Psalm 131: The Prayer Book of the Bible
For Meditation
This Sunday we begin a summer series on the book of Psalms. There are a few reasons why this series on the Psalms is distinct that I am excited about.
First, the Psalms are unlike any other book in the Bible because they are meant to be actually used and practiced. They certainly do give us information about God, but they also speak directly to God and are actual prayers and songs used for millennia in public worship. For this reason the Psalms are often called “The Prayerbook of the Bible.” Our intent is to learn these Psalms as invitations into prayer and to cultivate a deeper, richer communion and prayer life with God.
Second, because the Psalms are meant to be practiced, we will actually try to practice them together! Every week we will not just have a sermon about the Psalm but also try to pray the Psalm in some way in worship, either through singing the Psalm or praying it together. We’ll also encourage creative uses of the Psalms in your own private devotional life.
Finally, we will have unique opportunities to learn from one another in our own experience of the Psalms. We put word out to you weeks ago that we would be doing this and invited you to give your own suggestions about which Psalms to preach about, and many of you made great suggestions. Many people not only suggested a Psalm but also recounted why that particular Psalms has been so meaningful to them. We’ll try to share some of those stories this summer so we can learn from one another’s experiences of the Psalms.
This Sunday we’ll kick off the series with an introduction to the Psalms, but I’ll also cover Psalm 131, which is one of my most favorite Psalms. Spurgeon said that Psalm 131 is "one of the shortest Psalms to read, and one of the longest to learn.”
Our weekly worship guide can be found here.
Service Recordings
Psalm 131
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.
