Psalm 131:1-2
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. But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.
CH Spurgeon, the great Victorian Baptist preacher, commented that this is “one of the shortest psalms to read but one of the longest to learn”. Learning to be humble is so tough that anyone who claims to have achieved it has a very long way to go! Humility is a wonderful and exciting quality in a person because the truly humble person knows where they stand before God. They recognise His greatness and power and understand that they are privileged to be His servant. They don’t exaggerate their own importance and are eager to see everything that is best in those around them.
I don’t believe King David was suggesting that the humble person avoids difficult issues. Far from it, the humble person is more likely to take on the big challenges. It is the arrogant person who falls flat on their face when they take on great challenges in their own strength and fail. David says that he has become like a weaned child. At the time, children were weaned at about the age of three. It’s as if David was saying that he was like a toddler in his relationship with God. He wasn’t a baby any longer, but he was still continually and humbly dependent on God. And that’s the life God wants for each one of us.
Question
From whom have you learned most about humility?
Prayer
Loving God, teach me what it means to be humble and to live like a weaned child. Amen

Released on 16 Sep 2026