Blessings of Summer

Psalm 131:1-3 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 marvellous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.

Charles Spurgeon said that this Psalm is “one of the shortest to read, but one of the longest to learn.” This is a psalm of humility. it records the meek and humble spirit of David. Pride is centred in the heart, but it is not clearly revealed in the eyes. Remember a proud look is one of the things God hates. He speaks of his soul as a weaned child. We are weaned from worldly things to heavenly things. It’s always tricky to talk about humility. How do you know when you’re truly humble? If you are truly humble, will you even know it? When you think you have it, you’ve lost it.

In a statement created by Christian leaders across the world, the Lausanne Willowbank Report calls for church leaders to return to the humility and servanthood that Jesus manifested in His earthly ministry:

We believe that the principal key to persuasive Christian communication is to be found in the communicators themselves and what kind of people they are. . . . We desire to see . . . “the meekness and gentleness of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:1). . . . There is the humility to take the trouble to understand and appreciate the culture of those to whom we go.

It is the desire which leads naturally into that true dialogue “whose purpose is to listen sensitively in order to understand.” . . . We repent of the ignorance which assumes that we have all the answers and that our only role is to teach. We have very much to learn. We repent also of judgmental attitudes.

We know that we should never condemn or despise another culture, but rather respect it. We advocate neither the arrogance which imposes our culture on others, nor the syncretism which mixes the gospel with cultural elements incompatible with it, but rather a humble sharing of the good news—made possible by the mutual respect of a genuine friendship. 

We could ask ourselves how much do we desire to be part of this community.

Perhaps praying the prayer of humble access is a way of humbly centring ourselves in Christ.

We do not presume to come to your table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own goodness, but in your all-embracing love and mercy. We are not worthy even to gather up the crumbs under your table, but it is your nature always to have mercy. So feed us with the body and blood of Jesus Christ, your Son, that we may forever live in him and he in us. Amen.