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Cultivating a Quiet Soul
The fruit of a childlike faith is one that will often be characterized by calm and quiet.
I’m just going to say it: Psalm 131 is one of the shortest, but most important chapters in the Bible for pastoral ministry.
Why, you ask?
Because it gives us a picture of what needs to be forming inside of us in order to become faithful leaders who aspire to lead with a childlike faith. The reason why this should be our ambition is that the fruit of a childlike faith is one that will often be characterized by calm and quiet.
And your people need a pastor with this kind of spirit.
So, what exactly is Psalm 131 calling pastors and planters to do about all of that?
Leave the Big Things to the Lord
“Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I do not get involved with things too great or too wondrous for me” (Psalm 131:1).
You have ambitions for your ministry, and let me just say that ambition is not necessarily a wrong thing. I say “necessarily” because ambition can absolutely be the wrong thing if it is the wrong kind of ambition! But wanting your ministry to grow numerically in the Lord’s timing, while growing spiritually in the meantime, is a good thing to pray and strive toward. The problem with ambitions is when they go sideways, and they go sideways when they are centered on worldly metrics that become the motivation behind everything you do.
Psalm 131 reminds us that the big things belong to the Lord, and we need to be in the practice of leaving them to him so that we aren’t left carrying the burdens that emerge when we don’t.
The temptation for every pastor is to get caught up in ambitions that are “too great or too wondrous,” and temporarily blind us to the “proud heart” and “haughty eyes” that come so naturally to our flesh. A pastor who leaves the “big things” to the Lord is one who sees the “small, faithful, humble, one-day-at-a-time endeavors” as the ones most worthy to be pursued.
Lay Down Your Pride and Anxiety
“Instead, I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like a weaned child” (Psalm 131:2).
Verse 2 begins with the word “Instead.” This means that there is an alternative ambition that can be cultivated in the heart of the pastor, which happens to be a “calm and quiet soul.” Now, I think it’s fair to assume that we all desire a calm and quiet soul. I’m not sure I’m acquainted with anyone who would blatantly reject this option for their life. But the Psalmist tells us that we only achieve that when we shift our gaze from the lofty to the low. We are given this beautiful illustration of a weaned child in the arms of its mother. This is a child who has ceased struggling and has learned to trust the care that his mother has proven she will provide. The reward for this trust will be a non-anxious spirit.
Pastors are a group who can be incredibly guilty of spiritualizing their ambitions. “Numbers are a good thing!” They absolutely can be. “Growth is what we pray for!” Without a doubt. But what we’re less eager to talk about is whether our motivation for things like numbers and growth is fueled by a subtle (or not so subtle) form of pride that creates an anxiety that keeps our hearts from trusting the Lord with a childlike faith. Psalm 131 is a call to lay it all down at the feet of Christ.
Let Hope Lead You Back To Jesus
“Israel, put your hope in the Lord, both now and forever” (Psalm 131:3).
The Psalmist closes with an admonition to Israel to “put your hope in the Lord, both now and forever.” In some ways, it feels like a strange way to close out the Psalm, until you realize that hope, and more specifically, the object of our hope, is the only way to cultivate and maintain a quiet, childlike soul before the Lord.
David was rightly concerned about the soul of Israel. He wanted his people to obey the Lord, put their trust fully in him, and reject the idolatry that tempted them throughout their history and caused so much pain and devastation.
Jesus cares about your soul, too, pastor.
He wants to sanctify your lofty ambitions.
He wants to bring you low.
He wants to form his calm and quiet contentment in you.
He wants to be your hope.
Lean in.
