If there are any words that could characterize this age, it seems to me they should be “restless and anxious.” I don’t think this characterization is unique to our times. I am not speaking about frenzied activity, for that is simply a manifestation of it.
Spurgeon observed that this is “one of the shortest Psalms to read, but one of the longest to learn.”
In this Song of Ascents David makes a declaration that should make any of us envious, for here is one who declares his soul is at rest. David speaks as one who enjoys “a deep sense of peace, tranquility, and contentment with . . . God” (VanGemeren).This condition of “blessed recumbancy” is declared in verse 2.
David’s Claim, v. 2a.
“Surely I have composed and quieted my soul.” It was naturally restless and clamoring. It was naturally impulsive and impatient. It was naturally anxious, fretful, and fearful. Many live outwardly placid lives whose souls are tempests of ambition, unfulfilled desires, lusts, and cravings. fears and anxieties. But David declares he has “stilled and silenced” his soul (think of Jesus’ actions on the stormy sea in Luke 8).
This did not come without personal effort on David’s part (nor without grace on God’s part!). He had to take his own soul “in hand” as it were. He had to discipline it, train it, bring it under control. He sought to master his own spirit to calm his soul’s restless and anxious stirrings and stifle its constant clamoring and chatter.
This is no easy effort, dear saints! “He who rules his spirit [is better] than he who captures a city” (Pv. 16:32)! The taking of a city is child’s play to the mastery of ourselves. Of all David’s victories this was his best (though likely hardest fought!).
David’s Comparison, v. 2b-c.
David describes his soul’s condition with a comparison. “Like a weaned child rests against his mother, my soul is like a weaned child within me.” “Like child, like soul.” Here is a helpful picture that our young mommies surely appreciate and understand! I make four simple and brief observations from this comparison:
We See a Soul Starved
David does not speak of his soul as a “nursing” child, but as a “weaned” one, one that through the mother’s patient process of progressive denial has brought the child to be willing to partake of other food than the milk from her breast.
We See a Soul Subdued
David’s soul is no longer demanding, and no longer kicking and screaming and throwing a tantrum if denied. The weaned child “no longer frets and fusses for what it used to find indispensable” (Kidner). It used to be impatient and impulsive. But no longer. A weaned child has its desires subdued and directed to more substantial food. And so it is with the weaned soul.
We See a Soul Satisfied
The weaned child has learned through the denial to look for the better. It has learned to take from another source. Desire has been redirected to that which, in the long run, will be more substantial and truly satisfying.
We See a Soul Submissive
A weaned child has learned to wait, to be content with what is given, when it is given. He is content to rest in the lap that denies him! David has learned to trust in the good will and wisdom of God. He has learned that what is really needed will be provided at the right time. David says that his soul is like that child within him. It rests content in God’s wise disposing, confident of His faithful care.
Now this is a most wonderful condition of soul! David has declared and described it for us, but it is in verse 1 that he gives us insight how it came about in his own life. That we will consider another day . . .
Blessings in the All-Sufficient One.
