I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul
“O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
I do not occupy myself with things too great
and too marvelous for me.
But 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
Do you start your day with the assumption that the most important task is to accomplish chores and errands, keep appointments? Such thinking will put a barrier between God and his children, and is quite maddening. Be like the psalmist who says in essence, “I am not too proud or busy to come to you, Lord. I still reserve precious time for You. With You is where I belong.” It is so easy for us to get lost in the urgent tasks of the day. We think those are the things we must accomplish. We want to be proud of our independence.
David’s analogy of a weaned child is something to which we mothers can relate. Especially if we understand what David would have seen in his time. Until the twentieth century, mothers often nursed into the 3rd and 4th year. I breastfed my babies for at least 12 months each; ideal for today, but deprivation by ancient standards! To us a weaned child is just an older baby; to by gone generations a weaned child could not only walk, but negotiate better terms! David’s picture of a weaned child and its mother would have looked very different from ours.
Imagine a 3-year-old girl playing with friends in the sand and stopping all of her activities to climb into her mother’s lap. She is old enough to get by without nursing. She is capable of relating to her peers, playing independently, and eating the family meal. She comes to her mother, not for anything urgent, but because she just loves her. She needs her mother’s warmth; she craves her mother’s understanding. She knows she is not a baby, but she still behaves as a sweet child. Lord, let that be me with You!
Like a weaned child with its mother, I still need to be nourished in the arms of Jesus. He is mostly about the most basic things in life. We find our sustenance when we seek after Him for Himself, not begging for His gifts and blessings. What has become of your desire to just get alone with God and pray? What dependence do you cultivate from his Word? Long time believers are prone to forget that though we have been “weaned”, we are still children in need of Him. Not primarily his gifts and blessings. But in need of the embrace of His presence.
Apart from this, there is no hope for us to have a calm and quieted soul. That is the greatest accomplishment and one for which only God gets the glory.
Love and blessings,
Barbara Gardner
whispersofgrace@gmail.com
