Rest for Your Restless Soul

Well, if you have a Bible, and I hope you or somebody around you does that you can look on with, let me invite you to open with me to Psalm 131. All throughout the Bible, God reveals himself as our heavenly Father. Jesus teaches us to pray, “Our Father in heaven,” and yet at times God reveals himself through imagery that’s comparable to a mother. And it just so happens that our church’s Bible-reading plan this week is highlighting one of those times. So as I was praying about where to go in God’s Word today, it seemed like a no-brainer that we would all hear this word from God on Mother’s Day from Psalm 131. Look at it with me. Psalm 131:

“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. 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.” (Psalm 131:1–3)

And that’s it. That’s the whole psalm. This is so good. Last week we looked at the longest chapter in the Bible. Psalm 119. I preached a fifty-point sermon from it. Good news is, this week we got one of the shortest chapters in the Bible, and there’s hardly over fifty words in this entire Psalm, so it’s not going to be quite as intense. It means you don’t always know what you want or what you need. You don’t know how to express yourself in other ways, and you’re still learning that this person who’s holding you loves you and will provide for what you need when you need it; you’re still learning to trust.

Do you find yourself anxious or worried right now about various things? Or afraid or sad? Do you feel honestly upset with how some things are going in your life? Maybe even angry at life, at others, or maybe even angry at God? Maybe you’re wanting something that you don’t have, and sometimes not knowing exactly what you want. Or maybe you’re tired, just exhausted, and maybe any or all of the above is actually leading you to push away from God; or it’s at least creating distance between you and God. Or can you say that you are living in a place of rest right now in your life in your relationship with God?

Did these pictures describe the state of your soul right now? Without going into the details of my own life, this last week was a really hard week. I found myself feeling, and even experiencing, a faith that mirrored a lot of those other pictures. And I’d been considering preaching this psalm, so it was on my mind. And one distinct, difficult moment, God just spoke this word directly to me and said, “David, I’ve not designed you to live in this restlessness you’re in right now. I’ve designed you to live in rest with calmness and quietness of soul, like a weaned child with its mother. Psalm 131 is all about learning to live here in a world where there’s an adversary who wants us to live here [in restlessness]. So what’s the key? Is this actually possible? How do you get to calmness and quietness of soul in a restless, wearying world?

Well, let’s hear what God is saying to us. Three steps I see in this chapter that lead us to calmness and quietness of soul.

1. Come to a Realization

It all starts with, number one, come to two realizations. I want you to notice how David, the author of the Psalm, starts with two critical realizations—one about God and one about himself. So first, God. David starts by looking to God: “O Lord,” which we’ll talk about that more in a moment. And then he says, “My heart is not lifted up,” and this word that’s translated “lifted up” in the Hebrew means prideful or haughty.

God is good.

So follow this. The starting point for quietness of soul is realizing two things. One, that God is good. The name David uses here for God … LORD … we’ve talked about this before … is Yahweh, which is the covenant name God had revealed to his people when they were slaves and suffering in Egypt. And he brought them out of that suffering. I want to show you what this name represents.

Look with me at Exodus 34:6–7. Moses had asked God to show his glory after they had come out of Egypt, and this is what happened. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The  LORD, the  LORD.” Here’s my name. I am a God, “merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, 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 and faithfulness. He keeps steadfast love, and he forgives iniquity and transgression and sin. 

That’s who God the Lord is. Amen. God is perfectly, infinitely good. That’s who he is. That’s the first realization. That’s key to quietness of soul. God is good.

You’re not God.

And then the second realization is, you are not God. David says, “My heart is not haughty … high …”lifted up” … puffed up. “My eyes are not raised too high.” I’m not trying to see what I can’t see. And I realize that because I’m not God, there are things that are too great and too marvelous for me to understand. This is so important. 

If you’re going to get to quietness of soul, you have to realize you can’t see everything. God sees, and you can’t understand everything God understands, because you are not God. And we’re often restless because we rebel against this reality. We think we see everything, but we don’t. In the words of John Piper, God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.

We never see everything God sees, and we never understand everything God understands—but we think we do! We think we know what’s best. We think we know what needs to happen. We think we know how to make everything right, which means when things don’t happen like we think they should, or we can’t make things right we want to make it right; or when things aren’t just working according to our ways or our timing. 

I always think on Mother’s Day about how hard this day was for years as Heather and I walked through infertility, wanting children, and God not providing in the way we were hoping. I know some of you are in that situation right now. I prayed specifically for you today. And whether it’s that or any number of other things in this world, not being able to see or understand so often robs us of rest of soul. But this is where we need to realize we are not God. And that’s really good news, amen. Because we are not perfectly, infinitely good and all-knowing and all-powerful and all- wise and all-loving and gracious and merciful and faithful, like God is.

Humility is an antidote to anxiety.

Don’t miss this: Humility is an antidote to anxiety. And I don’t want to oversimplify anxiety, which I recognize can be complex and have many layered factors. I’m talking about, though, the kind of anxiety that can and does overwhelm any of us when we think we have to carry everything for ourselves or for those we love, and even for God. And God’s Word is saying that if we want to be free from anxiety, it will necessitate humility. It will necessitate constantly reminding ourselves that God is good and we are not God. And both of those realities will lead us to rest.

Think about it. This kid [in Psalm 131] is not resting because he sees and knows and understands everything that’s going on around him in the world, or even everything that his mom does. He’s resting because he’s in his mom’s arms, and that’s enough for him. The question for you and me is, “Is this enough for us?” in your relationship with the  LORD—the merciful, gracious, loving, faithful God of the universe—is it enough for you to be in his arms?”

Which leads us then to the second step toward quietness of soul …

2. Choose to Rest

So come to these two realizations, then choose to rest. Look at the language in verse 2. David says, “I have calmed and quieted my soul.” This is an action he does. In a sermon on this text, HB Charles said, “David grabbed his soul by the collar and said, ‘Be quiet, sit down, and stop acting out.’” This is David talking to his soul, to himself, which the Bible illustrates in other points. Look at Psalm 42:5: “Why are you cast down? O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God …” 

These psalms are a clear reminder that we all need to 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, to believe in God, to hope in God. Choose, tell yourself, to rest. That’s what these words mean. Calm and quiet.

In who God is

Rest in who God is. Which leads to this imagery of a weaned child with its mother. So not a baby anymore, but a child who’s learned to trust its mother. This imagery of a weaned child is a call for you and me to grow up in faith, to stop acting like babies who don’t realize who God is. Do we realize whose arms we are in? In this contrast between a crying baby and a weaned child is a call to stop clamoring for what you want and to start being [secure] in who you’re with.

Child of God, you are with God … the Lord. Amen. He is with you. He is holding you, so rest not in what you can get out of him; but rest in the fact that he is holding you and he promises to provide you everything you need.

In how much God loves you

Choose to rest in who God is and in how much God loves you. It’s what it means to be weaned—for a child to learn. My mom has fed me and closed me and held me and laid me down and picked me up again and carried me day after day and month after month and year after year. And after a few years of that, a child is weaned. And that’s with an imperfect mom in this world. How much more so with the perfect God who formed us in our mother’s womb; and day after day and month after month and year after year has given us breath in our lungs and food and water for our bodies; and millions of other things that we haven’t even paid attention to that he’s given us.

Surely we can rest in all the ways God has shown his love for us. You want to see something incredible in God’s Word? Not that all this isn’t incredible, but look at this. Psalm 116:7 … really similar verse: “Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.” So it’s the same idea: speaking to your soul; to choose to rest. Why? Because the LORD, Yahweh, has dealt bountifully with you. And here’s what’s incredible: This word “bountiful” in the Hebrew is the same exact word that’s translated “weaned” in Psalm 131:2. Because the whole idea of being weaned is being bountifully loved and dealt with in a way that you learn to trust. And that’s what the Bible is saying here.

This is you, Christian. Talk about bountiful blessing. God so loves you that he sent his only Son to die on a cross for all your sins, and he sent his Spirit to open your eyes to his love for you so that by his grace—not by your works, not by your doing, all by his grace—you’ve been adopted into God’s family as his son or daughter. And you’ll be with him for the next 10 trillion years and beyond!

That’s bountiful. So if he’s going to take care of you the next 10 trillion years and beyond, surely he can take care of you today. This is what it means. “Be weaned.” So don’t believe the adversary when you’re tempted to restlessness, and the adversary says, “God doesn’t care about you … doesn’t care about this circumstance. God doesn’t love you. God’s forgotten you.” No, you remember. And here just so happens to be another image from our Bible reading a few days ago, of God compared to a mother’s love—also incredible. Isaiah 49:15–16: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?” In other words, a mom doesn’t forget her child. Well, maybe somebody might, but I will not forget you. “Behold, I’ve engraved you on the palms of my hands.” This is amazing. God is saying, I do not forget my children. I have them engraved on my hand—what imagery! God says, “My children are always before me. And any parent knows this.

Heather and I will get away for a date night on our own, and we’re just talking about our kids the whole time. They’re always on our mind. And God says … listen to this … let this soak in … this is amazing. God is saying, “You are always on my mind. I’m thinking about you all the time. I see you. I love you. I’m committed to providing for you. I see a million things that you don’t see.” So choose to rest in who God is and how much God loves you. 

And can I just add an important word here that some—probably many of us—need to hear today? Choosing to rest in God means refusing to seek rest in counterfeit gods. Because there is an adversary who is trying his best to convince some of you that what your restless soul needs is alcohol or adultery or pornography or binge-watching shows on Netflix or videos on YouTube. What you need is more possessions or more money or more power or better position. If you could just have this or that, then you would have rest. And God’s word is saying loud and clear today, “It’s a lie!” And the adversary knows it. The adversary knows all these counterfeit gods are empty, and they will only lead you to more restlessness, and ultimately to your ruin. And that is his design for your life. So don’t take his bait. In the words of Augustine in the fifth century, “Our hearts will be restless until they find rest in God.” So leave behind the adversaries lies and choose to rest in who God truly is and how much God truly loves you.

Which then leads us to the third step toward quietness of soul …

3. Be Confident in Waiting

Be confident in waiting. So the first words of verse 3: “O Israel, hope in the Lord [in Yahweh],” which means, so don’t hope in this or that person in this world. Don’t hope in this or that circumstance changing. Don’t put your hope there. Hope in Yahweh, in the LORD. And this word for “hope” … it’s often translated “hope,” like this, but it also carries the idea of waiting, which means it’s sometimes translated “wait.”

Here’s an example: Psalm 31:24—”Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for LORD.” That’s the same word that’s translated “hope” in Psalm 131:3. And it makes sense, doesn’t it? You think about it, this connection between hoping and waiting. In the words of Romans 8, “Who hopes for what he already has?” We don’t hope for something we have. We hope for something that we’re waiting for. Hope implies waiting. 

So the call to hope is a call to be confident in the waiting, which, let’s just be honest, we’re not good at. Waiting is not easy for any of us. We want resolution now. We want things fixed now. We want what we want now. But remember, that’s how a baby looks at the world. But a weaned child is confident to wait, because the weaned child of God knows …

God will take care of you today

God will take care of you today. He has promised to. It’s why you can rest. Because you can know that in your waiting today, God is working all things, not just a few things here or there, all things together for the good of those who trust him. Amen. 

Let me show you another place where we see the same word “hope,” or wait. Lamentations 3:22:

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in Him’ [in the Lord]. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

This is the same word in the Hebrew—hoping, waiting quietly. So, son or daughter of God, weaned child of God, you can wait quietly knowing that his mercy is new for you every single morning.

God will take care of you tomorrow

He will take care of you today, and, child of God, he will take care of you tomorrow. There’s new mercy waiting for you when you wake up tomorrow morning. New mercy for new challenges. And that’s why Jesus says in Matthew 6, “Don’t be anxious about tomorrow. I’ve got you. I’ll meet you with mercy you need tomorrow. Don’t borrow tomorrow’s troubles for today. You’ve got mercy promised, waiting for you there.”

God will take care of you forever

And weaned child of God, know this: God will take care of you forever. “Hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.” Amen. How can you say that? Hope forever,” like, without end. Beyond all the hurt of this world … beyond death … really hope forever? How can you say that? Here’s how: Because the Lord—the merciful, gracious, abounding, and steadfast love—the faithful God over all has come to us in the person of Jesus. He has died on a cross to pay the price for iniquities and transgressions and sins. And he has risen from the grave. He has defeated death. He lives forever. and anyone anywhere who turns from their sin and trusts in Jesus as Savior and Lord will live forever with him with confident hope … confident waiting for a day that is coming; when sin will be no more and suffering will be no more and physical disease will be no more and mental illness will be no more and hurt and pain and grief and loss and death itself will be no more. Be confident of this, waiting child of God.

One day he’s going to take all of our anxious, restless hearts … he’s going to wipe every tear from our eyes, and he’s going to bring us to complete rest in him. That’s what’s coming forever for all who wait on the Lord.

Closing Application and Invitation

So, brothers and sisters, I don’t know all the restlessness you have experienced, or are experiencing, or will experience. None of us know what the next week holds in our lives. And I do not presume that taking these steps from Psalm 131 will make all of that easy to hear. This morning, here at Tysons, a teenage girl who lost her mom a couple of years ago testified how God is still good. And then she let us in a worship Psalm, like Psalm 131, doesn’t take that loss or that pain away. These steps don’t make circumstances what we want them to be. But that’s the point. There’s a way to have rest even when the circumstances don’t change. There’s supernatural rest available to you and me in the restless, weary world we live, and it’s only possible in Jesus. 

I think about Jesus’s words to Peter in John 13. Jesus looked at him and said, “Peter, you don’t understand what I’m doing right now, but one day you will understand.” And I’m under no illusion that when we get to heaven, all of a sudden we’re going to become omniscient and know everything. But I am confident that when we get to heaven, and we look back at specific trials we walked through in this world, God is not going to say to us, our Father is not going to say to us, “Yeah, you know that trial? I don’t know what that was about.” 

I’m confident that on that day, for all who trust in Jesus, we are going to understand that God is indeed good and that God at every step was working; at every step working for our good. You can be confident in your waiting on God. You will never regret waiting, hoping, resting in God.

So I want to give you a moment in response to this Word, to calm and quiet your soul. It’s for these realizations in a restless, weary world. God is good. You’re not God. And choose rest … and who He is and how much he loves you … and to choose to be confident in waiting on him.

And here’s the deal: If you’ve never placed your faith in Jesus to forgive you of your sins, to bring you into relationship with God, I want to invite you to do that today, in this moment. Why would you wait any longer for forever hope—particularly knowing you’re not guaranteed another day in this world—and choose to rest in Jesus for the first time today? Why wait on that God?

And others of you who are in Christ and are restless for any number of reasons. And maybe some of you have been running from God in your restlessness; you’ve grown distant from God in your restlessness. In the words of Psalm 116:7: “Return to your rest…” In these quiet moments, 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 couple minutes between you and God, the Lord, to just do Psalm 131.