for an unsettled heart…
But I have calmed and quieted my soul…
It stopped me in my devotional tracks. The Spirit confirmed how badly I wanted to know that in my own soul. And so I slowed down to mine the riches the Lord had for me right here in this one short Psalm. What did I find? I found the pathway to knowing the rest from a calmed and quieted soul. Look at verse 1:
My heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high…
Nothing will rob the calm and quiet of a soul like a proud heart and haughty eyes. Arrogance and pride are quiet-soul killers. How so? The foundation of a high heart and haughty eyes are the horizontal looks at others to reassure myself that I matter, I have accomplished, I’m going somewhere. These haughty, horizontal looks towards others rob the rest that comes from vertical gazing upon God.
I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
Oh, the calm-robber this is. To have our minds and hearts occupied with the things we cannot know:
What will happen if…
How will this turn out in the future…
What about…
The quiet of our soul vanishes when we are occupied with things we can never know. Things like the future events we can’t know must be handed over to our God who does know.
And so when our heart is not lifted up…
And our eyes are not raised too high…
When we do not occupy ourselves with things too great and marvelous…
THEN we can know the rest from a calmed and quieted soul.
And so can I ask you a few things?
Would you say your soul is “calmed and quieted”?
If not, what is robbing you of the calm and quiet your soul longs for?
Where is a high heart and haughty eyes (pride) leading you to look horizontally at others instead of vertically to the Lord?
Where are you occupied by things “too great and too marvelous” for you, things you can’t ever know that you need to entrust into the hands of the One who does?
I’m praying today that Psalm 131 would lead us to the rest from a calmed and quieted soul.
STORY
A LITTLE GOSPEL STINK
89 Redeemer Students (high school + middle school) and 18 adult leaders headed up to Lake Ann Camp yesterday morning for Summer Camp 2021. They will join over 200 other students from 7 different churches who are ready to drink Mountain Dew for every meal and sweat through every article of clothing they packed while playing dodgeball. But most importantly, they are ready to hear the Word of God preached and His Name lifted high in worship.
Please join us in praying for this week to be a powerful and transformational experience for these students. Not that it would be an emotional high that crashes back down once they return, but that the Lord would pierce hearts and call teenagers to full surrender and dependence on Him. Also pray for safety through heat and activities, good weather, and wisdom for the leaders to know what to say, when to challenge, and how to rally sugar-fueled teens into vulnerable conversations.
We can't wait to hear the stories of God at work during this week!