Why?

Psalm 131 is an admonition to intellectual peacefulness, an encouragement to understand that paradox is one of the hallmarks of God’s nature and that mystery marks out the limits of our intellect. We do not need to understand all that God is doing in this world and the next. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God” (Deuteronomy 29:28).

But there is another side of David’s quietism: I do not need to understand all that God is doing in me.  

David draws a comparison between a weaned child that no longer frets for what it once demanded, and a soul that has learned the same lesson. It is a call to learn humility, patient endurance and contentment in all our circumstances—and calm acceptance. Divine wisdom and logic are beyond our ken.

We ask, Why this affliction, this disappointment, this delay? God answers, “Hush, child. You wouldn’t understand if I told it. Just trust me!”

So, I ask: Can I, despite my circumstances, ‘hope in the Lord’ (vs. 3).[1] Can I wait in patience without fretting and without questioning God’s love and wisdom? Can I trust him while he works in me his good, acceptable and perfect will?

DHR

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[1] The Hebrew word for “hope” in this text (vs. 3), is a verb that stresses the concept of patient endurance rather than expectation.