Psalm 131:1-3 Quiet Comfort
A humble man is our psalmist. He has found a quiet comfort from trusting in the Lord. Not desperately searching but resting in the knowledge of the security of God’s love.
This psalm intrigues and comforts me at the same time. It flows very well with the previous one and I thought about putting the two together but that didn’t feel right. I want to give this little psalm its due.
I started thinking about verse two and what it implies. My youngest grandchild is the only one who is still a nursing baby. I asked her mother the other day when she planned on weaning her. She said she had no plans for this. She hoped she would wean herself as her brother had done. Only one of my four children were allowed this decision time. Circumstances dictated the timing for the others.
My daughter was the child who suffered the most with ‘weaning’. She was originally breast fed but my milk dried up very early and she was switched to a bottle. She kept her bottle close to her second year. During that year we moved and the town we moved to was very small. As we were unpacking our household goods I noticed that the insets for her bottles were missing. The store in our town didn’t carry her brand. I purchased a regular bottle for her instead. She refused the new bottle and would not be comforted no matter what I tried. She cried herself to sleep that night. It nearly broke my heart! I was ready to drive to wherever to get her what she needed but her father refused to allow it. It took three days before she relented and went to sleep without tears but she was finally weaned. She learned to trust a world without that special comfort.
Most children do require some sort of ‘incentive’ or encouragement for weaning. It’s hard giving up that special bond and relationship. It is a trust process that happens in weaning. While the child is nursing they are given command of how often and how long they are fed. Their body’s needs dictate the schedule.
We moms get creative in meeting their demands, especially when they come during times when it is not the most convenient for us. I had a baby carrier that I wore that could easily be covered and give both of us privacy during feeding times, but there was one trip we took where I had to keep climbing in the back seat with my youngest son to meet his needs. The needs of the child come first for a nursing mother.
As the child grows they no longer require nursing for their nutritional needs. It becomes about comfort at that point. It offers them reassurance that mommy is still at their beck and call and is willing to hold and comfort them. This is especially important for them when the world is feeling unsafe. Sooner or later they learn to trust the world around them and to explore it with confidence.
They have learned to self soothe. A firm foundation has been laid in their lives to where they KNOW they can trust their parents to provide for them and for support in difficult times but not need to beg them to fill EVERY need RIGHT NOW.
Our psalmist says the he has learned to trust the Lord well enough that he is not afraid to face the demands of the day. He still brings his needs to the Lord in prayer but they are the ones that are ‘bigger’ or ‘unusual’. Trusting God for his normal daily demands is second nature. And when those bigger needs present themselves, he has learned to be patient in the process.
The psalmist is also humble. He has learned to self soothe but he also has a healthy understanding of his position in relationship to the Lord. He recognizes that God is in control and it is HIS will that will be done. He won’t presume to tell God what to do but he will bring his requests to Him.
As the child no longer grabs and tugs at the mother’s clothing to get to his goals but waits while his meal is prepared. He brings his needs of “I’m hungry” to his mother but does so with an understanding of the need to wait until it is prepared and the confidence that he will NOT be forgotten. So the psalmist waits with confidence that his God will do all He has promised. His life may not always be perfect but he has learned to trust in his Lord and still his soul.
Father God I trust You with SO MUCH of my life. There are parts where I still want to hold on, at least with one hand, and offer my ‘help’. When will I really trust You with everything? Is this something I will forever be working on? Maybe those, for me, are the BIG bump in the night places that any parent would expect their child to come running from. But then again, maybe not since we have walked this road with those same problems before. Help me still my soul in those places again Father. Put me on Your lap and remind me of how safe I really am and how those things really don’t matter. Hold me CLOSE tomorrow as I walk into what I feel is the Lion’s Den of judgment. Let me see myself through YOU eyes and no one else’s, not even my own! Still my soul please Father.
