Lowliness of mind.
This psalm may have been written by David so far as its subject-matter is concerned. For that lowliness of mind of which it treats is quite as compatible with a high as with a humble position in life. Royalty may be very meek, and obscurity may be very proud. All moral qualities are independent of situations; they are a question of character, not of circumstance. Of the greatest One that ever bore our likeness it is said, "Thy King cometh … meek" (Matthew 21:5). But we have here—
I. A COMMON TEMPTATION. There are souls that do not aspire to be or do what is beyond them in any direction; but they are probably the exception rather than the rule. In all departments of activity men and women long for that which is out of their reach. The sailor is looking forward eagerly to a captaincy, or to be commodore or admiral The soldier will not be satisfied until he is gazetted colonel of his regiment. The politician hungers for an office which is much higher up than the one he holds. And thus it is in every sphere. It is right, indeed, that every one should seek and strive to putout all his powers, instead of allowing them to slumber in silence and inactivity. We are bound to be our best and do our utmost in a world that is crying for help and for redemption. But our temptation is to long and to labor for that which is beyond our capacity, for which we were not created and endowed, which would exalt us, but which we should not adorn. The student wants to master that which is "too wonderful for him," actually "unattainable" (Psalms 139:6). The servant of Christ wants to fill a post in the Church for which he is not mentally and morally qualified. The traveler thirsts to reach a latitude which is outside the range of practicable pursuit, everywhere, in all classes and conditions, men are sighing and striving for that which they will never reach, or will only reach when they have exhausted their strength and cannot enjoy what they have gained.
II. THE LESSON OF EXPERIENCE. Experience is continually teaching us the folly of seeking to move in a sphere which is beyond us. It is constantly resulting in defeat, in disappointment, in mortification. The position sought is not won, and there is the deep discontentment of having toiled in vain; or it is gained, and is found to be full of difficulty that was not anticipated, and, instead of yielding the expected pleasure, it is productive of dissatisfaction and complaint, and it ends in serious, perhaps disastrous, failure. They are wise men who, witnessing this in other people, or beginning to discover it in their own case, reach the psalmist's conclusion; this is—
III. THE PRACTICAL CONCLUSION OF THE WISE. To be contented with the sphere which God has assigned us, and to do our best therein. The psalmist has learnt the lesson. He has had to compose a disquieted spirit, and he has done so; he was restless and passionate, like an unweaned child clamoring for its mother's breast. But he has "quieted himself," he has calmed his spirit; he has withdrawn from a false position; he has settled down permanently to the only true one. His heart is not lifted up; his eyes do not look enviously and hungrily to the heights beyond him; he does not dwell in anxious, wearisome thought on matters which are best left alone; he concentrates his sympathies and his energies on that which demands his attention, and which is productive of good to himself and those around him; he is perfectly contented to be just what God has made him, to go where his Master sends him, to do what is placed in his hands to do. He is so far from thinking himself essential to the prosperity of the Church and the redemption of the world, that he hopefully, and even confidently, leaves that in the care of the Supreme (Psalms 131:3).
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY