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A Weaned Child

The child in Psalm 131 is no longer nursing. It sits with its mother wanting nothing from her but her.

By EmberKeeper Editorial 1 min read

Scripture Psalm 131

Psalm 131 has three verses, and the middle one carries the image. “Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.”

The word weaned is worth slowing down for. A nursing infant in its mother’s arms is usually wanting something, and says so. A weaned child can sit on the same lap wanting nothing from her except that she is there.

The psalmist does not claim the calm arrived by itself. I have stilled, he says, and quieted. It took some doing, and verse 1 hints at what it involved: he does not aspire to great things or matters too lofty for him.

A good deal of prayer is still nursing, and God is patient with that. This psalm describes what can come after, when a person has learned to stay near Him even on days when nothing is being handed over.

Scripture in English is from the Berean Standard Bible, placed in the public domain by its publisher on 30 April 2023.

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