WEB
Psalms 131
Three verses, attributed to David, that refuse ambition: "my heart isn't arrogant, nor my eyes lofty" — no meddling in matters "too wonderful for me" (v. 1). After the depths of Psalm 130, this is deliberate smallness. The single startling image carries the whole poem: a soul stilled "like a weaned child with his mother" (v. 2) — no longer crying for milk, content simply to rest near her. Watch how restraint, not striving, becomes the posture of trust.
- 1
LORD, my heart isn’t arrogant, nor my eyes lofty; nor do I concern myself with great matters, or things too wonderful for me.
- 2
Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.
- 3
Israel, hope in the LORD, from this time forward and forever more.
- 1
Cántico gradual: de David. JEHOVÁ, no se ha envanecido mi corazón, ni mis ojos se enaltecieron; ni anduve en grandezas, ni en cosas para mí demasiado sublimes.
- 2
En verdad que me he comportado y he acallado mi alma, como un niño destetado de su madre: como un niño destetado está mi alma.
- 3
Espera, oh Israel, en Jehová desde ahora y para siempre.
The weaned child, not the nursing one
The picture is specifically of a weaned child: past the frantic hunger of infancy, the soul has stopped demanding and learned to be quiet beside its source of comfort.
Verse 3 hands this private calm to the nation — "Israel, hope in the LORD, from this time forward and forever more" — turning one person's quieted heart into a model for the whole people.
Context layers
Keep these closed by default and open them only when you want more context.
Share a small range via:
/en/web/psalms/131/16-18
Or use the Passage link builder.