“But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.” Psalm 131:2 ESV
Reflection: what is “the weather” like inside you?
A couple of nights ago, we had a very powerful thunderstorm that passed over our neighborhood. Some of the lightning strikes seemed very close; the whole house shook from the resulting thunder. And then came the pouring rain with wind. The whole thing lasted for an hour or so, after which it was completely calm.
The experience with the weather we can see is not so unlike what is going on at the spiritual level, what we sometimes feel inside but have a hard time understanding and articulating. If you think about it, some days we feel on “top of the world”, that we can face anything coming our way. Other times, not so much. We might have received a message from someone that really bothers us. Or, run into a situation with a coworker or “friend” who has been talking behind our backs. Maybe we have had a health issue or financial problems. Whatever it is, we can feel “the storm clouds” brewing, and even at times the full thunderstorm inside.
David wrote this beautiful psalm about what he felt on the inside, in his soul. We see from the focus verse today that he had “calmed and quieted his soul”. How is that possible, you might think? Well, David gives us clues in the first verse of the psalm, saying “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.” Psalm 131:1 ESV. There are a number of things here to consider. But perhaps it can be summarized as “humility”. And, notice here that most of this is by choice, as he says that “I do not occupy myself with…”, as he also states “I have calmed and quieted my soul”, by not being arrogant or prideful. By leaving things he doesn’t understand to God.
We might be reminded here of the storm that Jesus and the disciples were in, where the disciples thought they would drown. Jesus was not concerned. In fact, He was sleeping during this storm. The disciples cried out to Jesus in their fear, and He woke up saying, “And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” Mark 4:39 ESV. The Bible frequently uses water and sea as a metaphor for groups and masses of people. And, perhaps this story is not only given us to demonstrate Jesus’ authority over the physical elements, but also the spiritual. We can only image the spiritual attacks Jesus and the disciples were exposed to at the time; a scary “storm” indeed. But Jesus wasn’t worried.
So as Jesus taught us, and David figured out, we can also calm the storms in our lives. To quiet our souls. To be humble, and tell our souls “Peace! Be still!”