May 21, 2025 • 26 mins
Are you anxious about anything in your life right now? Are you fearful about something coming in the days ahead? If not, then it’s likely you’ll be tempted toward anxiety and fear in the near future. There is so much we can’t control in our lives, but as Psalm 131 reminds us, we weren’t made to control our lives or to be autonomous. We were made to humbly rely on God, for this is the only way to experience true and lasting rest. In this message, David Platt encourages us to imitate the Psalmist in Psalm 131 by entrusting our lives to the Lord. Regardless of the trials we may face, those who belong to Christ by faith can rest in God’s sovereign goodness and all-sufficient salvation.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to David Platt Messages a weekly
podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Well, if you have a Bible and I hope you or somebody
around you does, that you canlook on with.
Let me invite you to open withme to Psalm chapter 131.
All throughout the Bible, godreveals himself as our heavenly
father.
Jesus teaches us to pray ourfather in heaven.
And yet at times God revealshimself through imagery that's
comparable to a mother, and itjust so happens that our
(00:30):
church's Bible reading plan thisweek is highlighting one of
those times.
So as I was praying about whereto go in God's Word today, it
seemed like a no-brainer that wewould all hear this Word from
God on Mother's Day, from Psalm131.
Look at it with me, psalm 131,verse 1.
O Lord, my heart is not liftedup, my eyes are not raised too
(00:54):
high.
I do not occupy myself withthings too great and too
marvelous for me, but I havecalmed and quieted my soul like
a weaned child with its mother.
Like a weaned child is my soulwithin me.
Oh Israel, hope in the Lordfrom this time forth and
forevermore.
(01:14):
And that's it.
That's the whole psalm.
This is so good.
Last week we looked at thelongest chapter in the Bible,
psalm chapter 119.
I preached a 50-point sermonfrom it.
Good news is, this week we gotone of the shortest chapters in
the Bible, and there's hardlyover 50 words in this entire
psalm, so it's not going to bequite as intense.
It means you don't always knowwhat you want or what you need.
(01:37):
You don't know how to expressyourself in other ways, and
you're still learning that thisperson who's holding you loves
you and will provide for whatyou need when you need it.
You're still learning to trust.
Do you find yourself anxious orworried right now about various
things, or afraid or sad?
(02:00):
Do you feel honestly upset withhow some things are going in
your life, maybe even angry atlife, at others, or maybe even
angry at God?
Maybe you're wanting somethingthat you don't have and
(02:24):
sometimes not knowing exactlywhat you want.
Or maybe you're tired, justexhausted, and maybe any or all
of the above is actually leadingyou to push away from God, or
it's at least creating distancebetween you and God.
Or can you say that you areliving in a place of rest right
(02:51):
now in your life, in yourrelationship with God?
Do these pictures describe thestate of your soul right now?
Without going into details ofmy own life, this last week was
a really hard week and I foundmyself feeling and even
(03:11):
experiencing a faith thatmirrored a lot of those other
pictures, and I'd beenconsidering preaching this psalm
.
So it was on my mind.
And at one distinct, so it wason my mind and at one distinct,
difficult moment, god just spokethis word directly to me and
said David, I've not designedyou to live in this restlessness
(03:33):
you're in right now.
I've designed you to live inrest, with calmness and
quietness of soul, like a weanedchild with its mother.
Psalm 131 is all about learningto live here in a world where
(03:56):
there's an adversary who wantsus to live here.
So what's the key?
Like?
Is this actually possible?
How do you get to calmness andquietness of soul in a restless,
wearying world?
Well, let's hear what God issaying to us.
Three steps I see in thischapter that lead us to calmness
(04:19):
and quietness of soul.
It all starts with number one.
Come to two realizations.
I want you to notice how David,the author of this psalm, starts
with two critical realizations,one about God and one about
himself.
So first, god, david starts bylooking to God oh Lord which
(04:39):
we'll talk about that more in amoment and then he says my heart
is not lifted up, and this wordthat's translated lifted up in
the Hebrew, means prideful orhaughty.
So follow this.
The starting point forquietness of soul is realizing
two things.
One, that God is good.
(05:00):
The name David uses here forGod, capital L, small caps O-R-D
.
We've talked about this beforeis Yahweh, which is the covenant
name God had revealed to hispeople when they were slaves and
suffering in Egypt, and hebrought them out of that
suffering.
I want to show you what thisname represents.
(05:21):
Look with me at Exodus, chapter34, verses six and seven.
Moses had asked God to show hisglory after they had come out
of Egypt, and this is whathappened.
The Lord, capital L, small capsR-R-D.
Passed before him andproclaimed the Lord, capital L,
small caps R-R-D.
Passed before him andproclaimed the Lord, the Lord.
Here's my name.
I am a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in
(05:43):
steadfast love and faithfulness.
Keeping steadfast love forthousands, forgiving iniquity
and transgression and sin.
That's who the Lord is.
He's merciful, he's gracious,he's slow to anger, he's
abounding in steadfast love andfaithfulness.
(06:06):
He keeps steadfast love and heforgives iniquity and
transgression and sin.
That's who God the Lord is.
God is perfectly, infinitelygood.
That's who he is.
That's the first realization.
That's key to quietness of soul.
(06:27):
God is good.
And then the second realizationis you're not God.
David says my heart is nothaughty high, lifted up, puffed
up.
My eyes are not raised too high.
I'm not trying to see what Ican't see, and I realize that
because I'm not God, there arethings that are too great and
(06:50):
too marvelous for me tounderstand.
This is so important.
If you're gonna get toquietness of soul.
You have to realize you can'tsee everything God sees and you
can't understand everything Godunderstands, because you're not
God and we're often restlessbecause we rebel against this
(07:14):
reality.
We think we see everything butwe don't.
In the words of John Piper, godis always doing 10,000 things
in your life and you may beaware of three of them.
We never see everything Godsees and we never understand
everything God understands.
(07:35):
But we think we do, we think weknow what's best, we think we
know what needs to happen.
We think we know how to makeeverything right, which means
when things don't happen like wethink they should, or we can't
make things right like we wantto make it right, or things
aren't just working according toour ways or our timing.
(07:55):
I always think on Mother's Dayabout how hard this day was for
years, as Heather and I walkedthrough infertility wanting
children, god not providing inthe way we were hoping.
I know some of you are in thatsituation right now.
I prayed specifically for youtoday, and whether it's that or
any number of other things inthis world, not being able to
(08:18):
see or understand so often robsus of rest of soul, but this is
where we need to realize we'renot God, and that's really good
news, because we are notperfectly, infinitely good and
all-knowing and all-powerful andall-wise and all-loving and
(08:41):
gracious and merciful andfaithful, like God is.
Don't miss this.
Humility is an antidote toanxiety, and I don't want to
oversimplify anxiety, which Irecognize can be complex, have
many layered factors.
I'm talking about, though, thekind of anxiety that can and
does overwhelm any of us when wethink we have to carry
(09:04):
everything for ourselves or forthose we love, and even for God,
and God's word is saying that,if we want to be free from
anxiety, it will necessitatehumility, it will necessitate
constantly reminding ourselvesthat God is good and we are not
(09:24):
God, and both of those realitieswill lead us to rest.
Think about it.
This kid is not resting becausehe sees and knows and
understands everything that'sgoing around him in the world,
or even everything that his momdoes.
He's resting because he's inhis mom's arms and that's enough
for him.
The question for you and me isis this enough for us In your
(09:52):
relationship with the Lord andyour relationship with the Lord,
the merciful, gracious, loving,faithful God of the universe,
is it enough for you to be inhis arms?
Which leads us then to thesecond step, toward quietness of
soul.
So come to these tworealizations, then choose to
(10:12):
rest.
Look at the language in versetwo.
David says I have calmed andquieted my soul Like this is an
action he does In a sermon onthis text, hb Charles said David
grabbed his soul by the collarand said be quiet, sit down and
stop acting out.
(10:33):
This is David talking to hissoul, to himself, which the
Bible illustrates in otherpoints.
Look at Psalm 42, verse 5.
Why are you cast down, o mysoul?
Why are you in turmoil withinme?
Hope in God.
These Psalms are a clearreminder that we all need to
(10:53):
learn to talk to ourselves,because it's dangerous to only
listen to ourselves and,specifically, we need to tell
ourselves to look to God, tobelieve in God, to hope in God.
Choose, tell yourself to rest.
That's what these words meancalm and quiet.
(11:15):
Rest in who God is, which leadsto this imagery of a weaned
child with its mother.
So, not a baby anymore, but achild who's learned to trust its
mother.
This imagery of a weaned childis a call for you and me to grow
up in faith, to stop actinglike babies who don't realize
(11:44):
who God is.
Do we realize whose arms we arein?
This contrast between a cryingbaby and a weaned child is a
call to stop clamoring for whatyou want and to start being
content in who you're with,child of God.
(12:06):
You're with God, the Lord.
He is with you, he is holdingyou.
You're with God, the Lord.
He is with you, he is holdingyou.
So rest not in what you can getout of him, but rest in the
fact that he is holding you andhe promises to provide you
everything you need.
(12:28):
Choose to rest in who God is andin how much God loves you.
It's what it means to be weanedfor a child to learn.
My mom has fed me and closed meand held me and laid me down
and picked me up again andcarried me day after day and
month after month and year afteryear, and after a few years of
(12:51):
that, a child is weaned, andthat's with an imperfect mom in
this world.
How much more so with theperfect God who formed us in our
mother's womb and, day afterday and month after month and
year after year, has given usbreath in our lungs and food and
(13:11):
water for our bodies andmillions of other things that we
haven't even paid attention tothat he's given us.
Surely we can rest in all theways God has shown his love for
us.
You wanna see somethingincredible in God's word?
Not that all this isn'tincredible, but look at this
Psalm 116, verse seven Reallysimilar verse Return O my soul
(13:34):
to your rest, for the Lord hasdealt bountifully with you.
So it's the same idea, speakingto your soul, to choose to rest
.
Why?
Because the Lord Yahweh hasdealt bountifully with you.
And here's what's incrediblethis word bountiful in the
Hebrew is the same exact wordthat's translated weaned in
(13:58):
Psalm 131, verse two.
Because the whole idea of beingweaned is being bountifully
loved and dealt with in a waythat you learn to trust.
And that's what the Bible issaying here.
This is you Christian.
Talk about bountiful blessing.
(14:19):
God so loves you that he senthis only son to die on a cross
for all your sins, and he senthis spirit to open your eyes to
his love for you so that by hisgrace not by your works, not by
your doing all, by his grace,you've been adopted into God's
(14:41):
family as his son or daughterand you will be with him for the
next 10 trillion years andbeyond.
That's bountiful.
So if he's going to take careof you the next 10 trillion
years and beyond, that'sbountiful.
So if he's going to take careof you the next 10 trillion
years and beyond, surely he cantake care of you.
Today, like this, is what itmeans to be weaned.
So don't believe the adversary.
(15:03):
When you're tempted torestlessness and the adversary
says God doesn't care about you,Doesn't care about this
circumstance, god doesn't loveyou, god's forgotten you.
No, you remember.
And here just so happens to beanother image from our Bible
reading a few days ago, of Godcompared to a mother's love Also
incredible Isaiah 49, verses 15and 16.
(15:23):
Can a woman forget her nursingchild?
That she should have nocompassion on the son of her
womb?
In other words, a mom doesn'tforget her child.
Well, maybe somebody might, butI will not forget you.
Behold, I've engraved you onthe palms of my hands.
This is amazing.
God is saying I do not forgetmy children.
I have them engraved on my hand.
(15:44):
What imagery.
God says my children are alwaysbefore me, and any parent knows
this.
Heather and I will get away fora day not on our own, and we're
just talking about our kids thewhole time.
They're always on our mind andGod says listen to this, let
this soak in.
This is amazing.
God is saying you are always onmy mind.
I'm thinking about you all thetime.
(16:06):
I see you.
I love you, I'm committed toproviding for you.
I see a million things that youdon't see.
So choose to rest in who God isand how much God loves you.
And can I just add an importantword here that some probably
many of us need to hear today?
(16:26):
Choosing to rest in God meansrefusing to seek rest in
counterfeit gods, because thereis an adversary who is trying
his best to convince some of youthat what your restless soul
needs is alcohol or adultery orpornography or binge watching
(16:53):
shows on or videos on YouTube.
What you need is morepossessions, or more money, or
more power or better position.
If you could just have this orthat, then you would have rest.
And God's Word is saying loudand clear today rest.
And God's word is saying loudand clear today.
It's a lie and the adversaryknows it.
(17:14):
The adversary knows all thesecounterfeit gods are empty and
they will only lead you to morerestlessness and ultimately to
your ruin, and that is hisdesign for your life.
So don't take his bait.
In the words of Augustine inthe fifth century, our hearts
will be restless until they findtheir rest in God.
(17:36):
So leave behind the adversary'slies and choose to rest in who
God truly is and in how much Godtruly loves you.
Which then leads us to thethird step, toward quietness of
soul Be confident in waiting.
So the first words of verse 3.
(17:57):
O Israel, hope in the Lord, inYahweh, which means so.
Don't hope in this or thatperson in this world.
Don't hope in this or thatcircumstance changing.
Don't put your hope there.
Hope in Yah world.
Don't hope in this or thatcircumstance changing.
Don't put your hope there.
Hope in Yahweh and the Lord.
And this word for hope, it'soften translated hope like this,
(18:19):
but it also carries the idea ofwaiting, which means it's
sometimes translated wait.
Here's an example Psalm 31,verse 24.
Be strong, let your heart takecourage, all you who wait for
the Lord.
That's the same word that'stranslated hope in Psalm 131,
verse 3.
And it makes sense, doesn't it?
(18:40):
You think about it, thisconnection between hoping and
waiting In the words of Romans 8, who hopes for what he already
has?
We don't hope for something wehave.
We hope for something thatwe're waiting for.
Hope implies waiting.
So the call to hope is a callto be confident in the waiting
which, let's just be honest,we're not good at.
(19:01):
Waiting is not easy for any ofus.
We want resolution now, we wantthings fixed now, we want what
we want now.
But remember, that's how a babylooks at the world.
But a weaned child is confidentto wait because the weaned
(19:24):
child of God knows God will takecare of you today.
He's promised to.
It's why you can rest, becauseBecause you can know that in
your waiting today, god isworking all things, not just a
few things here or there, allthings together for the good of
those who trust him.
(19:44):
Let me show you another placewhere we see the same word Hope,
wait.
Lamentations, chapter 3, verse22.
The steadfast love of the Lordnever ceases.
His mercies never come to anend.
They are new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness.
The Lord is my portion, says mysoul.
Therefore, I will hope in him,in the Lord.
(20:07):
The Lord is good to those whowait for him, To those, the soul
who seeks him.
It is good that one should waitquietly for the salvation of
the Lord.
This is the same word in theHebrew Hoping, waiting quietly.
So, son or daughter of God,weaned child of God, you can
wait quietly, knowing what Hismercy is new for you every
(20:34):
single morning.
He will take care of you todayand, child of God, he will take
care of you tomorrow.
There's new mercy waiting foryou when you wake up tomorrow
morning, new mercy for newchallenges.
And that's why Jesus says inMatthew, chapter 6, don't be
anxious about tomorrow.
I've got you.
(20:55):
I'll meet you with the mercyyou need tomorrow.
Don't borrow tomorrow'stroubles for today.
You got mercy promised, waitingfor you there and we, child of
God, know this.
God will take care of youforever.
Hope in the Lord, from thistime forth and forevermore.
Oh, how can you say that Hope?
(21:16):
Forever, like without end,beyond all the hurt of this
world Beyond death, like reallyhope forever.
How can you say that?
Here's how lord, the mercifulgracious, abounding in steadfast
love, faithful god over all,has come to us in the person of
(21:40):
jesus.
He has died on a cross to paythe price for iniquities and
transgressions and sins and hehas risen from the grave.
He has defeated death.
He lives forever and anyoneanywhere who turns from their
(22:01):
sin and trusts in Jesus asSavior and Lord will live
forever with him with confidenthope, confident waiting for a
day that is coming when sin willbe no more and suffering will
be no more and physical diseasewill be no more and mental
(22:22):
illness will be no more and hurtand pain and grief and loss and
death itself will be no more.
Be confident of this waitingchild of God.
One day he's gonna take all ofour anxious, restless hearts,
he's gonna wipe every tear fromour eyes and he's gonna bring us
to complete rest in him.
(22:42):
That's what's coming foreverfor all who wait on the Lord.
So, brothers and sisters, Idon't know all the restlessness
you have experienced or areexperiencing or will experience.
None of us know what the nextweek holds in our lives and I do
(23:04):
not presume that.
Taking these steps from Psalm131 will make all of that easy
To hear this morning here atTyson's, a teenage girl who lost
her mom a couple years agotestify how God is still good,
and then she led us in a worshipsong.
(23:24):
Psalm 131 doesn't take thatloss or that pain away.
These steps don't makecircumstances what we want them
to be, but that's the point.
There's a way to have rest evenwhen the circumstances don't
change.
There's supernatural restavailable to you and me in the
(23:51):
restless, weary world we live in, and it's only possible in
jesus.
I think about jesus's words topeter in john, chapter 13.
Jesus looked at him and saidpeter, you don't understand what
I'm doing right now, but oneday you will understand.
And I'm under no illusion thatwhen we get to heaven, all of a
(24:13):
sudden we're gonna becomeomniscient and know everything.
But I am confident that when weget to heaven and we look back
at specific trials we walkthrough in this world, god is
not going to say to us.
Our Father's not gonna say tous yeah, you know that trial, I
don't know what that was about.
I am confident that on that day, for all who trust in Jesus, we
(24:40):
are going to understand thatGod is indeed good and that God,
at every step, was working atevery step, working for our good
.
You can be confident in yourwaiting on God.
You will not.
(25:01):
You will never regret waiting,waiting, hoping, resting in God.
So I want to give you a momentin response to this word to calm
and quiet your soul.
It's for these realizations ina restless, weary world God is
(25:23):
good, you're not God.
And choose rest in who he isand how much he loves you, and
to choose to be confident inwaiting on him.
And here's the deal if you'venever placed your faith in Jesus
to forgive you of your sins, tobring you into relationship
(25:46):
with God, I want to invite youto do that today, in this moment
like why would you wait anylonger for forever hope,
particularly knowing you're notguaranteed another day in this
world?
I choose to rest in Jesus forthe first time today.
Why wait on that?
And others of you who are inChrist and are restless for any
(26:07):
number of reasons, and maybesome of you who are in Christ
and are restless for any numberof reasons, and maybe some of
you have been running from Godin your restlessness, you've
grown distant from God in yourrestlessness.
In the words of Psalm 116,verse seven return to your rest
In these quiet moments.
(26:28):
Just see yourself in his arms,look at the Lord in his goodness
and say I choose to rest in you.
So I want to give you a coupleminutes between you and God, the
Lord, to just do Psalm 131.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of
David Platt Messages.
Lord to just do Psalm 131.
You are listening to David Platt Messages a weekly
podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Well, if you have a Bible and I hope you or somebody
around you does, that you canlook on with.
Let me invite you to open withme to Psalm chapter 131.
All throughout the Bible, godreveals himself as our heavenly
father.
Jesus teaches us to pray ourfather in heaven.
And yet at times God revealshimself through imagery that's
comparable to a mother, and itjust so happens that our
(00:30):
church's Bible reading plan thisweek is highlighting one of
those times.
So as I was praying about whereto go in God's Word today, it
seemed like a no-brainer that wewould all hear this Word from
God on Mother's Day, from Psalm131.
Look at it with me, psalm 131,verse 1.
O Lord, my heart is not liftedup, my eyes are not raised too
(00:54):
high.
I do not occupy myself withthings too great and too
marvelous for me, but I havecalmed and quieted my soul like
a weaned child with its mother.
Like a weaned child is my soulwithin me.
Oh Israel, hope in the Lordfrom this time forth and
forevermore.
(01:14):
And that's it.
That's the whole psalm.
This is so good.
Last week we looked at thelongest chapter in the Bible,
psalm chapter 119.
I preached a 50-point sermonfrom it.
Good news is, this week we gotone of the shortest chapters in
the Bible, and there's hardlyover 50 words in this entire
psalm, so it's not going to bequite as intense.
It means you don't always knowwhat you want or what you need.
(01:37):
You don't know how to expressyourself in other ways, and
you're still learning that thisperson who's holding you loves
you and will provide for whatyou need when you need it.
You're still learning to trust.
Do you find yourself anxious orworried right now about various
things, or afraid or sad?
(02:00):
Do you feel honestly upset withhow some things are going in
your life, maybe even angry atlife, at others, or maybe even
angry at God?
Maybe you're wanting somethingthat you don't have and
(02:24):
sometimes not knowing exactlywhat you want.
Or maybe you're tired, justexhausted, and maybe any or all
of the above is actually leadingyou to push away from God, or
it's at least creating distancebetween you and God.
Or can you say that you areliving in a place of rest right
(02:51):
now in your life, in yourrelationship with God?
Do these pictures describe thestate of your soul right now?
Without going into details ofmy own life, this last week was
a really hard week and I foundmyself feeling and even
(03:11):
experiencing a faith thatmirrored a lot of those other
pictures, and I'd beenconsidering preaching this psalm
.
So it was on my mind.
And at one distinct, so it wason my mind and at one distinct,
difficult moment, god just spokethis word directly to me and
said David, I've not designedyou to live in this restlessness
(03:33):
you're in right now.
I've designed you to live inrest, with calmness and
quietness of soul, like a weanedchild with its mother.
Psalm 131 is all about learningto live here in a world where
(03:56):
there's an adversary who wantsus to live here.
So what's the key?
Like?
Is this actually possible?
How do you get to calmness andquietness of soul in a restless,
wearying world?
Well, let's hear what God issaying to us.
Three steps I see in thischapter that lead us to calmness
(04:19):
and quietness of soul.
It all starts with number one.
Come to two realizations.
I want you to notice how David,the author of this psalm, starts
with two critical realizations,one about God and one about
himself.
So first, god, david starts bylooking to God oh Lord which
(04:39):
we'll talk about that more in amoment and then he says my heart
is not lifted up, and this wordthat's translated lifted up in
the Hebrew, means prideful orhaughty.
So follow this.
The starting point forquietness of soul is realizing
two things.
One, that God is good.
(05:00):
The name David uses here forGod, capital L, small caps O-R-D
.
We've talked about this beforeis Yahweh, which is the covenant
name God had revealed to hispeople when they were slaves and
suffering in Egypt, and hebrought them out of that
suffering.
I want to show you what thisname represents.
(05:21):
Look with me at Exodus, chapter34, verses six and seven.
Moses had asked God to show hisglory after they had come out
of Egypt, and this is whathappened.
The Lord, capital L, small capsR-R-D.
Passed before him andproclaimed the Lord, capital L,
small caps R-R-D.
Passed before him andproclaimed the Lord, the Lord.
Here's my name.
I am a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in
(05:43):
steadfast love and faithfulness.
Keeping steadfast love forthousands, forgiving iniquity
and transgression and sin.
That's who the Lord is.
He's merciful, he's gracious,he's slow to anger, he's
abounding in steadfast love andfaithfulness.
(06:06):
He keeps steadfast love and heforgives iniquity and
transgression and sin.
That's who God the Lord is.
God is perfectly, infinitelygood.
That's who he is.
That's the first realization.
That's key to quietness of soul.
(06:27):
God is good.
And then the second realizationis you're not God.
David says my heart is nothaughty high, lifted up, puffed
up.
My eyes are not raised too high.
I'm not trying to see what Ican't see, and I realize that
because I'm not God, there arethings that are too great and
(06:50):
too marvelous for me tounderstand.
This is so important.
If you're gonna get toquietness of soul.
You have to realize you can'tsee everything God sees and you
can't understand everything Godunderstands, because you're not
God and we're often restlessbecause we rebel against this
(07:14):
reality.
We think we see everything butwe don't.
In the words of John Piper, godis always doing 10,000 things
in your life and you may beaware of three of them.
We never see everything Godsees and we never understand
everything God understands.
(07:35):
But we think we do, we think weknow what's best, we think we
know what needs to happen.
We think we know how to makeeverything right, which means
when things don't happen like wethink they should, or we can't
make things right like we wantto make it right, or things
aren't just working according toour ways or our timing.
(07:55):
I always think on Mother's Dayabout how hard this day was for
years, as Heather and I walkedthrough infertility wanting
children, god not providing inthe way we were hoping.
I know some of you are in thatsituation right now.
I prayed specifically for youtoday, and whether it's that or
any number of other things inthis world, not being able to
(08:18):
see or understand so often robsus of rest of soul, but this is
where we need to realize we'renot God, and that's really good
news, because we are notperfectly, infinitely good and
all-knowing and all-powerful andall-wise and all-loving and
(08:41):
gracious and merciful andfaithful, like God is.
Don't miss this.
Humility is an antidote toanxiety, and I don't want to
oversimplify anxiety, which Irecognize can be complex, have
many layered factors.
I'm talking about, though, thekind of anxiety that can and
does overwhelm any of us when wethink we have to carry
(09:04):
everything for ourselves or forthose we love, and even for God,
and God's word is saying that,if we want to be free from
anxiety, it will necessitatehumility, it will necessitate
constantly reminding ourselvesthat God is good and we are not
(09:24):
God, and both of those realitieswill lead us to rest.
Think about it.
This kid is not resting becausehe sees and knows and
understands everything that'sgoing around him in the world,
or even everything that his momdoes.
He's resting because he's inhis mom's arms and that's enough
for him.
The question for you and me isis this enough for us In your
(09:52):
relationship with the Lord andyour relationship with the Lord,
the merciful, gracious, loving,faithful God of the universe,
is it enough for you to be inhis arms?
Which leads us then to thesecond step, toward quietness of
soul.
So come to these tworealizations, then choose to
(10:12):
rest.
Look at the language in versetwo.
David says I have calmed andquieted my soul Like this is an
action he does In a sermon onthis text, hb Charles said David
grabbed his soul by the collarand said be quiet, sit down and
stop acting out.
(10:33):
This is David talking to hissoul, to himself, which the
Bible illustrates in otherpoints.
Look at Psalm 42, verse 5.
Why are you cast down, o mysoul?
Why are you in turmoil withinme?
Hope in God.
These Psalms are a clearreminder that we all need to
(10:53):
learn to talk to ourselves,because it's dangerous to only
listen to ourselves and,specifically, we need to tell
ourselves to look to God, tobelieve in God, to hope in God.
Choose, tell yourself to rest.
That's what these words meancalm and quiet.
(11:15):
Rest in who God is, which leadsto this imagery of a weaned
child with its mother.
So, not a baby anymore, but achild who's learned to trust its
mother.
This imagery of a weaned childis a call for you and me to grow
up in faith, to stop actinglike babies who don't realize
(11:44):
who God is.
Do we realize whose arms we arein?
This contrast between a cryingbaby and a weaned child is a
call to stop clamoring for whatyou want and to start being
content in who you're with,child of God.
(12:06):
You're with God, the Lord.
He is with you, he is holdingyou.
You're with God, the Lord.
He is with you, he is holdingyou.
So rest not in what you can getout of him, but rest in the
fact that he is holding you andhe promises to provide you
everything you need.
(12:28):
Choose to rest in who God is andin how much God loves you.
It's what it means to be weanedfor a child to learn.
My mom has fed me and closed meand held me and laid me down
and picked me up again andcarried me day after day and
month after month and year afteryear, and after a few years of
(12:51):
that, a child is weaned, andthat's with an imperfect mom in
this world.
How much more so with theperfect God who formed us in our
mother's womb and, day afterday and month after month and
year after year, has given usbreath in our lungs and food and
(13:11):
water for our bodies andmillions of other things that we
haven't even paid attention tothat he's given us.
Surely we can rest in all theways God has shown his love for
us.
You wanna see somethingincredible in God's word?
Not that all this isn'tincredible, but look at this
Psalm 116, verse seven Reallysimilar verse Return O my soul
(13:34):
to your rest, for the Lord hasdealt bountifully with you.
So it's the same idea, speakingto your soul, to choose to rest
.
Why?
Because the Lord Yahweh hasdealt bountifully with you.
And here's what's incrediblethis word bountiful in the
Hebrew is the same exact wordthat's translated weaned in
(13:58):
Psalm 131, verse two.
Because the whole idea of beingweaned is being bountifully
loved and dealt with in a waythat you learn to trust.
And that's what the Bible issaying here.
This is you Christian.
Talk about bountiful blessing.
(14:19):
God so loves you that he senthis only son to die on a cross
for all your sins, and he senthis spirit to open your eyes to
his love for you so that by hisgrace not by your works, not by
your doing all, by his grace,you've been adopted into God's
(14:41):
family as his son or daughterand you will be with him for the
next 10 trillion years andbeyond.
That's bountiful.
So if he's going to take careof you the next 10 trillion
years and beyond, that'sbountiful.
So if he's going to take careof you the next 10 trillion
years and beyond, surely he cantake care of you.
Today, like this, is what itmeans to be weaned.
So don't believe the adversary.
(15:03):
When you're tempted torestlessness and the adversary
says God doesn't care about you,Doesn't care about this
circumstance, god doesn't loveyou, god's forgotten you.
No, you remember.
And here just so happens to beanother image from our Bible
reading a few days ago, of Godcompared to a mother's love Also
incredible Isaiah 49, verses 15and 16.
(15:23):
Can a woman forget her nursingchild?
That she should have nocompassion on the son of her
womb?
In other words, a mom doesn'tforget her child.
Well, maybe somebody might, butI will not forget you.
Behold, I've engraved you onthe palms of my hands.
This is amazing.
God is saying I do not forgetmy children.
I have them engraved on my hand.
(15:44):
What imagery.
God says my children are alwaysbefore me, and any parent knows
this.
Heather and I will get away fora day not on our own, and we're
just talking about our kids thewhole time.
They're always on our mind andGod says listen to this, let
this soak in.
This is amazing.
God is saying you are always onmy mind.
I'm thinking about you all thetime.
(16:06):
I see you.
I love you, I'm committed toproviding for you.
I see a million things that youdon't see.
So choose to rest in who God isand how much God loves you.
And can I just add an importantword here that some probably
many of us need to hear today?
(16:26):
Choosing to rest in God meansrefusing to seek rest in
counterfeit gods, because thereis an adversary who is trying
his best to convince some of youthat what your restless soul
needs is alcohol or adultery orpornography or binge watching
(16:53):
shows on or videos on YouTube.
What you need is morepossessions, or more money, or
more power or better position.
If you could just have this orthat, then you would have rest.
And God's Word is saying loudand clear today rest.
And God's word is saying loudand clear today.
It's a lie and the adversaryknows it.
(17:14):
The adversary knows all thesecounterfeit gods are empty and
they will only lead you to morerestlessness and ultimately to
your ruin, and that is hisdesign for your life.
So don't take his bait.
In the words of Augustine inthe fifth century, our hearts
will be restless until they findtheir rest in God.
(17:36):
So leave behind the adversary'slies and choose to rest in who
God truly is and in how much Godtruly loves you.
Which then leads us to thethird step, toward quietness of
soul Be confident in waiting.
So the first words of verse 3.
(17:57):
O Israel, hope in the Lord, inYahweh, which means so.
Don't hope in this or thatperson in this world.
Don't hope in this or thatcircumstance changing.
Don't put your hope there.
Hope in Yah world.
Don't hope in this or thatcircumstance changing.
Don't put your hope there.
Hope in Yahweh and the Lord.
And this word for hope, it'soften translated hope like this,
(18:19):
but it also carries the idea ofwaiting, which means it's
sometimes translated wait.
Here's an example Psalm 31,verse 24.
Be strong, let your heart takecourage, all you who wait for
the Lord.
That's the same word that'stranslated hope in Psalm 131,
verse 3.
And it makes sense, doesn't it?
(18:40):
You think about it, thisconnection between hoping and
waiting In the words of Romans 8, who hopes for what he already
has?
We don't hope for something wehave.
We hope for something thatwe're waiting for.
Hope implies waiting.
So the call to hope is a callto be confident in the waiting
which, let's just be honest,we're not good at.
(19:01):
Waiting is not easy for any ofus.
We want resolution now, we wantthings fixed now, we want what
we want now.
But remember, that's how a babylooks at the world.
But a weaned child is confidentto wait because the weaned
(19:24):
child of God knows God will takecare of you today.
He's promised to.
It's why you can rest, becauseBecause you can know that in
your waiting today, god isworking all things, not just a
few things here or there, allthings together for the good of
those who trust him.
(19:44):
Let me show you another placewhere we see the same word Hope,
wait.
Lamentations, chapter 3, verse22.
The steadfast love of the Lordnever ceases.
His mercies never come to anend.
They are new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness.
The Lord is my portion, says mysoul.
Therefore, I will hope in him,in the Lord.
(20:07):
The Lord is good to those whowait for him, To those, the soul
who seeks him.
It is good that one should waitquietly for the salvation of
the Lord.
This is the same word in theHebrew Hoping, waiting quietly.
So, son or daughter of God,weaned child of God, you can
wait quietly, knowing what Hismercy is new for you every
(20:34):
single morning.
He will take care of you todayand, child of God, he will take
care of you tomorrow.
There's new mercy waiting foryou when you wake up tomorrow
morning, new mercy for newchallenges.
And that's why Jesus says inMatthew, chapter 6, don't be
anxious about tomorrow.
I've got you.
(20:55):
I'll meet you with the mercyyou need tomorrow.
Don't borrow tomorrow'stroubles for today.
You got mercy promised, waitingfor you there and we, child of
God, know this.
God will take care of youforever.
Hope in the Lord, from thistime forth and forevermore.
Oh, how can you say that Hope?
(21:16):
Forever, like without end,beyond all the hurt of this
world Beyond death, like reallyhope forever.
How can you say that?
Here's how lord, the mercifulgracious, abounding in steadfast
love, faithful god over all,has come to us in the person of
(21:40):
jesus.
He has died on a cross to paythe price for iniquities and
transgressions and sins and hehas risen from the grave.
He has defeated death.
He lives forever and anyoneanywhere who turns from their
(22:01):
sin and trusts in Jesus asSavior and Lord will live
forever with him with confidenthope, confident waiting for a
day that is coming when sin willbe no more and suffering will
be no more and physical diseasewill be no more and mental
(22:22):
illness will be no more and hurtand pain and grief and loss and
death itself will be no more.
Be confident of this waitingchild of God.
One day he's gonna take all ofour anxious, restless hearts,
he's gonna wipe every tear fromour eyes and he's gonna bring us
to complete rest in him.
(22:42):
That's what's coming foreverfor all who wait on the Lord.
So, brothers and sisters, Idon't know all the restlessness
you have experienced or areexperiencing or will experience.
None of us know what the nextweek holds in our lives and I do
(23:04):
not presume that.
Taking these steps from Psalm131 will make all of that easy
To hear this morning here atTyson's, a teenage girl who lost
her mom a couple years agotestify how God is still good,
and then she led us in a worshipsong.
(23:24):
Psalm 131 doesn't take thatloss or that pain away.
These steps don't makecircumstances what we want them
to be, but that's the point.
There's a way to have rest evenwhen the circumstances don't
change.
There's supernatural restavailable to you and me in the
(23:51):
restless, weary world we live in, and it's only possible in
jesus.
I think about jesus's words topeter in john, chapter 13.
Jesus looked at him and saidpeter, you don't understand what
I'm doing right now, but oneday you will understand.
And I'm under no illusion thatwhen we get to heaven, all of a
(24:13):
sudden we're gonna becomeomniscient and know everything.
But I am confident that when weget to heaven and we look back
at specific trials we walkthrough in this world, god is
not going to say to us.
Our Father's not gonna say tous yeah, you know that trial, I
don't know what that was about.
I am confident that on that day, for all who trust in Jesus, we
(24:40):
are going to understand thatGod is indeed good and that God,
at every step, was working atevery step, working for our good
.
You can be confident in yourwaiting on God.
You will not.
(25:01):
You will never regret waiting,waiting, hoping, resting in God.
So I want to give you a momentin response to this word to calm
and quiet your soul.
It's for these realizations ina restless, weary world God is
(25:23):
good, you're not God.
And choose rest in who he isand how much he loves you, and
to choose to be confident inwaiting on him.
And here's the deal if you'venever placed your faith in Jesus
to forgive you of your sins, tobring you into relationship
(25:46):
with God, I want to invite youto do that today, in this moment
like why would you wait anylonger for forever hope,
particularly knowing you're notguaranteed another day in this
world?
I choose to rest in Jesus forthe first time today.
Why wait on that?
And others of you who are inChrist and are restless for any
(26:07):
number of reasons, and maybesome of you who are in Christ
and are restless for any numberof reasons, and maybe some of
you have been running from Godin your restlessness, you've
grown distant from God in yourrestlessness.
In the words of Psalm 116,verse seven return to your rest
In these quiet moments.
(26:28):
Just see yourself in his arms,look at the Lord in his goodness
and say I choose to rest in you.
So I want to give you a coupleminutes between you and God, the
Lord, to just do Psalm 131.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of
David Platt Messages.
Lord to just do Psalm 131.
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