#883 Too High

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;

my eyes are not raised too high;

I do not occupy myself with things

too great and too marvelous for me.

2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,

like a weaned child with its mother;

like a weaned child is my soul within me.

3 O Israel, hope in the Lord

from this time forth and forevermore. Psalm 131 ESV

A Psalm of David.

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up - Dare I make such a statement? I do not. I will pray about this prayer, for the reality of it, but I am not meek like this. 

…28 Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”… Matthew 11: 28-30

My eyes are not raised too high - The proud heart will aim the eyes at thrones for the ego to sit upon, and resting there they will soon be turned down upon their fellow. Humility is not en vogue today, nor at the time of the Psalmist, but he understands it to be the purest truth, all else is given over to a strong delusion. 

- What the heart desires the eyes look for. Where the desires run the glances usually follow. This holy man felt that he did not seek after elevated places where he might gratify his self esteem, neither did he look down upon others as being his inferiors. A proud look the Lord hates; and in this all men are agreed with him; yea, even the proud themselves hate haughtiness in the gestures of others. Lofty eyes are so generally hateful that haughty men have been known to avoid the manners natural to the proud in order to escape the ill will of their fellows. The pride which apes humility always takes care to east its eyes downward, since every man's consciousness tells him that contemptuous glances are the sure ensigns of a boastful spirit. In Psalm 121 David lifted up his eyes to the hills; but here he declares that they were not lifted up in any other sense. When the heart is right, and the eyes are right, the whole man is on the road to a healthy and happy condition. Let us take care that we do not use the language of this Psalm unless, indeed, it be true as to ourselves; for there is no worse pride than that which claims humility when it does not possess it. C. H. Spurgeon

I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me - There is much I am unfit for, but I know that where I am called God will qualify me to in His time. Few men will ever disqualify themselves based upon reason and the word of God, but in arrogance and disobedience they will grab at that which they can only blaspheme and make a mockery of the position they want to hold so high.

- Many through wishing to be great have failed to be good: they were not content to adorn the lowly stations which the Lord appointed them, and so they have rushed at grandeur and power, and found destruction where they looked for honour. Or in things too high for me. High things may suit others who are of greater stature, and yet they may be quite unfit for us. A man does well to know his own size. Ascertaining his own capacity, he will be foolish if he aims at that which is beyond his reach, straining himself, and thus injuring himself. Such is the vanity of many men that if a work be within their range they despise it, and think it beneath them: the only service which they are willing to undertake is that to which they have never been called, and for which they are by no means qualified. C. H. Spurgeon

But I have calmed and quieted my soul - I want to be honest with myself, to admit my inadequacy, to say that the Lord is God and I am not. So often my anxiety is the grip I refuse to loosen upon the things that are outside of my control. Lord, let Your Spirit tech my soul to wait, to cry to You in the depths of my frustration. Let me be patient with all and quick to shoulder the stumbling.

Like a weaned child with it's mother - Deepen the reality of my dependence, let me walk with You.

O Israel, hope in the Lord.