Psalm 131

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
    my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
    too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
    like a weaned child with its mother;
    like a weaned child is my soul within me.

O Israel, hope in the Lord
    from this time forth and forevermore.

Here are some notes on how to memorise it. (Of course it is more effective to come up with your own observations and story)

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
  my eyes are not raised too high;

HEART then EYES . Noun comes before the verb each time. Then UP from heart to eyes

Lift verb is alphabetically before Raise verb

I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.

But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child

with its mother;

like a weaned child

is my soul within me.

Soul = sole ( of foot)

Weaned child = W.C

Mother

Weaned child= W.C.

Soul = sole ( of foot)

O Israel, hope in the Lord
    from this time forth and forevermore.

Hope = Rope.

Time = a Clock striking Four

STORY : I use a homely story about a young Mum with her little toddler to help remember the second verse.

  • Mother goes upstairs to the Loo
  • Leaves her slippers outside – SOLE
  • Steps in – steps out W.C.
  • Puts on her slippers – SOLE
  • Whizz’s down the stairs on the bannister rail holding on to a – ROPE
  • Fly’s past the grandfather clock in the hall striking four – TIME FORTH

Note the pyramid structure

MOTHER

Sole

W.C.

W.C.

Sole

it is in fact a CHIASM in Hebrew poetry – ABCBA . You will notice this sort of literary device is used a lot on a micro and a macro scale in Hebrew and Greek literature.

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