Passage Research
Psalm 131 — Sermon Preparation
A brief David Song of Ascents of serene humility, comparing the quieted soul before God to a weaned child resting against its mother. Below is a research summary for Psalm 131, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.
- 3
- verses
- 33 / 26
- Hebrew words / lemmas
- 4
- classic sermon excerpts
- 4
- preachers & commentators
Psalm 131 in the Hebrew
Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Strong's | Count | Glosses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גָּמַל | gâmal | H1580 | 2 | treat, benefit |
| נֶפֶשׁ | nephesh | H5315 | 2 | breathing creature, animal |
| שָׁוָה | shâvâh | H7737 | 1 | level, equalize |
| דָּמַם | dâmam | H1826 | 1 | be dumb, be astonished |
| גָּבַהּ | gâbahh | H1361 | 1 | soar, be lofty |
| יָחַל | yâchal | H3176 | 1 | wait, be patient |
| מַעֲלָה | maʻălâh | H4609 | 1 | elevation, journey |
How preachers through history handled this text
4 public-domain excerpts on Psalm 131, from the church fathers to the Puritans.
“This psalm is David's profession of humility, humbly made, with thankfulness to God for his grace, and not in vain-glory. It is probable enough that (as most interpreters suggest) David made this protestation in answer to the calumnies of Saul and his courtiers, who represented David as an ambitious aspiring man, who, under pretence of a divine appointment, sought the kingdom, in the pride of his heart. But he appeals to God, that, on the contrary, I. He aimed at nothing high nor great, ver. 1. II. …”
— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 3 (Job to Song of Solomon), on Psalm 131:1–30 (Public Domain)
Places in the text
Based on ancient-geography data
- Jerusalem— Ps 131:1
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