Scripture · Matthew 11:28
Psalm 131:2 · A child asleep in a church pew
My Second Sermon
Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.
The sermon has continued, and the little listener has fallen asleep. Her red cloak still glows against the dark pew, but her head has tipped to one side. Millais finds gentle humor in a child whose attention has reached its limit.
What does My Second Sermon show?
The girl sits enclosed by the high wooden back of the pew. A fur muff rests across her lap, her feet hang above the floor, and a hat with a pale feather lies beside her. Her closed eyes and relaxed posture make the change from formal attendance to sleep unmistakable.
Millais painted My Second Sermon in 1864 as a companion to My First Sermon. The Guildhall’s account identifies the model as his daughter Effie and describes the second picture as an affectionate response to the first. This is the Guildhall painting in the City of London collection.
Featured in: John Everett Millais’s Bible Paintings: The Holy Family That Made Dickens Furious
What does Psalm 131:2 mean?
Psalm 131 is brief: the speaker puts aside pride and ambitions beyond reach, describes a stilled soul, and calls Israel to hope in the LORD. Verse 2 compares that quietness to a weaned child with its mother. The emphasis falls on contented nearness and settled dependence.
The psalm’s child is with a mother; Millais’s child is asleep in a church pew. The pairing is contemplative, drawing on the visible relaxation of effort. It does not turn sleep into a test of faith or claim that Millais painted the psalm.
Psalm 131:2 pictures the soul as a quiet child; Millais’s sleeping listener gives a gentle visual companion to that image of rest.
Sources
Art UK and Guildhall Art Gallery — My Second Sermon. Exact Guildhall painting, date, medium, and dimensions.
Guildhall Art Gallery — My Second Sermon on Google Arts & Culture. Museum-authored account of the companion picture and the model, Effie Millais.
Psalm 131 — Berean Standard Bible. The complete three-verse psalm.
Also from Psalm:NativityMorning Prayer
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