Shalom on display
“Like a weaned child rests against his mother, my soul is like a weaned child within me” Psalm 131:2 NASB
Rests – Imagery is everything. What’s the difference between these two images: “like a child rests” and “like a child that has stilled and quieted itself”? The first leads us toward passive acceptance. The second demonstrates intentional and deliberate decision. The second picture is the real translation of the Hebrew (thank you, NIV). There are actually two verbs in the Hebrew text. Shavah (to become like) and damam (to be silent or still). What is the picture that David paints? He is like a child who has decided to make himself still and quiet. There is no external compulsion here. It’s not, “Time to go to sleep now” from the mother’s voice. This is the child who contentedly climbs up on Mommy’s breast and lays down his head, completely secure, unafraid. Cared for.
We know this picture. It is constantly represented in photographs and paintings as a symbol of tranquility. But David is saying more than this. His imagery is not about just any child. This is a “weaned” child. That changes things. A weaned child is one who no longer expects to be fed every time mother’s breast is near. A weaned child has learned to trust that provision will be granted even if the breast is denied. A weaned child no longer desires only milk. Hummm, didn’t Paul say something about being weaned? Peter certainly did. What is the real imagery here? David says that he has learned to make the deliberate choice to rest on God without demanding immediate gratification of his needs. He has learned to be content and wait for God’s provision. By the way, one of the umbrella meanings of damam is “to wait”. Ah, the light goes on!
Most of us have never been weaned. God does not intend us to constantly be tugging at the breast. He wants us to grow up, to move on to solid food by choice. But we, like all infants, resist leaving the immediate source. We want our way, not His. And so He weans us. Do you know what that’s like? It’s called denying what we are absolutely convinced that we can’t live without. We complain. If we weren’t so “adult” about the whole thing, we would cry and kick and scream (sometimes we do, don’t we?). But God knows that there is more than milk. So He withholds. And the day comes when we learn what David learned. God will always provide. I can wait for Him without fear because He cares for me. I can, like a weaned child, rest on Him without demands.
Given up milk yet?
