Like a Weaned Child

"But I have calmed and quieted myself, 

I am like a weaned child with its mother, 

like a weaned child I am content." 

 ~Psalm 131:2

My kids and I are reading through the Psalms currently, and this one hit home in several ways.  I am not always so patient and calm as I wait for God to meet my needs. Things seem so urgent from my point of view! But I try to keep going back to that knowing that he doesn't abandon us, knowing he sees, knowing he cares, knowing we are in his hands.

How did the Psalmist calm himself?  He wasn't proud.  His heart wasn't fixed on matters that were beyond his sphere--his hope was in the Lord.  A hope as solid as a child's.  He was content.

Spurgeon* points out in his commentary,

"It is no easy thing to quiet yourself; sooner may a man calm the sea, or rule the wind, or tame a tiger, than quiet himself."

Ah...but we have the One who calms the sea and wind, the One who even created the animals, within us.

"We are clamorous, uneasy, petulant; and nothing but grace can make us quiet under afflictions, irritations, and disappointments."  

Nothing but grace.  Grace which lures us daily, moment by moment, to rest in the one who will surely provide for us, surely care for us--the one who absolutely loves us more than we can imagine.

The weaning process is difficult, is painful.  We are weaned from self-reliance, from the world's enticements, from pride, from our desire for control...and we are taught to turn and trust in our true Provider, to rest in his Providence.

Spurgeon goes on to say that the child is not weaned from his mother, but on her:

"My soul doth like a weanling rest,

I cease to weep;

So mother's lap, though dried her breast,

Can lull to sleep."

*Quotes of Charles H. Spurgeon are from The Treasury of David: Classic Reflections on the Wisdom of the Psalms.