Psalm 131:2; ‘Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me.”
I love the imagery in this verse; in fact, we go way back, back about 20 years. Back then, my daughter was 3 and the older children were in school: I didn’t work outside the home and made a 90 minute drive to and from Bible Study Fellowship each week. Back then, there was plenty of time to think.
I had run across the verse in daily quiet time and I was clueless as to what it meant. I contemplated “weaned children” as I drove over to BSF, and even though I had one in the car, I got nothing! On the way home, I actually banged the steering wheel and thought peevishly, “OK God, I clearly don’t get it; so what does a non-weaned child look like?” As I drove over the very high and narrow, rickety bridge that spanned a rather large river separating KY from TN, holding my breath in sheer terror as I did twice each week, it finally dawned on me.
It’s pretty easy to tell a breast-fed baby. When hungry, their little mouths are like baby birds, making sweet little sounds as they search around for mom, turning their heads from side to side. As they get more anxious, they arch their backs and begin to fuss; so many a “sub” has used a pacifier or even a finger to soothe, but after a while, the fake is revealed and the anxiety grows only to be soothed by mom. It always amazed me that, if hungry enough, those little babies would take anything into their mouths for a moment, but only for a moment, quickly spitting it out when mom came into the room.
With that picture firmly in mind, I realized that a weaned child could sit quietly, leaning up against mom, without being fussy or anxious just because mom was there; hunger and thirst would be taken care of because they always had been; they had nothing to be anxious or concerned about.
And then I realized what God was trying to get me to understand from the passage; I wasn’t at all a weaned child. I was still fearful, anxious and searching. Now, this wouldn’t have surprised me if we were talking about my past. I could easily see the multitude of pacifiers I tried over the years looking for something that really satisfied, but this was seven years into a deep walk with Him, and here He was telling me that I still wasn’t a weaned child. I was pretty devastated, but I got the point.
I love the imagery in this verse; in fact, we go way back, back about 20 years. Back then, my daughter was 3 and the older children were in school: I didn’t work outside the home and made a 90 minute drive to and from Bible Study Fellowship each week. Back then, there was plenty of time to think.
I had run across the verse in daily quiet time and I was clueless as to what it meant. I contemplated “weaned children” as I drove over to BSF, and even though I had one in the car, I got nothing! On the way home, I actually banged the steering wheel and thought peevishly, “OK God, I clearly don’t get it; so what does a non-weaned child look like?” As I drove over the very high and narrow, rickety bridge that spanned a rather large river separating KY from TN, holding my breath in sheer terror as I did twice each week, it finally dawned on me.
It’s pretty easy to tell a breast-fed baby. When hungry, their little mouths are like baby birds, making sweet little sounds as they search around for mom, turning their heads from side to side. As they get more anxious, they arch their backs and begin to fuss; so many a “sub” has used a pacifier or even a finger to soothe, but after a while, the fake is revealed and the anxiety grows only to be soothed by mom. It always amazed me that, if hungry enough, those little babies would take anything into their mouths for a moment, but only for a moment, quickly spitting it out when mom came into the room.
With that picture firmly in mind, I realized that a weaned child could sit quietly, leaning up against mom, without being fussy or anxious just because mom was there; hunger and thirst would be taken care of because they always had been; they had nothing to be anxious or concerned about.
And then I realized what God was trying to get me to understand from the passage; I wasn’t at all a weaned child. I was still fearful, anxious and searching. Now, this wouldn’t have surprised me if we were talking about my past. I could easily see the multitude of pacifiers I tried over the years looking for something that really satisfied, but this was seven years into a deep walk with Him, and here He was telling me that I still wasn’t a weaned child. I was pretty devastated, but I got the point.
Sometimes, I am still not a weaned child. Something frightens or unsettles me, turns my world upside down and I again become anxious and like the unweaned baby, I accept a pacifier instead of trusting that mom is really right there. The problem with adult pacifiers is they’re really hard to spit out, because for the moment they soothe and deceive and allow us to be still, but only for a moment.
12 comments:
zSusan,
Thanks.
I kind of see the image of a child no longer in need of his mother's milk, but perhaps thinking he does need it, and certainly wants it.
But the psalmist seems to say that the child is content to be with his mother. He has grown out of the need of that special closeness that gives immediate relief and satisfaction. He has learned to appreciate his mother in a new way; he is growing into another stage of development.
So our need to have alot of light, warmth and the security and peace that comes with that, is lessened, as God seeks to help us to be and do according to his will, even when in darkness and even when experiencing fear (as in a sense I believe Jesus himself experienced). We're not babied any longer.
Good to bring this to our attention. A good word for me.
Never having breast-fed anyone yet, what you wrote is pretty helpful. I had sort of thought of this verse in the same way, that weaned babies are just content to be by their mother's side and no longer fussily needy--just what you confirmed.
*tap, tap, tap*
(I'm here with ya, Sis.)
Andrew,
Good comment.
I think this take for granted that the baby has bonded with her mother. In cases in which the baby doesn't because the mother is too busy early on, I wonder if there is a disconnect already setting in by the time the baby is at the age where they should be weaned.
At any case I think your comment gets closer to what Susan is saying than mine did. It's knowing God's fellowship as one is growing up and no longer dependent in baby kind of ways, but learning dependence and closeness to God in new ways.
Something like that, I expect.
I hadn't thought about it like that Ted - but certainly I think that many children who do not bond appropriately to their moms (and dads too) could have some difficulty "bonding" to God - however, God is also gracious to intervene when we ask Him in overcoming our faults as parents and allowing them, in many cases, to not harm our children at all.
certainly my "feelings" about who God is, and more to the point, what I think about His feelings towards me are have definitely been skewed by the way I grew up.
Thanks for your comment - it will be interesting to think about!
Susan,
your blog is dying, or at least rusting a bit. I know you can stir things up for us a bit. We need it.
More seriously, what do you do when you don't blog?!? Ha.
I agree with Ted.
I have been blessed by your blog and look forward to reading it in the future. I hope you have a great weekend.
I find one of the hardest disciplines in the Christian life is to wait contently for God.
I think it's because I mistake activity for progress and sometimes I'm not trusting God.
Thanks for sharing the scripture
I was reading about the "weaned child" in Psalms the other day, in a version that added "I have cultivated a quiet heart." That really struck me. I thought, what am I doing to cultivate a quiet heart?
I'm not sure if we are ever really weaned. Maybe some of the saints were, but us? h.b.h.
Doesn't Paul go on about strong meat somewhere?
Lorenzo.
Hey! I thought I had left a comment here (unless you deleted it of course? honest, I did not leave any rude boobie remarks!)
Have a swell weekend!
m
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