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 quietened 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 for evermore. Psalms 131:1-3 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/psa.131.1-3.NIVUK
I'd like to begin these thoughts somewhat unusually with a riddle. Can you tell me something that is priceless and necessary for our health, cannot be bought or sold but is frequently traded for things of lesser value?
The answer? Contentment.
We often trade our contentment for feelings of self-satisfaction, jealousy, inferiority, the illusion of control or a myriad of other things. We leave ourselves open to be robbed of the very thing we need most of all. And then when it's gone, we blame everyone but ourselves.
Many, many aspects of our modern life are deliberately designed to entice us to trade away our contentment. Contentment is the arch enemy of the sales person or the influencer. Why? Because if we are content then their hold over us is gone. How can they sell us things on the premise that they are better than what we have, if we are already happy with what we have?
Paul wrote these words to the Early Church:
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
1 Timothy 6:6-8 NIVUK
https://bible.com/bible/113/1ti.6.6-8.NIVUK
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:12-13 NIVUK
https://bible.com/bible/113/php.4.12-13.NIVUK
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?’
Hebrews 13:5-6 NIVUK
https://bible.com/bible/113/heb.13.5-6.NIVUK
Yet we also read these words:
Again I saw something meaningless under the sun: there was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. ‘For whom am I toiling,’ he asked, ‘and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?’ This too is meaningless – a miserable business!
Ecclesiastes 4:7-8 NIVUK
https://bible.com/bible/113/ecc.4.7-8.NIVUK
Contentment is absolutely critical to our enjoyment of life. And yet our Western culture is deliberately designed to tempt us to trade it for less valuable things. So how can we be content? And how can we maintain our contentment?
I believe this tiny psalm contains the secret.
This psalm has been on my mind for a while. And yet I've hesitated to study it. Why? Because it seems so contrary and counter to everything our culture stands for. I didn't know what it could say to us. And yet the more I've thought about it, the more I've realised that this is exactly what we need.
You see, this short psalm tells us that content comes when we gain control and mastery over three basic desires. We will meditate on the first of these in my next post: POSITION.
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