SCRIPTURE:  My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore. Psalm 131 NIV

THOUGHT: Content is the sort of word that needs unpacking.

I think we have some notion that it describes those moments of when everything is right with our world. But whether you think of Paul talking about learning contentment, or study these words of David, it goes a lot deeper than that. You could almost say it’s so deep and wide, it’s a worldview, a way of looking at the world without pride, haughtiness, over-complicating, and anxious fretting. And it’s not just simply “nothingness,” like some Eastern mystic might suggest, it’s an intentional decision to take the hope bucket you might spend on good looks, knowing all the answers, and having the right stuff, and putting it at the foot of the cross. Rather than hoping in things as you try to find life, you begin hoping in God. In this Psalm, David accepts responsibility for that intentionality, just as we must: I have calmed and quieted myself….

Take a moment to consider that list: pride, haughtiness, over-complicating, anxious fretting  – where do you sing and where do you stumble, and how much of your life is colored by contentment? I think I come in about 50/50 most of the time. It’s not where I want to be, but I find contentment worth the battle.

PRAYER: Oh God, Paul said he learned contentment, and David took responsibility for calming and quieting himself, and so I will do the same. I will stop hoping in things that can’t ever satisfy, and put my hope in you – you’ve already done everything necessary for me to live in hope anyway.