The Stage of Maturity


	Psalms 132-134: The Stage of Maturity Introduction and Review As we come to the last stage of the Psalms of Ascent we should remember that these psalms contain very few teachings and doctrines. Instead, they are rich in experience. For this reason what we have been sharing should not be taken as a doctrinal expounding of the Bible. Other writers and expositors have interpreted these psalms differently, but our desire is to share these psalms according to spiritual experience. In our Christian life we are ascending from one stage of experience to another. We have already covered the stages of vision, consecration, enjoyment, and enlargement. Now we come to the fifth stage, the stage of maturity. The maturity that is described in the last stage of the Psalms of Ascent is different from the maturity we have seen in the previous stages. For example, the third stage, the stage of enjoyment, issued in a certain kind of maturity. However, that maturity was very individualistic. In the stage of enjoyment we became a blessing to the Body, and we were even appreciated by the other saints, but we may not have actually seen the Body. Instead, we felt that we ourselves were quite high and important. This is why we needed to go through the fourth stage, the stage of enlargement. In order for us to be enlarged the Lord caused us to be brought low. We experienced difficulties and afflictions in our environment which forced us to spend more time in the Lord's presence. In the light of His presence we saw who we really were. We could no longer think of ourselves so highly. We realized that without the Lord's mercy we were capable of committing any sin. We could no longer be so proud or so haughty, and we no longer desired to do great things. Instead, we became as a "weaned child," humble and submissive to the Lord and with a proper attitude towards the church life. This means that we entered into a healthy and greater maturity. By the time we reach the fifth stage of the Psalms of Ascent we have learned to tell the Lord, "I dare not do anything, nor can I do anything. Lord, all of my past spiritual ambitions, and all of my desires to be used by You in a great way, are gone now. I realize that I am nothing. I just want to be a child in Your presence." This is the result of our healthy growth in life. In the past we were once filled with "arrows," and thus able to deal with all kinds of situations. We became a supply of life and joy to the church life. But then the Lord came in to bring us down. The Lord plowed on our back and produced furrows for more life to grow. By our growth in life we were enlightened about our real condition before the Lord. We saw that we were only a sinner, even the chief sinner, and that we were utterly dependent on the Lord's mercy. This caused us to be enlarged and brought us into a quiet restfulness concerning the Lord's testimony. It is in this restfulness, after being enlarged, that we are able to exercise according to our maturity. Now we come to the final stage of our growth in life as portrayed in the Psalms of Ascent. Psalm 132 portrays our exercise in maturity for the sake of the Lord's testimony. Psalms 133 and l34 are the manifestation and display of the church life in maturity. We will see that eventually our maturity is no longer an individual experience, but a corporate one. To purchase the book Journey of Life; the Psalms of Ascent and Song of Songs