¹Lord, my heart is not haughty,
Nor my eyes lofty.
Neither do I concern myself with great matters,
Nor with things too profound for me.
²Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
Like a weaned child with his mother;
Like a weaned child is my soul within me. 
³O Israel, hope in the LORD
From this time forth and forever.
(Psalm 131)

Weaning is a milestone that every baby and their mothers go through. It is the process of gradually stopping breastfeeding and introducing regular foods to the baby. Babies are typically weaned starting from 6 months old. 

Weaning is a challenging process. There might be moments when the baby wrestles with his mum as he insists on her breastmilk instead of accepting the new foods being introduced to him. This is a journey that tests the patience of both the child and his mother.  

In Psalm 131, David likens our relationship with God to that of a child and his mother – God being the mother figure, and we as His children. What does it mean for us to be like a weaned child? 

A weaned child trusts his mother. He may not understand why his mother is giving him all these ‘strange’ foods instead of the usual breastmilk. He may not know what’s inside these foods, or what they even are, except how different they taste and feel compared to his mum’s milk. He may not have control over what’s being fed to him. Yet, there comes a point when the child learns to accept whatever his mother is feeding him, as he trusts in her care. 

Doesn’t this sound like our walk with God? 

We may not understand why God is giving us various ‘unsavoury’ events in our lives, and we may not know what we’re supposed to glean from these events. We may not have control over the events in our lives. Yet, there comes a point when we need to learn to accept whatever God gives us, and trust in His care. As Jeremiah 29:11 says:

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

With this simple trust in God’s heart, a weaned child of faith no longer vexes over things beyond his human control and understanding. Instead, he simply focuses on doing good, while letting God keep him busy with the joy of his heart (Ecclesiastes 5:20). 

When a child is weaned, he also learns to enjoy the pure embrace of his mother, not for milk but for comfort. When a baby is not yet weaned, he tends to cry more frequently out of hunger and desperation for his next meal; and when his mother finally holds him, all he seeks is her nipple. Conversely, after a child has been weaned, when held by his mum, he no longer seeks, nor needs, her nipple. Instead, he embraces her for his comfort, and out of pure love for his mother.   

Similarly, as a weaned child of faith, we do not worship God out of desperation for worldly food. Rather, our worship of God stems from a sincere love and desire to be close to Him, in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). We learn to love God, not for the material blessings that He gives, but simply for who He is – a perfectly good God, who first loved us even before we knew Him, and is determined to save us to the uttermost.            

So, in our walk of faith, let us learn to be like weaned children before God – calm and quiet in our souls, humbly accepting God’s will in our lives even when it’s beyond our understanding, and always hoping in God’s goodness. 🍼👶🏻🕊️