Monday, August 25, 2025
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 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.
What kinds of things most often occupy your mind? You may be concerned with financial worries, family quarrels, workplace issues, or health problems. These things take up a lot of space in our thoughts. Perhaps we spend time—too much time—wondering why God does not seem to be doing anything to resolve our troubling circumstances. The psalmist may have been tempted by similar thoughts. What was God doing to help him? The psalmist resists the temptation to question God’s ways, saying, “I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.” His heart and eyes are not lifted too high in sinful pride.
In times of distress and at all times, we take our needs to the Lord in prayer. We cry out to God in humility, asking Him to help and save us. We can be confident that our loving Heavenly Father wants to hear our prayers. We do not need to waste time imagining what God might do because we can be certain that He will answer us according to His gracious will. As God says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways” (Isaiah 55:8a). The psalmist leaves behind his thoughts of great and marvelous things and finds quiet hope for his soul in simple trust. With trust in our Lord, we too enjoy that same peace, “like a weaned child with its mother.”
Well aware of the lofty pride that causes us to raise hearts and minds too high, the apostle Paul asks, “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct Him?” Then the apostle goes on to say, “But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). Christ Jesus our Lord lived with absolute trust in His Heavenly Father. In Gethsemane, on the night before He was crucified, Jesus asked His Father to spare Him from the cup of suffering that awaited Him. Then, with a child’s trust, Jesus prayed that His Father’s will would be done. Jesus quieted His soul as He placed His hope in His Father. Then the Savior stood to face those who came to arrest Him and took up His cross for the sake of our salvation. By faith, we have the mind of Christ and, like our Savior, we place our trust in our Heavenly Father. We seek to occupy our minds with our Savior’s great and marvelous love. In Christ alone, we have peace and quiet hope “from this time forth and forevermore.”
WE PRAY: Dear Savior, calm and quiet my soul with Your steadfast love. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler.
Reflection Questions: