But I have calmed and quietened myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. Psalms 131:2 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/psa.131.2.NIVUK
Have you ever been with a family that has a really demanding child? A colleague of mine had a child that was awake every night between 10pm and 4am. He came to work exhausted every day. Another friend of mine had twin boys who tag teamed every day: one was always awake when the other was asleep, 24 hours a day. We met them when the boys were nine months old. He and his wife were completely shattered. Young children can be really hard work when they are constantly demanding. Or what about on a train or a bus, when the child is constantly asking, "But, why?" Or in a shop or supermarket when they insist on trying to buy everything, and when you get to the checkout you find your trolley is full of things you had no intention to get. Or when they fixate on something and scream so loudly for it that any normal person would think they were being beaten up. Hard, isn't it? Contrast that with the picture David sets before us here. Let me tell you, I've seen this and experienced it as a father. There is nothing more full of contentment. I wondered why David had written this, and one commentator explained it for me. You see, when a baby is not yet weaned, they see their mother as nothing more than a source of food. Hey, I've even seen babies try and latch onto people who are not their mother! It's quite amusing when it's another woman and when it's a man... well, it really gives you something to think about. Once a baby is weaned, they still receive their food from their mother, but have also gained the ability to feed themselves. So they relate to their mother because she is their mother, and not because she is giving them food.
Now picture that glorious moment when a weaned baby is sleeping soundly on their mother's chest, or snuggled in happily. That is what David is talking about here. That is the level of contentment he is experiencing. How many of us are imagining that picture and screaming inside, "I want it! I need it! I have to have it! Right now!" That's just the problem. We can't have it when we come before God in prayer and demand it. Contentment is not a gift from God. It is something we ourselves have to choose, just as David is doing in this psalm. And to get it, we need to stop seeing it as just another possession or commodity we need to do something to receive. Why? Because that is the very heart of the problem. In pagan religions, gods are seen as beings to be appeased if you want a good harvest or you want to have a career or children or success in anything in life. That's why people visit shrines to pray before big examinations or look for blessings on marriages or vehicles or even livestock. The problem is that this pagan, pre-Christian mentality has bled through into the so-called Christian church. I've seen behaviours from so-called believers that are quite frankly bizarre, like priests sprinkling new cars with 'holy water' to stop them crashing, or praying over horses and oxen to make them strong or virile. I even saw a public transport vehicle being driven Mad Max style through the streets of Pitesti, Romania with a picture of the Virgin Mary behind the sun visor, next to a soft-porn picture of a woman. Obviously the driver thought that one picture would guard against the perverted distraction caused by the other. But real, Biblical Christianity has nothing at all to do with that. You see, all that pagan ideology completely breaks down when God does not bless as expected, when the ritual fails and the so-called charm wears off. When hard times come, those whose shallow faith rises and falls in line with their own prosperity will quickly fall away. Their contentment will go with it, replaced by anger, disillusionment and disappointment. The Israelites were like that. They were often using a veneer of religiosity so they could buy God off and live however they wanted. But God was not fooled (Isaiah 58:1-5; Amos 5:21-24; Amos 8:4-7; Hosea 6:6). And this kind of fake religious observance carried on into Jesus' day. Jesus Himself was nothing less than scathing about it (Matthew 23:23-24). Do you see it? God is not looking for a religious observance that is only out for what it can get and throws a strop like an infant if it doesn't get it. No, as David put it in his psalm of repentance, He is looking for our hearts (Psalms 51:16-17). God is looking for us to approach Him for a relationship that does not depend on Him providing us with blessings or possessions, but simply on who He is (Habakkuk 3:17-18). Then, and only then, will we be truly contented. The basic truth we need to deal with is that contentment is not a response to a favourable situation. No. It must be a decision. It has to be something we decide do. Otherwise, why would these verses exist? The fear of the Lord leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble. Proverbs 19:23 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/pro.19.23.NIVUK Then some soldiers asked him, ‘And what should we do?’ He replied, ‘Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely – be content with your pay.’ Luke 3:14 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/luk.3.14.NIVUK But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 1 Timothy 6:6-8 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/1ti.6.6-8.NIVUK We decide when we are content. We decide. Our culture does not decide. Our parents do not decide. Our peers do not decide. We decide. And since we decide, we can decide to be content where we are now.
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