I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother.This imagery vividly captures a soul at rest. The child is content with his mother’s presence. How much more should we be content, as children of the Most High God? The Great I Am graciously invites us to take part in quieting our soul, by seeing his presence as a respite for our anxious hearts. David is not calming himself with sheer brute force and willpower, but in the strength and grace that God supplies. 

Be Still, My Soul

Psalm 131

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;

my eyes are not raised too high;

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.

 O Israel, hope in the Lord

from this time forth and forevermore.

Worriers live in the future. David knows this. I know this. We all know this. By the Holy Spirit’s grace and power at work in David, we have been given this tiny, but mighty Psalm, which deals a devastating blow to our pride and anxiety. Oftentimes in the Scriptures we are told to “cast our cares to God” and “do not worry.” These rich truths act as a bulwark against our anxiety. Remarkably, Psalm 131 takes a strikingly different approach to our perpetual anxiety. David, speaking in first person, is keenly aware of what is causing his anxiety—a proud heart. Therefore, he is no longer willing to lift his heart up in pride, nor will he raise his eyes in arrogance. His future is not in his own hands, but in those of his covenant-keeping God.

I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. Inferentially, there is an identification of our finitude. We cannot fathom all that God has done and is doing in our lives; His ways are beyond searching out. John Piper says it this way, “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” I would add that the three we know of are only known in part. Therefore, since we do not fully know all that God is doing in our lives, let us put off vain pre-occupation and put on humility, which joyfully acquiesces to the will of God for our lives.

I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother.

[Editor’s note: This article is incomplete. The source for this document was originally published on raanetwork.org – however, the original URL is no longer available.]