Un-concerned… Calm… Content

1 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.
2 But I have calmed and quieted myself,
    I am like a weaned child with its mother;
    like a weaned child I am content.
3 Israel, put your hope in the Lord
both now and forevermore.
Psalm 131

The Scriptural theme for our retreat this weekend is Psalm 131.  There are three areas of focus: David’s un-concern about things he cannot control or understand; David’s ability to calm and quiet himself and David’s heart of contentment in the arms of God.
David discovers God as warm and welcoming, accepting the invitation into His presence.
 
David is UnConcerned – David does not “concern” himself with great matters because they are things that he cannot control, understand or solve.  He is not so prideful that he is above God; He does not allow things within (“heart”) or without (“eyes”) to puff him up or make him think he is greater than God.  He is comfortable with God being in control.
David is Calm – David has found a way to quiet himself by praying, reading Scripture, resting and trusting.  He does not only ask God to calm him, but he also takes ownership of calming himself.  He writes: “I have calmed and quieted myself.”  
David is Content – David wants for nothing.  God is sufficient for his desires, needs and passions. He does not need the approval of man or feel the pressure to impress.  His desire is God.  He has not always been this way but he has grown into contentment.
Life comes at us at breakneck speed.  There seems to be no let up; we wake up early and go to bed late.  We work before we go to work and we work when we get home from work. We run from one responsibility to another often multi-tasking through each one. After a vacation we return to “real life” and it feels like we were never away. One season melds into another. Who hasn’t already heard or even said themselves: “I can’t believe it’s only two months until Christmas” or “Where did the summer go?”  As a result we feel over stressed, exhausted, fatigued and depressed.  This leads to a variety of unhealthy behaviors including over eating, excessive drinking, medicating, inactivity and isolation. And I am not talking about people without a relationship with Jesus….I am talking about Christ followers who do not have enough time to read their Bible, pray, have people over their homes or take extended

days off.

We can learn from David by not concerning ourselves with great matters or things too wonderful for us to understand.  We can better face each day and challenging situation by calming and quieting ourselves.  We can walk with God content with His love.
There are traditional spiritual practices that help us to be conformed to the spirit of Jesus.  Things such as daily reading of the Bible, prayer, memorization of Scripture, practicing silence, Sabbath keeping, fixed hour prayer and journaling are pathways into a deeper relationship with Christ.  If you are feeling yourself concerned and distracted about the many things that are on your plate; If you do not feel calm but instead are anxious and worried by life’s challenges or if you are not content in your life situation, then perhaps it is time to re-arrange and re-prioritize your life.  Perhaps it is time to consider actively engaging in some of these proven spiritual practices.  Perhaps it is time to humbly come before God, admit your need and put your trust in Him.  Like a loving mother, He is waiting for you to rest in His arms.
What do you think?
How does it make you feel?
Shalom,
Steven