Psalm 131 Keeps Showing Up

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 a weaned child that is with me. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore.

Over the past year, Psalm 131 has shown up for me in all kinds of places. The first time this psalm came to grab my attention was in seminary. The class was taught by Paul Escamilla, a pastor in Dallas and an adjunct professor at the seminary. He commended the psalm to the class as one that we should pray when we are "getting ahead of ourselves" or feeling too important maybe, or when we feel like the weight of the world or the church is on our shoulders. Anyway, that's when God first spoke to me through this psalm.
Every May, I usually have an individual spiritual retreat, usually for 2 days. I spend the first day in prayer for my own walk with Christ, prayer for my family, extended family etc. The second day I spend in prayer for the church, for our plans and our future ministry. It was on one of these retreats in May 2007 that the daily lection psalm was Psalm 131. I used the daily lection from the Book of Common Prayer to guide me and discipline my scripture reading for these retreats. I journaled about reading that Psalm that day and how it touched me at an important time in my life.
On my last Sunday in Woodville before leaving for the exchange 2 weeks ago, the lectionary psalm was, Psalm 131. I don't often use the lectionary to guide my preaching these days but I did that Sunday because I had finished a sermon series recently and after reading this psalm I thought it presented the right message for that day. I know that daily lections and the lectionary rotate so it is not a surprise that 131 came around again but it is divine that I chose to preach the lectionary on that Sunday and chose to have my spiritual retreat the week it was listed in the daily lection.
There's one more. Last week, while visiting a home group meeting of the Whitefield Church, we opened with some time for meditation, just reflecting on a scripture passage before beginning. I did not lead this group, I just participated. The leader of the group had selected Psalm 131 as the scripture on which to meditate! So, the Lord, at important times, reminds me that He is God and that my hope is ultimately in nothing but Him. For this pastor and person who loves life, wants to save the world, be everything that is needed in a leader for the church to thrive, and be the husband and father that I want to be, Psalm 131 does not let me off the hook on these desires but reminds me that God does the saving and He is the one in whose bosom the world can rest and hope.