Calm

Where do we find our calm? I remember as a child seeing the old Calgon bath commercial. It advertised that a bath with Calgon was a place where an exhausted mother could go to escape and find some peace. It seems we all need some Calgon these days. But we really need something much greater. We need to stop trying to figure everything out. Everyone wants an answer. Quite often demanding an answer. That will rarely bring calm and peace (truly…I don’t believe it ever will).

You can turn to one news station and ten minutes later turn to another and get whiplash from the massive differences in how things are reported. It’s overwhelming, and honestly, I don’t think it’s good for our souls. We often have this complex that we have to know all the answers. Well, let me put it simply. We don’t know all the answers. We (you) are not God. This does not mean we shouldn’t seek to be informed or to grow in our understanding of the way life works. But what it does mean - is that we need to learn to rest rather than to be constantly chasing after things that are perhaps a bit bigger than us.

Psalm 131 is a short and simple song of David. It is a psalm of confidence and of great rest. The controlling image is of a weaned child…calmed and quieted in his mother’s arms. It is so peaceful. It is true contentment. How does David get to that point? He humbles himself. He does not chase after things in arrogance and pride that are too big for him (cf. Deuteronomy 29:29). He places his hope and his trust solely in the one who has the power and ability and the wisdom to handle everything. He hopes and rests in God.

In some sense, this is an Old Testament version of Romans 8:28. We can rest and trust because we believe that God is working in all things…and we don’t need to know all the specifics. Let us look to God in calm and rest. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus (his life, death, and resurrection a perfect example of God working all things). Calm yourself in his presence. Trust and hope in the Lord, from this time forth and forevermore.

1 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. 

2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul, 

like a weaned child with its mother; 

like a weaned child is my soul within me. 

3 O Israel, hope in the LORD 

from this time forth and forevermore. 

Here is the song “Psalm 131” by the band Waterdeep.