King David Playing the Harp by Gerard van Honthorst (1622)
(Psalm 131, personalized)
“My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty” (v. 1a).
O God, King David’s firm assertion that no pride lurks in his heart stirs up envy within me. I wish I could say no pride ever lurks in my heart.
Pride is such an ugly attribute. Just like mold on bread causes ruin, pride causes ruin in me.
A bent toward self-aggrandizing—even in my thoughts—spoils my connection with You, Father, as much as pridefully choosing to do things my way instead of Your way. And when my feelings are bruised by the words and actions of others? It’s really pride masquerading as “hurt.”
I’d like to say with King David, “I have given up my pride and turned away from my arrogance” (v. 1 GNT), but the mold of pride still forms in my spirit from time to time.
I ask Your help, O God, to help me cut it off the moment it begins to appear. Remind me that apart from You I am nothing and can do nothing (1).
“I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me” (v. 1b).
David also asserts he doesn’t concern himself with matters outside his control or things too profound for him and beyond his understanding.
In years past and much too often I allowed my mind to circle around distressing situations and worrisome what-ifs, even though such thinking accomplishes nothing.
You’ve taught me, Lord, (and continue to give me opportunities for practice!), to affirm what I know about You and Your ways instead of fretting, including such encouraging passages as Psalm 145:8-9:
“But I have calmed and quieted myself” (v. 2a).
You are the Almighty Sovereign One, the only wise God, my faithful and loving Father. How silly I am not to rest—every moment–in Your power and peace.
David states matter-of-factly he’s calmed and quieted his soul. Since his days as a shepherd boy he’d been one to affirm what he knew to be true about You. Psalm 23 is one eloquent example.
But David also prayed concerning his needs, trusting that You’d provide:
Thank You, Father, for teaching me the power of prayer and praise to quiet my soul. I have only to present my requests before You—with thanksgiving—to experience your peace [2].
“I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content” (v. 2b).
In fact, the calm and quiet of Your peace is like that of a weaned child, contentedly nestled on his mother’s lap [3]—no longer demanding immediate gratification.
What a sweet image of the rest I can experience in the assurance of Your provision, in Your time, while reveling in the closeness and companionship in Your presence.
I know Your goal for me is emotional and spiritual maturity. You sometimes choose to wean me away from good things, to bring me to better things. Help me to remember: painful losses can give way to wonderful gains [4].
“Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore” (v. 3).
And so, Father, I put my hope in You, now and forevermore. This is not wishful thinking but confident expectation based on the perfections of Your character. My hope is strengthened by Your glorious promises, including Your assurance never to leave me or forsake me.
I can joyfully anticipate what You will do in the future, knowing You have my best interest at heart. This day and every day I place my trust in You afresh, my good and gracious God!
____________________
[1] 1 Corinthians 1:27-31; John 15:5
]2] Philippians 4:6-7
[3] Psalm 131:2
[4] Warren Wiersbe, Be Exultant, 174.
Image credits: http://www.picryl.com; http://www.commons.wikimedia.org; http://www.heartlight.org; www. canva.com (2); http://www.wikimedia.org.
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Wonderful encouragement. How we need these words of hope.
Praise God you found encouragement and hope here, Debbie!
I love how you’ve taken David’s words and woven them into your life and now, through your writing, the lives of others, Nancy. Pride is also something I need to be aware of and let go of the moment it raises its ugly head. Only with God’s help and that be accomplished. May we always remember that He is the only one who is large and in charge, and for that alone, we should be grateful and humble. Blessings!
AMEN, Martha, to: “He is the only one who is large and in charge, and for that alone, we should be grateful and humble!” We say it often but it’s so true: We hate to think where we’d be without him. Pride alone, left unchecked, can wreak terrible consequences, much less self-centeredness, greed, and anger. Praise God for his untiring work on our souls!
Praise the Lord, My God-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Beautiful reflections, Nancy. 😁🙏✝️🙏
Thank you, Nancy. Praise God for his inspiration!
I have pondered this verse myself this past week from Deuteronomy. God is with us as we take each new step day to day. No matter our fears or circumstances, God is there to meet us exactly where we are.
Amen, Linda. Such wonderful, peace-inducing truth from just that one promise, much less the hundreds of others!!
I think that as we pray through the psalms we will be surprised at the way they give us words for such a broad range of emotions
TT
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It is surprising, given how long ago the psalms were inspired and written. We’re not much different from those who lived centuries ago.
You bring out so many forms pride can take in our lives. Bottom line–it is a result of not having a right relationship to God.
Thank you for adding your excellent point to the conversation, Linda. If we remain in right relationship to God as his humble and obedient children, pride will have less opportunity to impact our spirits.
Thank You, Father, for teaching me the power of prayer and praise to quiet my soul. I have only to present my requests before You—with thanksgiving—to experience your peace- I love that, I tend to stress over many what ifs and prayer and praise I have found to be the only things that can quell that noise.
And pride, oof where do I begin. It is a battle indeed.
Agreed: praise and prayer really can quell the noise! You’ve reminded me, Manu, of a difficult season a number of years ago when I learned to turn away from the “why” questions, the emotional pain, and “what-ifs,” by implementing praise and gratitude. Over and over again I’d catch myself wallowing in self-pity and have to turn my mind to Philippians 4:8 kind of thinking. Slowly I reached the point that I’d catch myself much more quickly. It was such a valuable lesson! Now I can thank God for that season and what he taught me through it.
Lovely encouragement, Nancy, thank you.
Praise God you found encouragement here, Dana!
Good reminders about pride. I find we need this nudge to keep on on track and don’t fall into the pit of pride. Seems like we teeter of the edge most of the time….
Agreed, Jean. It’s so easy to fall into that pit of pride if we’re not careful!
Amen. Placing our trust in God means relying on Him and not on ourselves. Have a blessed weekend! 🙂
Absolutely, Melissa!
Pride raises its ugly self too often! I love praying scripture especially the Psalms. Prayer and praise will change a heart of pride. Thank you, Nancy!
You’re so right, Pam: “Prayer and praise will change a heart of pride.” The more we focus on our wonderful and amazing God, the less we’ll tend to think too highly of ourselves. We’ll think of ourselves less. Perhaps you’re familiar with the following quote from C. S. Lewis. Once again, he expresses truth with brevity and clarity: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.”
Yes, that is a great C.S. Lewis quote!
I have a Christian gal friend who has hurt me several times over the past 50 years. I have always wondered why. The mystery of our ‘friendship’ has baffled and disturbed me. Regarding your comment, ‘And when my feelings are bruised by the words and actions of others? It’s really pride masquerading as “hurt.”: This was a new way of thinking for me. I never even considered that my hurt was for my pride, as well as my feelings. Thanks for this enlightening post.
You’ve got me wondering, Cheri: Is hurt in our spirit always a prideful thing? Probably not. As I wrote this post, I was thinking of those times when my reaction to unkind, unwarranted words or actions caused me to ask, “What is wrong with her?!” “How dare she treat me that way?” “Why me?” “Who does she think she is?” I’d say those questions are coming from a place of pride, insinuating to myself that I’m better than she is, that I’d never treat someone the way she’s treated me (which is false). When hurt includes feelings of rejection, worthlessness, anxiety, and more, pride is probably not the driving factor. HOWEVER! I’m no psychologist, as you know! These are just the thoughts that came to mind as I considered your reflective comment.
Thank you for your thoughts. It’s a complicated subject for sure. I think when a fellow born-again Christian hurts you several times (not in words, but in how she treats you) it is more surprising and harder to process, at least for me. I don’t think ‘how dare she’ or ‘what did I do wrong’; I think ‘how could she’.
I can’t imagine you did anything to offend this woman so deeply that she reacted so strongly. Such irritation in the heart, manifesting itself in unpleasantness, can’t be a restful, joyful way to live!
I am very certain that I did nothing to motivate her actions; they came out of the blue. I have forgiven her in my heart, but some things are difficult to forget. We are only human and sometimes a memory just pops up. I don’t believe that she sinned against me, but I feel so blessed that God has that ability to forget, remembering our sin no more when we ask for forgiveness – Jeremiah 31:34.
Sometimes jealousy and /or insecurity can cause people to react unkindly. And Satan loves to pester us with hurtful memories to beat down our joy. Praise God he’s given us the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, to fight against him!
Nancy,
May find the non-moldering peace of mind and heart. Our minds can be so hindering at times.
In Christ,
Gary
Gary Avants Forbear Productions * *garyavants66@gmail.com garyavants66@gmail.com
You’re so right, Gary. The renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2) is a continual process!
Amen. My prayer echoes yours, Nancy. “Thank You, Father, for teaching me the power of prayer and praise to quiet my soul.” Indeed, I’m learning this anew. How wonderful to read your words, hear your heart, and find that the Spirit’s voice sounds clear and the same for all His children through His word.
Amen. Nancy, your faithful witness encourages my outlook to see the blessings of light found in our Lord and Savior.
So glad to have brought you encouragement with this post, Richard. Your poetry does that for me!