Morning Devotion for Advent
December 13, 2021
The Invitatory
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
Praise ye the Lord.
The Lord's Name be praised.
Reading: Psalm 131
1 O Lord, I am not proud; *
I have no haughty looks.
2 I do not occupy myself with great matters, *
or with things that are too hard for me.
3 But I still my soul and make it quiet,
like a child upon its mother's breast; *
my soul is quieted within me.
4 O Israel, wait upon the Lord, *
from this time forth for evermore.
Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones
When I read the first line of Psalm 131 — “O LORD, my heart is not lifted up” — I immediately think of the sursum corda.“Lift up your hearts,” says the celebrant, and the congregation responds, “We lift them to the Lord.” The liturgy directs our attention upward, so that we turn away from earthly things and turn our attention wholly toward the worship of God.
If to lift one’s heart is to orient oneself to worship, then why does the psalmist emphasize that his heart is not lifted up? In the Old Testament, the metaphor of the lifted heart describes haughtiness or pride, as is the image of the “raised eyes.“ Then, the psalmist declares his humility by testifying to the lowness of his heart and eyes.
As a “Song of Ascents,” Psalm 131 may have been used either by pilgrims going to Jerusalem or by Levites as they went up the steps of the Temple. Either way, the physical “ascent” requires a spiritual evenness: a heart not lifted up, eyes not raised too high. Like the sursum corda, Psalm 131 prescribes an inner posture for worship. Interestingly, the metaphor in the Hebrew Bible, calls for an orientation of the heart that is opposite to that in the Great Thanksgiving. Though the linguistic landscape differs, the sense of spiritual preparation is the same.
The psalmist employs another rich metaphor to describe the state of his soul: calm and quiet, “like a weaned child with its mother” The choice of the weaned child over the nursing child in this metaphor is surprising. The idea of an infant, a nursing child, would suggest ultimate dependence. The weaned child, then, refers specifically to an older toddler or a child, decidedly not an infant who still relies on his mother’s breast milk for food.
Why, then, does the psalmist describe his soul as a weaned child? What does it mean for a weaned child to be “calmed and quieted” with its mother? At her mother’s breast, the nursing child is utterly dependent, yet always satisfied. By contrast, the weaned child has some experience of the world. Having left the protection of constantly being at his mother’s side, he has learned that such comfort and shelter are not always guaranteed. Perhaps safety is not always within reach. Nonetheless, amid the calamities of the world, the child may still return to the comfort of his mother, a comfort now rendered profound by the encounter with fear and hurt. The psalmist has allowed his soul a moment of respite, which does not return him to the ease of his infancy, yet which provides a reliable consolation.
At the end of the eighteenth century, William Blake published a pair of poetry collections entitled Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, which illustrate “contrary states” of human existence. Those who are innocent are neither ignorant nor unaware of the darker aspects of life. They are sustained by confidence in the presence of God. Like a Song of Innocence, the psalmist has experienced God’s hope alongside the world’s cruelties. His anxiety is quelled, and he is freed to encourage all Israel to hope in the Lord forever.
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
