Daily Word of Grace # 82 (July 8, 2020)
Some of the most powerful and evocative psalms are the shortest, including this gem: “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; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore” (Psalm 131). That’s the whole psalm, and such a theologically loaded and comforting one. How often do we wrap our hearts and perspectives around things that are beyond our ability to predict or control? How often do we “occupy” ourselves “with things too great and too marvelous” for us? I can’t speak for you, but I will admit that I do so much more often than I care to admit. The image of a weaned child who is content—“calmed and quieted”—and resting in their mother’s arms is so comforting. The weaned child is content because they have been fed and are being held by their mother. God’s love for us is like that: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:15-16). God has never forgotten us (Deuteronomy 31:6). God has always had compassion for us (Matthew 9:36). And even now we are indeed inscribed on the scarred palms of our Risen Savior. God’s love is “too great and too marvelous” for us, and yet by the power of the Holy Spirit that love may calm and quiet our soul “like a weaned child” so we can respond with “hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore.”
Love and Prayers,
Dave