A Short Psalm with a Big Lesson!

 

This morning, the Lord has shown me such amazing things in His Word, and how truly incredible and generous He is toward us. I've begged Him to allow me to share with you what He's shown me, so I'm going to try. He has so very much for us, and gives us more every day as we grow through studying His Word with Him. He can't just dump it all on us all at once, because much that He has for us is so powerful that it wouldn't be safe for us to have it if we didn't first understand more. That's why we're told over and over that those who are really His disciples will remain/continue/stay in His Word (John 15:7).

I've been asking the Lord to help me learn to be content as He tells us we're to be. I know that I often exhibit the exact opposite of that and I don't want to be that way. Today, I finally understood what He's been trying to teach me for so long. The lesson began with Psalm 131.

Psalm 131:1–3 —My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. *But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. *O Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore. *

I finally understood what David was saying in this psalm and how it applied to me. He said he'd been trying to fix things himself, do for himself instead of relying on the Lord and depending on Him. He hadn't forgotten about God, but was at first while trying to do for himself, also trying to figure out how God might help him...what God could do to help fix the situation he was in. I could sure relate to that, because I've done that a lot of times! David then realized his mistake and said he wouldn't concern himself with matters like that anymore because he realized he couldn't possibly understand the way God thought or how He might work things out. If we could do that, we wouldn't need God, we'd be God ourselves! It's basically the sin of pride....again, showing it's ugly head. Pride in even thinking we might be able to do this for ourselves or figure things out. Oh sure, we've done it all our lives, (we think) and sometimes even managed to get things to turn our in the way we thought was "right". The problem is that what happened all those times, wasn't really due to anything we did, we had simply continued to accept Satan's illusion that it was.

So he says that instead, he'd stilled and quieted his soul like a weaned child. Meaning that he'd stopped striving to figure out how he could manipulate people and situations so that they'd work out the way he thought was best, and instead was relying on God. When a baby is nursing, they immediately go for the mother's breast every time they're put near it, and even when they're not near it. If the mother simply touches the baby's cheek gently, the baby will immediately turn it's head toward the touch, seeking the mothers breast. It's like that's all that's on the newborns mind. But a weaned baby no longer does that. The weaned baby knows that they'll be fed when they need it and so no longer are constantly seeking for it. They're content in the love of their mother.

So what had David been weaned of? He'd been weaned from Self-sufficiency, self-will, and self-seeking from dependance on himself so he could be happy and have all he needed. Basically from a self centered life. He instead would trust God to provide for his happiness and all he needed in this life. Because of that, he was no longer full of anxiety, striving to figure things out. He didn't have to stay up late worrying, he could simply go to bed and rest in the complete assurance that God loved him and would provide for him. We're like the weaned child when we can go about our day, happily and contentedly, regardless of how things look, without worrying about "how" God will take care of us or provide what we need, and without worrying about "when" He will do it. Then we're content in the love of our Father.

David's relieved (as I was!) to have learned this lesson and so advises Israel and us, to put our hope in God rather then in ourselves. And so ends this short psalm, that's packed full with a big lesson!