Psalm 131:2-3 Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.… I. FROM WHAT DOES GRACE WEAN THE SOUL? 1. From the dry breasts of the world (James 1:27; 1 John 2:16). (1) From the profits of the world (Hebrews 11:26). (2) From the pleasures of the world. (3) From all worldly comforts whatsoever, making it take up its rest in God (Luke 14:6). 2. From the foulsome breasts of sin, so that it loathes that which it loved before. II. HOW IS THE SOUL WEANED FROM THESE THINGS? 1. Grace lays gall and wormwood upon these breasts, and so embitters them to the soul that it is made willing to give over sucking them (Hosea 2:6, 7). Now, there are two things that serve to embitter these breasts. (1) Continual disappointments from them. Though the man is always seeking satisfaction from them, he can never get it. Like the prodigal (Luke 15:16). (2) Severe wounds arise from them. The man leans with great delight on the broken reed; and, ere he is aware, it pierceth through his hand. He sucks eagerly at the breast, and, instead of milk, wrings out blood. 2. The Lord fills the soul with better things (John 4:14). III. WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF A WEANED DISPOSITION OF SOUL? 1. The weaned soul is a resigned soul. (1) To the will of God's commandments. (2) To the will of His providence. 2. The weaned soul is cheerful, and not fretful in its resignation. What God does is not only well done, but best done; so says the weaned soul. 3. The weaned soul stands on other grounds, when created comforts are with him, and even when created streams are running full: he draws his support in both cases from God as the fountain. 4. The weaned soul will stand without them when these are gone, for they were not the props on which his house rested. Such a soul can adopt the prayer of Habakkuk 3:17, 18. 5. The weaned soul uses creative comforts passingly. They follow the directions of Paul (1 Corinthians 7:29-31). 6. The weaned soul casts itself upon the Lord, without carnal anxiety, as the weaned child depends on the mother's care (Philippians 4:6). (T. Boston, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child. |
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