Psalm 131:1-2

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 131:1-3

Here are two things which will be comforts to us:? I. Consciousness of our integrity. This was David's rejoicing, that his heart could witness for him that he had walked humbly with his God, notwithstanding the censures he was under and the temptations he was in. 1. He aimed not at a high condition, nor was he desirous of making a figure in the world, but, if God had so ordered, could have been well content to spend all his days, as he did in the beginning of them, in the sheep-folds. His own... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 131:1

Lord, my heart is not haughty ,.... The heart of every man is naturally so, and everything in civil life tends to make it more so; as riches and honour, birth and blood, wisdom, knowledge, and learning, strength and beauty, especially where there is a superiority of those to others; and in religious if persons have not the true grace of God, their hearts will be haughty; if they have a notion of the purity of human nature, and the goodness of their hearts, and are pure in their own eyes, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 131:2

Surely I have behaved and quieted myself ,.... Or "my soul" F15 נפשי "animam meam", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c.; ; behaved quietly and peaceably towards all men, even his inferiors in Saul's court and elsewhere, and had given no tokens of a restless, turbulent, and ambitious spirit; as well as behaved patiently under all his troubles and afflictions, reproaches and calumnies: or "if I have not" F16 אם לא "si non", Montanus; "male sit mihi si non", Tigurine version. ,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 131:1

Lord, my heart is not haughty - The principle of pride has no place in my heart; and consequently the high, lofty, and supercilious look does not appear in my eyes. I neither look up, with desire to obtain, to the state of others, nor look down with contempt to the meanness or poverty of those below me. And the whole of my conduct proves this; for I have not exercised myself - walked, in high matters, nor associated myself with the higher ranks of the community, nor in great matters, נפלאות... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 131:2

I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child - On the contrary, I have been under the rod of others, and when chastised have not complained; and my silence under my affliction was the fullest proof that I neither murmured nor repined, but received all as coming from the hands of a just God. My soul is even as a weaned child - I felt I must forego many conveniences and comforts which I once enjoyed; and these I gave up without repining or demurring. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 131:1

Verse 1 1.O Jehovah! My heart has not been elated David had been made head over God’s people, and in order to prove that he was their lawful prince, entitled to the allegiance of the faithful, he is desirous to show that he had not been influenced, in anything which he had attempted, by ambition or pride, but had submitted himself with a quiet and humble spirit to the divine disposal. In this he teaches us a very useful lesson, and one by which we should be ruled in life — to be contented with... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 131:2

Verse 2 2.If I have not set, etc. He here employs a figure which appropriately explains what he meant, and likens himself to a weaned child; by which is intended, that he dismissed all the anxieties which disquiet the man of ambition, and was willing to be satisfied with small things. This assertion, which some might be inclined to disbelieve, he makes with an oath, expressed in that particular form of which I have elsewhere taken notice, in which the imprecation is not directly brought... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 131:1

Lord, my heart is not haughty ; or, " not lifted up ". Not unduly elated by the prosperity that thou hast bestowed on me. Nor mine eyes lofty (comp. Psalms 101:5 ), "Pride," as Hengstenberg says, "has its seat in the heart, and betrays itself especially in the eyes." Neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me ; literally, too wonderful (comp. Psalms 139:6 , "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me: it is high: I cannot attain unto it"). The... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 131:1

The sense of what is acceptable with God. This psalm expresses the meek humility of the pardoned and restored sinner. But taken as expressing the sentiment of the restored nation , it suggests the mood of cherished feeling that keeps us in right relations with God. It is not a mood of submission, or even of submissive obedience only. It is a mood of willing submission, of delighted obedience; of submission that has ceased to be a strain, and has become the free, natural, joyous... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 131:1

On knowing our spheres. Prayer-book Version, "I do not exercise myself in great matters: which are too high for me." The poet disclaims three distinct kinds of pride; secret conceit of heart; the ostentation of the man of lofty bearing; and the presumptuous self-importance which intrudes. One of the things that can only be learned through the experiences of life is what we can do, and what we may do. Putting wise limits upon our undertakings and our spheres is one of the most important and... read more

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