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I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. Psalm 131:2
Before each of my six babies was born, I would have the sweetest idea of spending hours holding a content baby while the world passed us by. I imagined that I would pick them up and rock or cuddle them as often as they or I would like. They would be content and peaceful in my arms.
The harsh realization I faced with each baby was that they were content in anyone’s arms but mine! If I held the baby, the baby wanted to eat. Sure, there would be brief moments of sleep, but no matter what I tried, even when the baby was full, the baby was only interested in nursing.
Perhaps that’s why Psalm 131:2 strikes such a chord with me. In this verse, the psalmist describes his soul as a weaned child, not a nursing one. This description makes sense as I reflect on my own experiences as a mother. A nursing child is helpless and utterly dependent on their mother. It is hardly content to simply sit in its mother’s lap without insisting on being fed. It can even be demanding at times, leaving you with no choice but to nurse again even though you just did that 45 minutes ago.
Then there’s a weaned child who can be perfectly content in its mother’s lap, wanting nothing but the security of being close to its mother’s heart and resting comfortably.
How is your soul? If it’s anything like mine, sometimes it is still more like a nursing child rather than a weaned one. My soul can be demanding, unsettled, and insecure, hardly the picture of peacefulness the psalmist describes. Though I know weaning myself of this mindset is the answer, let’s be honest–weaning is uncomfortable! It is a denial of self that can trigger quite a bit of stress when it seems there’s nowhere else to turn. Oh, but there is somewhere else to turn.
When I gaze on the glory of the gospel and see that all my eternal soul could ever need is provided in the finished work of Christ, my soul stops rooting around for contentment in places it could never find it. It stops insisting on more and learns to surrender to enough.
Of course, we could never come to this conclusion on our own. The Holy Spirit is our helper, comforter, and soother. He hushes our cries for more, more, more, and continually points us back to the water of Life, Jesus, Who truly satisfies our parched souls.
We are born into this world discontent, and the temptations to self-soothe with some form of consumption are there daily. What if, instead of consuming more, we climbed up into our Father’s lap and relaxed, knowing all we could possibly need for eternity has been provided by Him?
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