Psalms 131 - Psalms for Coping with Anxiety

A psalm to calm anxiety These texts of the Old Testament are treasures for the human soul. God gives us the words to express our fears and attitudes to soothe our hearts. Psalm 131 gives us keys to combat our anxiety and cope with stress: humility and surrendering to the will of God. This psalm is part of the hymns of ascents (or hymns of degrees), sung during the pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Like these pilgrims on their way to the holy city, we are also on our way to the Kingdom of God. Like them, we can recite these verses, these words of life to open our hearts to the peace of God.

Text of Psalm 131

“1 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.

 2 But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.

 3 Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore.”

Find more Bible verses to find peace and serenity.

Humility, a path to healing

Whether in the Old Testament or through the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels, the Bible shows us how humility is a fundamental virtue. Pride has distanced man from God and is the source of many evils. Accepting that we are not perfect, that we have limits, that we are not masters of everything in our lives, that we need others, frees us.
To combat our stress, we can already look at our lives with the help of the Holy Spirit and discern the source of our stress: is it too much attention to what others think? Is it a fear of failure? A competitive spirit that prevents us from accepting our limits? Too much need for recognition? …
Let us entrust this to the Lord in our prayers and let us be transformed by the first verse of Psalm 131: “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.”

Agree to become a child of God again

“I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.” As a child feels soothed and trusting in the arms of its mother, God invites us to rest in him. The God, creator of the universe, is above all a Father. If we rely on him, he will take care of all our problems. Jesus reminds us of this in the Gospel of Matthew:
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 26, 26-27)

While it is not always easy to accept this word and live it in our daily lives, prayer can help us. Indeed, prayer is a formidable weapon against stress. Let us ask the Lord to make our faith grow and entrust each of our daily concerns to him, whether through the beautiful prayer of Our Father (“Give us this day our daily bread”) or with a specific prayer.

Find peace and serenity through prayer with Hozana

Taking a moment each day to remember how much we are loved by God and to rely on him is a simple and effective way to regain confidence in life. Hozana, through various online spiritual offerings, can help you. Discover many prayer communities and online journeys to strengthen your faith.

For example, you can

- register to receive a gospel verse daily,

- introduce yourself to Christian meditation to find yourself, as well as the source of all joy

- receive a bible verse  each morning that reminds us that we are the Father's beloved children, or a daily encouraging email to boost your relationship with God!