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PSALM 131

A Song of degrees of David,

  1. O jehovah, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty; neither do I walk in great things, nor in things too high for me.
  2. Surely I have composed and quieted my soul, as a child that is weaned of his mother; my soul is even as a weaned child.
  3. Let Israel hope in jehovah, now on even for ever!

The Internal Sense

Concerning the lord, that he operated from his Human essence; that he operated indeed by influx from his Divine principle, but not from his Divine principle alone, verses 1, 2; the church is to put her trust in him, verse 3.

Exposition

Verse 2. My soul is even as a weaned child. That to be weaned denotes to be separated, and in relation to the lord the separation of the maternal human, see AC 2649. It is to be observed, that the lord successively and continually, even to the last period of his life in the world, when he was glorified, separated from himself, and put off that which was merely human, namely what he derived from the mother, till at length he was no longer her son, but the son of god, as well with respect to nativity as to conception, and thus became one with the father, and himself jehovah; that he separated from himself and put off all the human principle which he had from the mother, so that he was no longer her son, appears plain from the lord's words in John, "When they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine; jesus said to her, Woman, what have I to do with you?" John 2:3, 4; and in Matt. "Then said one to him, behold, your mother and your brethren stand without, seeking to speak to you; but Jesus answering said to him that had told him, who is my mother, and who my brethren? and stretching forth, his hand over his disciples he said, behold my mother, and my brethren; for whoever shall do the will of my father, who is in the heavens, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother," 12:47, 48, 49; Mark 3:32, 33, 34, 35; Luke 8:20, 21; and in Luke, "A certain woman of the people lifting up her voice said to him, blessed is the womb which bare you, and the paps which you have sucked; but jesus said, blessed are they who hear the Word of god and keep it," Luke 11:27, 28; where when the woman spoke of a mother, the lord spoke of those above-mentioned, namely whoever shall do the will of my father, the same is my brother, my sister, and mother, which is the same thing with what is here said, blessed are they who hear the Word of god and keep it; so in John, "jesus seeing the mother, and the disciple standing by whom he loved, said to his mother, woman, behold your son; then said he to the disciple, behold your mother, wherefore from that hour the disciple took her to himself," John 19:26, 27; from which words it is evident, that the lord spoke to her agreeably to what she thought when she saw him on the cross, but still he does not call her mother, but woman, and transfers the name of mother to those who are signified by the disciple, wherefore he said to the disciple, behold your mother; this appears still more manifestly from the lord's words in Matthew, Jesus asked the Pharisees, saying, What think you concerning Christ? Whose son is he? They say to him, David's. He says to them, How then does David in spirit call him lord, saying, the lord said to my lord, sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool; if David therefore call him lord, how is he his son? Matt 22:41, to the end; Mark 12:35, 36, 37; Luke 20:42, 43, 44; thus he was no longer the son of David as to the flesh. As to what further concerns the separation and putting off of the maternal human principle, it is to be observed, that it is inconceivable to those who form merely corporeal ideas concerning the lord's Human principle, and think of it as of the human principle of another man, whereby they are offended at it; such persons are not aware, that according to the nature and quality of the life, such is the man, and that the lord had by conception a Divine esse of life, or jehovah, and that a like esse of life had existence in his Human principle by union. AC 2649.

For the use of those who are in the internal sense three arcana shall he here explained, the first is, that the lord's Divine Human [principle] existed from the essential Divine [principle,] which subject is further treated of in this verse. The second is, that the lord's Divine Human [principle] was not only conceived of jehovah, but also born of jehovah, hence the lord, as to his Divine Human [principle,] is called the Son of god, and the Only-begotten, John 1:14, 18, 49, 3:16, 18, 35, 36, 5:19-27, 6:69, 9:35, 10:36, 11:27, 14:13-14, 17:1, 20:31, in like manner with the other Evangelists. The third is, that the lord's Divine Human [principle] is the name of jehovah, that is, his quality, see John 12:28. AC 2628.

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