I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. (Psalm 131:2)
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 131
1 My heart is not proud, LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. 2 But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. 3 Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore.
In a psychiatrist’s advice column, he responded to a reader named Brenda, who lamented that her ambitious pursuits had left her discontented. His words were blunt. “Humans aren’t designed to be happy,” he said, “but only to survive and reproduce.” He added, “We’re cursed to chase the teasing and elusive butterfly of contentment. However, we can’t always capture it.”
I wonder how Brenda felt reading the psychiatrist’s nihilistic words. If she had read Psalm 131 instead, she may have felt differently. In Psalm 131, David gives us a guided reflection on how to find contentment. He begins in a posture of humility, putting his kingly ambitions aside, and while wrestling life’s big questions is important, he puts those aside too (v. 1). Then he quiets his heart before God (v. 2), entrusting the future into His hands (v. 3). The result is beautiful: “like a weaned child with its mother,” he says, “I am content” (v. 2).
In this broken world, contentment will at times be elusive. In Philippians 4:11–13, the apostle Paul said contentment is something to be learned. But if we believe we’re only designed to “survive and reproduce,” contentment will surely be an uncatchable butterfly. David shows us another way: catching contentment through quietly resting in God’s presence.
Today’s Hymns:
Satisfied in You (Psalm 42)
10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)
Scripture to Respond:
Psalm 16:11
You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
1 Peter 1:8
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.
Reflection:
When do you most feel content? How could you set aside unhurried time to be quietly present with God today?
Prayer:
Dear God, I rest in You, the deepest well of my truest contentment.
Wong Wai Tung (Chief Executive Officer of The Great Wall Education Foundation)
