Psalm 131/ 25

The psalms always seem very busy to me, with lots going on

The writers of the psalms praise God

they celebrate the world God created

they admire his laws

they lament from the depths of despair

they beg to be rescued from peril

they give thanks for being rescued from peril

they plead for their enemies to be defeated

they celebrate the defeat of their enemies

Amid all this, I value the more peaceful psalms and passages in psalms

For this reflection, I have chosen one very short psalm

Psalm 131 is headed A Prayer of Humble Trust

It consists of just three verses

Lord, I have given up my pride

and turned away from my arrogance.

I am not concerned with great matters

or with subjects too difficult for me.

Instead, I am content and at peace.

As a child lies quietly in its mother’s arms,

so my heart is quiet within me.

Israel, trust in the Lord

now and for ever!

This points us away from activity, from doing to just being

And it gives a picture of calm acceptance that all is well

As a child trusts its mother,

so the children of Israel are advised to trust the Lord

And that is sound advice for Christians, too

But now I am going to cheat and also read one verse from a longer psalm

Psalm 25 is headed A Prayer for Guidance and Protection

Overall it is full of the busy-ness I have already referred to

concerning the psalmist’s enemies and God’s providence

But in the middle, verse 11 simply says

Keep your promise, Lord, and forgive my sins,

for they are many.

At our evening services, we have been following the Sermon on the Mount

There Jesus tells people not to use loads of words when they pray

and this verse follows that advice

It says everything necessary very simply

Putting these together, as Psalm 131 says

we can rest at ease because we trust in the Lord

And we can trust in the Lord because, as this verse of Psalm 25 says

the Lord promises to forgive our sins