Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 131:1

Clarke's Commentary

PSALM CXXXI

The psalmist professes his humility, and the peaceableness of

his disposition and conduct, 1, 2.

Exhorts Israel to hope in God, 3.

NOTES ON PSALM CXXXI

Some think that David composed this Psalm as a vindication of himself, when accused by Saul's courtiers that he affected the crown, and was laying schemes and plots to possess himself of it. Others think the Psalm was made during the captivity, and that it contains a fair account of the manner in which the captives behaved themselves, under the domination of their oppressors.

Verse Psalms 131:1. Lord, my heart is not haughty — The principle of pride has no place in my heart; and consequently the high, lofty, and supercilious look does not appear in my eyes. I neither look up, with desire to obtain, to the state of others, nor look down with contempt to the meanness or poverty of those below me. And the whole of my conduct proves this; for I have not exercised myself-walked, in high matters, nor associated myself with the higher ranks of the community, nor in great matters, נפלאות niphlaoth, wonderful or sublime things; too high for me, ממני mimmeni, alien from me, and that do not belong to a person in my sphere and situation in life.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalm 129-131 Preparing for worship

Thinking back on the sorrows of Israel’s history, the travellers recall that ever since the days of the nation’s ‘youth’ in Egypt, Israel has had suffering. The backs of the people had been whipped when they were slaves, but God cut the cords that bound them in slavery and set them free (129:1-4). Now again they are troubled by those who hate them. They pray that God will turn back their enemies and make them as useless as stalks of grass that wither and die in the sun (5-7). Left without friends, their enemies will have no one to help them (8).
A sense of their own sinfulness overcomes the travellers as they approach the temple. They know that they need forgiveness, for no person in a sinful condition can stand before the holy God in his temple (130:1-4). They wait for the assurance of God’s forgiveness with the same longing as watch men on night duty wait for the light of dawn (5-6). But all the time they have a quiet confidence that God, in his love, will forgive them (7-8).
Realizing that they are forgiven, the grateful worshippers are now ready to enter God’s temple in holy worship. The importance of the occasion fills them with such a sense of awe that they are genuinely humbled before God. They confess that they cannot understand all about God and his ways, though at the same time they rest in the knowledge of his nearness and comfort (131:1-3).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"Jehovah, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty; Neither do I exercise myself in great matters, Or in things too wonderful for me. Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child with his mother, Like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in Jehovah From this time forth and forevermore."

"My heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty" Haughtiness is betrayed by a proud look, the same being the head of the list of the seven things that God hates (Proverbs 6:17).

"Neither do I exercise myself in great matters" The "great matters" here refers to, "high positions, or the like."W. E. Addis, p. 394. Christians are admonished, "Set not thy mind on high things." (Romans 12:16).

"Things too wonderful for me" "The secret things belong unto Jehovah; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever" (Deuteronomy 29:29).

It must not be thought that these admonitions forbid human research into the mysteries that lie all about us; but the teaching is rather that there are some things that men shall never know, due to the limitations of their mortality.

Fretting about the unknown is a futile exercise.

"I have stilled and quieted my soul" We find the enlightening words of Alexander Maclaren very helpful in understanding this.

"It is not the tranquillity of a calm nature which speaks here, but that into which the speaker has entered by the vigorous mastery of disturbing elements. How hard the struggle has been and how much bitter crying and petulant resistance there had been before the calm was won, is told by the lovely image of the weaned child."Alexander Maclaren, Vol. III, p. 342.

"Like a weaned child" We agree with Kidner that the RSV `goofed' in their rendition of this figure thus, "Like a child quieted at its mother's breast." That is not the meaning at all. As Kidner said, "The point of this verse is blunted by the RSV… The psalm emphasizes the word `weaned.'"Derek Kidner, op. cit., p. 448. It is a "weaned child" not a nursing child that is mentioned here. The point is that the human soul needs "weaning" from all of its anxious ambitions, etc., before it can enjoy the tranquillity of a heart in tune with God's will. The psalmist here affirms that he is indeed weaned from such hurtful things.

Ballard has some very beautiful lines on this.

"What has brought about this change (this `weaning')? Has he become stoically resigned to life's defeats? Has he given up the struggle because of old age or weariness? No!… Like the merchantman in the New Testament seeking goodly pearls, and who discovered at length the `pearl of great price,' he has come through many discouragements to find in God, rather than in things, life's highest satisfaction. So, come what may, he rests in the Lord and trusts in him for the issue."The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. IV, p. 683.

There is also an undeniable echo in this psalm of the teachings of the Master, who set a little child in the midst of the vain-glorious apostles, quarreling about who was going to get the chief seats in the Kingdom of God, and thundered the message in their ears that, "Except ye turn and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself and become as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3 ff).

"O Israel, hope in Jehovah" Here again, the psalmist calls upon Israel to hope in Jehovah. See our full comment on this in the latter part of the preceding psalm. As we noted there, this admonition carries with it the implication that Israel, as a nation, was doing nothing of the kind.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Lord, my heart is not haughty - Though this is charged upon me; though I may have said things which seem to imply it; though this might appear a just inference from my conduct - yet I am conscious that this is not my real character. What I have said was not the result of ambition.

Nor mine eyes lofty - I am conscious that I am not ambitious and aspiring - as I am accused of being. What I have said is not the result of such a feeling, nor should such a charge be brought against me.

Neither do I exercise myself - Margin, as in Hebrew, walk. I do not walk about among such things; I do not pry into them; I do not meddle with them. What I have said or done is not, as has been said concerning me, the result of a meddlesome and interfering spirit. It may seem to be so; my own consciousness tells me it is not so. The interpretation put upon my conduct may be natural; but I am conscious to myself that it is not the right interpretation.

In great matters, or in things too high for me - Margin, as in Hebrew, wonderful. The word wonderful would apply to matters suited to excite astonishment by their vastness, or their unusual nature - as prodigies or miracles; and then, great and lofty truths. It would apply also to things which might be regarded as far above the capacity of a child, or of one in obscure life, and with slight advantages of education; and, as above suggested, it may have been the accusation brought against him, that, in respect to public matters, matters of state - or to the more elevated doctrines of religion - he had manifested a spirit unbecoming one in early years, and of humble rank, and that this indicated a desire to meddle with matters which he could not understand, and which could not pertain to him. He was conscious, he says, that he was not actuated by that spirit.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

1.O Jehovah! My heart has not been elated David had been made head over God’s people, and in order to prove that he was their lawful prince, entitled to the allegiance of the faithful, he is desirous to show that he had not been influenced, in anything which he had attempted, by ambition or pride, but had submitted himself with a quiet and humble spirit to the divine disposal. In this he teaches us a very useful lesson, and one by which we should be ruled in life — to be contented with the lot which God has marked out for us, to consider what he calls us to, and not to aim at fashioning our own lot, to be moderate in our desires, to avoid entering upon rash undertakings, and to confine ourselves cheerfully within our own sphere, instead of attempting great things. He denies that his heart had been lifted up, for this is the true cause of all unwarranted rashness and presumption in conduct. Is not pride what leads men, under the instigation of their passions, to dare such presumptuous flights, to hurry on recklessly in their course, and throw the whole world into confusion? Were this loftiness of spirit checked, the consequence would be, that all men would study moderation of conduct. His eyes were not lifted up; there were no symptoms of pride in his looks or gestures, as elsewhere (Psalms 18:28) we find proud looks condemned. Something more than this, however, may be intended: That while he put a restraint upon the risings of ambition in his heart, he was careful that his eyes should not lend their assistance to the heart in any covetous aspirations after greatness. All the senses, in short, as well as his heart, were subjected to the restraints of humility. In denying that he walked in, or was conversant with, great things, he must be supposed to refer to the disposition or temper of his soul. For, to hold as he did the office of a Prophet, to be invested with regal dignity, nay, to sit upon the sacred throne of the only-begotten Son of God, not to speak of other distinctions with which he was honored above the generality of men, were great things. But the expression was applicable, in so far as he strictly confined himself to the one object of being serviceable to God and to the Church. Should any still be inclined to lay an undue stress upon the word which is here employed, I would observe that the words from or above me, at the close of the verse, are to be considered as connected with what David here says of great things, as well as of the things shut up, or hidden, so that we may read I have not walked in great things which are above me. The question, therefore, was not whether the lot of David was mean or exalted; it is enough that he was careful not to pass beyond the proper bounds of his calling. He did not think himself at liberty to move one step unless called to it by God.

His submission in such matters stands contrasted with the presumption of those who, without any call from God, hurry themselves into unwarrantable undertakings, and involve themselves in duties which properly belong to others. For so long as we have a clear call from God, things cannot be said to be shut up or hidden from us, or too great for us, provided we stand ready for all obedience; and, on the other hand, those who yield themselves up to the influence of ambition will soon lose themselves in a labyrinth of perplexity. We see how God confounds the proud and boasted enterprises of the children of this world. They run the full course of their wild career, they turn the earth upside down at their pleasure, and put forth their hand in every direction; they are filled with complacency at the thought of their own talents and industry, and, in a moment, when all their plans have been fully formed, they are entirely overthrown, because there is no solidity in them. There are two different forms which the presumption of those takes who will not submit to be humble followers of God, but must needs run before him. Some rush forward with a reckless precipitancy, and seem as if they would build to the skies; others do not so openly exhibit the inordinateness of their desires, are slower in their movements, and cautiously calculate upon the future, and yet their presumption appears no less from the very fact, that, with a total oversight of God, as if heaven and earth were subject to them, they pass their decree as to what shall be done by them some ten or twenty years hereafter. These build, as it were, in the deep sea. But never shall it come to the surface, however extended may be the term of their lives; while those who, like David, submit themselves to God, keeping in their own sphere, moderate in their desires, will enjoy a life of tranquillity and assurance.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 131:1-3

LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things that are too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child. Let Israel hope in the LORD from henceforth and for ever ( Psalms 131:1-3 ).

Lord, I am just a simple person. I am not complex. I don't try to deal with those matters that are above me or beyond my capacities in order that I might look sophisticated or wise or whatever. God, You know I'm just a simple person. My heart isn't haughty. I'm not... I don't look loftily at people as though I am something. I know, God, the truth about myself. I know I am nothing. I'm just like a child, Lord, like a nursing child. My hope is in You forever. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

David claimed that he had not been proud. Pride is essentially a belief that one does not need God but is self-sufficient. Haughty or lofty looks with the eyes betray a proud attitude because they look down on other people with a feeling of superiority (cf. Psalms 18:27; Psalms 101:5; Proverbs 6:17; Proverbs 30:13). Pride also manifests itself in taking on projects for which one is not capable and thinking that one can handle them. The proud person overestimates his own abilities as well as his own importance. The humble person, however, has a realistic understanding of his or her capabilities and limitations (cf. Romans 12:3).

"The godly knows that true godliness begins in the ’heart’ that is not proud (cf. Proverbs 18:12), with eyes that do not envy (cf. Psalms 18:27; Psalms 101:5; Proverbs 16:5), and with a walk of life (MT, ’I do not walk’ for NIV, ’I do not concern myself’) that is not preoccupied with ’greatness’ (cf. Jeremiah 45:5) and with accomplishments (’wonderful,’ i.e., ’difficult’ or ’arduous’; cf. Deuteronomy 17:8; Deuteronomy 30:11)." [Note: VanGemeren, p. 803.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. A model of humility 131:1-2

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 131

In just a few words, David spoke of his humble trust in the Lord and his hope in Him. These are remarkable statements for a powerful king to have written. This is an individual psalm of confidence that became a psalm of ascent.

"In this brief psalm, he [David] tells us the essentials of a life that glorifies God and accomplishes His work on earth." [Note: Ibid., p. 352.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Lord, my heart is not haughty,.... The heart of every man is naturally so, and everything in civil life tends to make it more so; as riches and honour, birth and blood, wisdom, knowledge, and learning, strength and beauty, especially where there is a superiority of those to others; and in religious if persons have not the true grace of God, their hearts will be haughty; if they have a notion of the purity of human nature, and the goodness of their hearts, and are pure in their own eyes, and of the power of their free will to do this and the other, and of their perfection in good works, and are full of their own righteousness, and have some external gifts, and some degree of notional knowledge; but if the heart is made truly contrite under a sense of sin, and is melted with discoveries of pardoning love, it will be humble and not haughty: and those have such hearts who have seen the haughtiness of their hearts, and the exceeding sinfulness of sin; their impotency to that which is spiritually good; their imperfection in all they do; the excellency and suitableness of Christ's righteousness, and that all their salvation is of grace, and that grace is entirely free; and the more spiritual knowledge and experience they have, the more humble they are: and this was David's case, and what he here said was no doubt true, since he hated lying; and besides he speaks this in the presence of and to God the searcher of hearts; though he had been anointed by Samuel, and knew that he was to be successor in the kingdom, yet his heart was not elated with it;

nor mine eyes lofty; or "lifted up" l, they were lifted up to God in prayer often, out not above his fellow creatures; he behaved himself humbly as well as wisely in Saul's court, where he was raised to great dignity, which gained him the affections of the court, and of all Israel; but there are too many whose eyes are lofty, and their eyelids lifted up, who disdain to look upon those that are inferior to them, as the rich on the poor, the Pharisee on the publican; see Proverbs 30:13. This is the character of antichrist, that his look is more stout than his fellows, and is abominable in the sight of God, even a proud look as well as a proud heart, Proverbs 6:17. But this was not David's case; as he could not bear this in others he would not suffer it in himself,

Psalms 101:5;

neither do I exercise myself in great matters; or, "walk" m in them; these were not the subject of his employment and conversation; he did many great things, in killing the lion and the bear that came into his father's flock; in slaying Goliath with a sling and stone only; in leading out the armies of Israel, and slaying his ten thousands; and he exercised himself in the great things of the law, which he was careful to observe, and studied the great things of the Gospel, which he had the highest esteem of, and desired to understand; but he did not seek human greatness, or the great things of this world, for himself; he had no ambitious views, or was desirous of the kingdom he was anointed to, before the proper time; see 1 Samuel 18:18;

or in things too high for me: or "too wonderful" n; see Job 42:3. He contemplated the wonderful make and frame of his body, the texture, symmetry, and use of each of its parts; he observed the wonderful providences of God towards him ever since he had a being; and particularly he took notice of the wonderful love of God to him, and remembered and talked of, and declared, the wonderful works of grace and redemption; but not things above his capacity, out of his reach, and which are secret, or not clearly revealed: and such things we should be content to be ignorant of, or not to have adequate ideas of, or be capable of accounting for; as the being and perfections of God, particularly his immensity and eternity; the mode of subsisting of the Persons in the Godhead; the generation of the Son and procession of the Spirit; the incarnation of Christ, and the union of the two natures in him; present providences, unsearchable and past finding out; and future things, especially the times and seasons of them; see Psalms 139:6.

l רמו "elati", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, &c. m הלכתי "ambulavi", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Cocceius, &c. n בנפלאות ממני "in mirabilibus prae me", Montanus, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

A song of degrees of David.

      1 LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.   2 Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.   3 Let Israel hope in the LORD from henceforth and for ever.

      Here are two things which will be comforts to us:--

      I. Consciousness of our integrity. This was David's rejoicing, that his heart could witness for him that he had walked humbly with his God, notwithstanding the censures he was under and the temptations he was in.

      1. He aimed not at a high condition, nor was he desirous of making a figure in the world, but, if God had so ordered, could have been well content to spend all his days, as he did in the beginning of them, in the sheep-folds. His own brother, in a passion, charged him with pride (1 Samuel 17:28), but the charge was groundless and unjust. God, who searches the heart, knew, (1.) That he had no conceited opinion of himself, or his own merits: Lord, my heart is not haughty. Humble saints cannot think so well of themselves as others think of them, are not in love with their own shadow, nor do they magnify their own attainments or achievements. The love of God reigning in the heart will subdue all inordinate self-love. (2.) That he had neither a scornful nor an aspiring look: "My eyes are not lofty, either to look with envy upon those that are above me or to look with disdain upon those that are below me." Where there is a proud heart there is commonly a proud look (Proverbs 6:17), but the humble publican will not so much as lift up his eyes. (3.) That he did not employ himself in things above his station, in things too great or too high for him. He did not employ himself in studies too high; he made God's word his meditation, and did not amuse himself with matters of nice speculation or doubtful disputation, or covet to be wise above what is written. To know God and our duty is learning sufficiently high for us. He did not employ himself in affairs too great; he followed his ewes, and never set up for a politician; no, nor for a soldier; for, when his brethren went to the wars, he staid at home to keep the sheep. It is our wisdom, and will be our praise, to keep within our sphere, and not to intrude into things which we have not seen, or meddle with that which does not belong to us. Princes and scholars must not exercise themselves in matters too great, too high, for men: and those in a low station, and of ordinary capacities, must not pretend to that which is out of their reach, and which they were not cut out for. Those will fall under due shame that affect undue honours.

      2. He was well reconciled to every condition that God placed him in (Psalms 131:2; Psalms 131:2): I have behaved and quieted myself as a child that is weaned of his mother. As he had not proudly aimed at the kingdom, so, since God had appointed him to it, he had not behaved insolently towards any, nor been restless in his attempts to get the crown before the time set; but, (1.) He had been as humble as a little child about the age of a weanling, as manageable and governable, and as far from aiming at high things; as entirely at God's disposal as the child at the disposal of the mother or nurse; as far from taking state upon him, though anointed to be king, or valuing himself upon the prospect of his future advancement, as a child in the arms. Our Saviour has taught us humility by this comparison (Matthew 18:3); we must become as little children. (2.) He had been as indifferent to the wealth and honour of this world as a child is to the breast when it is thoroughly weaned from it. I have levelled and quieted myself (so Dr. Hammond reads it) as a child that is weaned. This intimates that our hearts are naturally as desirous of worldly things as the babe is of the breast, and in like manner relish them, cry for them, are fond of them, play with them, and cannot live without them. But, by the grace of God, a soul that is sanctified, is weaned from those things. Providence puts wormwood upon the breast, and that helps to wean us. The child is perhaps cross and fretful while it is in the weaning and thinks itself undone when it has lost the breast. But in a day or two it is forgotten; the fret is over, and it accommodates itself well enough to a new way of feeding, cares no longer for milk, but can bear strong meat. Thus does a gracious soul quiet itself under the loss of that which it loved and disappointment in that which it hoped for, and is easy whatever happens, lives, and lives comfortably, upon God and the covenant-grace, when creatures prove dry breasts. When our condition is not to our mind we must bring our mind to our condition; and then we are easy to ourselves and all about us; then our souls are as a weaned child.

      II. Confidence in God; and this David recommends to all Israel of God, no doubt from his own experience of the benefit of it (Psalms 131:3; Psalms 131:3): Let Israel hope in the Lord, and let them continue to do so henceforth and for ever. Though David could himself wait patiently and quietly for the crown designed him, yet perhaps Israel, the people whose darling he was, would be ready to attempt something in favour of him before the time; and therefore endeavours to quiet them too, and bids them hope in the Lord that they should see a happy change of the face of affairs in due time. Thus it is good to hope and quietly to wait for the salvation of the Lord.