Humble and Trust in the Lord! – 2026 New Year Message

“Humble and trust in the Lord” is a common phrase often used to express a religious sentiment or instruction, particularly within the context of Christian faith. It encourages humility and reliance on God. Psalm 131 with only three verses speaks exactly this sentiment to us.

To humble and trust in the Lord requires the discipline of a sanctified heart. This was what Charles Spurgeon said of Psalm 131 and a sanctified heart:

It is one of the shortest Psalms to read, but one of the longest to learn.   It speaks of a young child, but it contains the experience of a man in Christ. Lowliness and humility are here seen in connection with a sanctified heart, a will subdued to the mind of God, and a hope looking to the Lord alone; happy is the man who can without falsehood use these words as his own; for he wears about him the likeness of his Lord, who said, “I am meek and lowly in heart.”[i] [Matt 11:29]

The nature of a “sanctified heart” is a heart of lowliness and humility, a heart that is surrendered to God, a heart that hopes in the Lord alone. “The Holy Spirit’s work in transforming us more and more into the likeness of Christ is called sanctification.”[ii] We are going through progressive sanctification in our daily living as followers of Christ. When we cooperate and participate in the work of the Holy Spirit, we are pursuing holiness. Hebrews 14:12 – ¹⁴ “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

To “Make every effort” is to press on or to pursue. To live in peace with everyone requires a humble heart. A humble heart or sanctified heart is holy and it is our eyes to see the Lord. Jesus Himself says: “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

This is a Psalm suitable for all of us to begin 2026.  If Psalm 131 be our foundation to spiritual health, we will continue to grow in holiness through this new year in our discipleship journey.

Verse 1 – ¹ Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp.

This psalm was written by David, the man whom God had made to be a great king of Israel. The king, being a servant of God, was inspired to reveal the virtue of a humble heart. Though a great king, David had many lowest moments of life. He humbled before God and worshipped Him with a grateful heart that He could trust God and could talk with Him about unhappy things.  He was thankful to God for His graciousness upon a king who was not perfect.  

A humble heart sees God. During our own moments of depression and hurt, at times feeling lost in life’s demands, so will our humble hearts see God. It is the only way to come before God to pour out our burdens to Him. During moments of success and joy, we too come before the Lord with humble hearts to give him thanks and praises. 

The word ‘haughty’ means ‘snobbish or arrogant’.  King David had everything to be proud of … his kingdom, his wealth, his wisdom, his power, his possessions … but this man knew all that he had possessed belonged to God, including his heart.  Because he had accepted that God had chosen him to be the king of Israel, His love of God and his worship of the Lord had kept his heart humbled before Him.    

Scriptures remind us that “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” 1 Samuel 16:7. Our hearts are on display in God’s view all the time.  God looks at the intentions of our hearts all the time. There are many reminders In the New Testament about the Lord’s expectation of His people’s attitudes and His favours upon them. Just to retrieve two from James:

James 4:6 … “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.”

James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

CS Lewis once said that “true humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”  In humility, we serve God and others.  This is the attitude we will continue to cultivate and the next verse teaches us the way to cultivate it.

Verse 2 – ² Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.  Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

When a child still requires nursing, he or she is still dependence on the mother. This verse suggests nursing is no longer needed, meaning not lacking comfort and security. It refers to a soul relieved from the contentment of security at the mother’s side and becoming a soul that is resting contently at the side of God.[iii]  There is calmness, quietness, and peace. Picture these two situations – one of anxious believers when pulled away from the earthly source of comfort and security, with that of other believers seeking security and contentment in the Lord, thus weaned from all other sources of unreliable security.

Isaiah 49:15 … reminds us that God’s love is higher than a mother’s love … “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!”

In order to believe that God will not forget or forsake us, it requires us to cultivate a sanctified heart.  J.I. Packer says it well, that: in spiritual life, nothing stands still – it is either we grow in humbleness or we grow in pride.  In “Rediscovering Holiness”, Packer says: 

The focus of health in the soul is humility, while the root of inward corruption is pride. In the spiritual life, nothing stands still. If we are not constantly growing downward into humility, we shall be steadily swelling up and running to seed under the influence of pride.[iv]

Packer explains to us that humility is essential for spiritual well-being and growth, as we recognise our dependence on God and on others. Therefore, humility acts as a foundation for holiness. The opposite way of humility is pride, which is an arrogant focus on self and the core source of spiritual decay, leading to selfishness, disconnection, and a barrier to faith and truth. We are looking at humility versus pride as in God-centeredness versus self-centeredness. 

We can begin with some mindset shifts, for example:

• Start to actively see God’s value in others, seeing their God-given gifts and qualities. Begin to practice gratitude by listening to them and letting go of the need to be always right.
• Start to actively recognize God as the source of all good things in your life. Begin to put our own imperfection in perspective, admitting mistakes and seeking correction as we recognise our value is in God and His infinite power and love, and not in personal achievement.
• Start to actively embrace our role or calling. Begin to understand that serving God and others, no matter in small ways, is a high honour, seeking to understand contentment in faithful stewardship and to view challenges as opportunities for spiritual growth. 

To apply these mindset shifts and spiritual practices, the only way for us to fulfil is to answer the call to trust in the Lord.

Verse 3 – ³ O Israel, put your hope in the Lord – now and always.

It is not easy for many of us to trust the Lord and fully rest on His promises and believe that He will provide to meet our needs. Psalm 46 always reminds us that …

• Verse 1 – “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.”
• Verse 10 – “Be still and know that I am God!

We are called to have confidence in God, to trust in Him, and to put our hope in Him.  A weaned child is a child who trust in God, who does not worry unnecessarily about the future.

Every summer each year, the fire-fighters prepared for battle with bushfires in various parts of Australia. We had witnessed tragedies in fierce bushfires over the past years. We watched helplessly on the news reporting about deaths, losses and damages of properties, and the dangerous occupations of the fire fighters who had put their own lives at risks. 2026 started sadly for the state of Victoria when wild out-of-control bushfires, which started on 7 January, raged through 404,000 hectares of the state, destroying more than 900 structures including 260 homes and killing more than 20,000 heads of livestock. Apparently, the total area raged barren by the recent bushfires (which some are still burning) covers the land size more than five times the size of the island country of Singapore.

It would be very difficult for people who are suffering to say ‘God ain’t dead!”.  In this story: God Ain’t Dead! (written by Multnomah W. Aldrich), the author describes a picture of a burnt down house.  He says:

I am not a connoisseur [an expect] of great art, but from time to time a painting or picture will really speak a clear, strong message to me. Some time ago, I saw a picture of an old burned-out mountain shack. All that remained was the chimney … the charred debris of what had been that family’s sole possession. In front of this destroyed home stood an old grandfather-looking man dressed only in his underclothes with a small boy clutching a pair of patched overalls. It was evident that the child was crying. Beneath the picture were the words which the artist felt the old man was speaking to the boy. They were simple words, yet they presented a profound theology and philosophy of life. Those words were, “Hush child, God ain’t dead!”

That vivid picture of that burned-out mountain shack, that old man, the weeping child, and those words “God ain’t dead? keep returning to my mind. Instead of it being a reminder of the despair of life, it has come to be a reminder of hope! I need reminders that there is hope in this world.  In the midst of all of life’s troubles and failures, I need mental pictures to remind me that all is not lost as long as God is alive and in control of His world. [v]

What is it for us … a picture or story, an incident or a personal experience … that reminds us that God is still alive?  In this coming New Year, we will journey not in a religion, but in building and strengthening our individual relationship with the Lord.  This is the only way for us to know that God is alive, in us and amongst us.

May we ponder on how the rest of 2026 should be like for us. Would it be a fruitful year in Christ? Would you cultivate a humble heart and place our trust in the Lord? As we ponder:

Lord, my humble heart does not worry about things too big for me.

My inner being is at rest, peaceful like a child.

I placed my hope in the Lord forever.

Rev Susan Lee

18 January 2026