Contentment is the truest form of wealth
Lord Jesus,
Thou knowest the things that are trembling upon our lips, stirring in our hearts and along the corridors of our souls, walking on tiptoe across the cloistered spaces of our consciousness; conforming to the distant pealing of an angelus; looking expectantly upward; making prayers without words; breathing aspirations that have only wings. Hear us, we pray Thee, as we call upon Thee for help, for strength, for peace; for grace, for reassurance, for companionship; for love, for pardon, for health, for salvation – for joy. Hear us, Lord Jesus. Amen.[1]
Psalm 131 NRSV
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; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.
O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore.
The psalmist aimed at nothing high or great, but to be content in every condition God allotted. Humble saints cannot think so well of themselves as others think of them. The love of God reigning in the heart, will subdue self-love. Where there is a proud heart, there is commonly a proud look. To know God and our duty, is learning sufficiently high for us. It is our wisdom not to meddle with that which does not belong to us. He was well reconciled to every condition the Lord placed him in. He had been as humble as a little child about the age of weaning, and as far from aiming at high things; as entirely at God’s disposal, as the child at the disposal of the mother or nurse.[2]
What original journey out of self-competent pride into humility and rest first prompted this beautiful psalm? We do not know, but its call to hope in the Lord makes it the testimony of a sinner forgiven: humbled by the mercy of God, at peace within because at peace above.[3]
Proverbs 25:6-7 NRSV
Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great; for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.
Religion teaches us humility and self-denial. He who has seen the glory of the Lord in Christ Jesus, will feel his own unworthiness.[4]
Content my soul in you, O Christ, who alone are sufficient to my longings.
When my heart is beset by wheedling desire for what it does not have, remind me, sweet Jesus, that I have no right to a thing, simply because it exists. The perpetual allure of new innovation does not negate the call to faithfully steward those resources you have temporarily entrust to my keeping.
Content my soul in you, O Christ, who alone are sufficient to my longings.
Let me be content, O Lord, with what I truly need to accomplish the necessary tasks before me.
Nay, let me be content with nothing but thee, O Christ, who alone art sufficient to my longings.[5]
Father, I Know That All My Life
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
[1] “Hear Us, Lord Jesus.” Catherine Marshall, A Man Called Peter: The Story of Peter Marshall, McGraw-Hill, 1951, p. 330.
[2] Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), Ps 131:1.
[3] J. A. Motyer, “The Psalms,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 575.
[4] Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), Pr 25:6.
[5] Douglas Kaine McKelvey, “A Liturgy for those who covet the latest technology,” Every Moment Holy Volume 1, p. 163.
