Psalm 131

Commonplace –

“Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and for ever” (Psalm 131:3).

David begins this psalm in a humble reflection. He acknowledges:

1. he is not prideful,
2. his eyes are not set on great achievements,
3. he does not worry himself about important events outside his control, nor
4. does he consider matters beyond himself.

He compares his manner to that of a child, who has been weaned and can behave and maintain self control. In the last line of the psalm, he simply states that Israel’s hope is in the Lord.

In this psalm, the psalmist is modeling how a believer should live. If we look at the opposite of each prideful trait he listed, we will come to a positive description of a believer. A believer is one who is

1. humble,
2. content with what he has accomplished in life,
3. living peacefully in his day to day life, and
4. focused only on those matters that concern him.

Living life in this manner is a physical, day-to-day walking out of the believer’s hope in the Lord. One who lives in this manner lives in a way that reflects his complete faith that God is in control, and his hope rests solely in God, not his own actions or abilities. Matthew Henry notes, we may sing this psalm

“…for the same purpose we read it, to teach and admonish ourselves, and one another, what we ought to be, with repentance that we have come short of being so, and humble prayer to God for his grace to make us so” (606).

Works Cited

Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 131.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

© 2025 Angela Hormberg