Learning To Calm and Quiet Your Soul

“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

Many days, my soul feels frantic and overwhelmed, hurried or even heavy. I sometimes lie in bed at night, staring at the ceiling, taking inventory of all I didn’t get done. Or I incessantly Google my questions, seeking solutions to my problems and answers to angst.

Whether I’m juggling everyday responsibilities or processing profound heartache, I so often find myself restless, fearful and uncertain.

Maybe you can relate. Maybe you find yourself bouncing from one task to the next, and the pace of your life leaves not just your body but your soul feeling rushed. Or maybe you’re in a season of grief, and the broken pieces of your heart feel like they’re being tossed around by relentless waves.

No matter your circumstances, you can still find true, deep rest. King David carried the weight of a kingdom on his shoulders. He was chased by his enemies, suffered loss and wrestled with sin. But in Psalm 131:2, he said, “I have calmed and quieted my soul …”

Having a calm and quiet soul can feel impossible. There’s so much to do in a day, so much to think through, and so many people hurting. How can we have calm and quiet souls in the midst of it all?

In Psalm 131:1, David wrote, “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”).

In other words, David humbled himself. He wasn’t arrogant but instead recognized who he was in relation to who God is. Without humility, David wouldn’t have been able to admit his need for rest and his need for God’s care and provision.

Rest requires humility.

Then in the next verse, Psalm 131:2, David said he was like a weaned child with his mother. A weaned child isn’t clamoring for his mother’s milk. A weaned child is content in his mother’s arms, trusting she will provide.

I’ve learned from my four kids that the weaning process isn’t always easy. At first, a weaning child will cry and scream for what he wants, but the mother doesn’t love the child any less because she’s not giving him what he craves. She’s helping that child move from infancy to maturity. She’s still providing what he needs, but what he needs may be different than what he wants.

We are so often screaming babies, clawing at God for what we want — and He can handle all our cries and questions. But eventually, a child will recognize that his mother isn’t holding out on him when she doesn’t nurse. He begins to understand that he will be fed.

Like that child calm and quiet in his mother’s arms, we can find rest in the arms of our God. When we humbly trust Him, we can find true, lasting peace, come what may. At times, like the child being weaned, we can feel like God is withholding His provision. But He’s not. He provides what we need when we need it, growing us up so we “may be mature and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:4,).

Like David, we can calm and quiet our souls — not because life circumstances are peaceful or our unruly to-do lists are finally tamed. Rather, we can calm and quiet our souls because God is a trustworthy, faithful provider who invites us to rest in His arms.

O God, thank You for always providing for me. Calm and quiet my soul as I learn to trust You more deeply. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.