TALK THIS WAY
Psalm 43:5 CSB
5 Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him,
my Savior and my God.
If we are being honest, we all have to admit that we talk to ourselves. And that is not a problem. Talking to ourselves ensures that someone is listening. Arguing with ourselves is an entirely different situation. They did a study once where they gave two groups of people items to find in a grocery store. One group was instructed to talk to themselves as they searched for the items. The other group had to remain silent. The talking group was more effective in finding the items than the silent group. Researchers believe talking to ourselves helps us focus our thoughts and adds clarity. Many of us can attest to talking to ourselves as we walk around our homes looking for misplaced items. And there have been stories of people talking to the people in the cars in front of them, especially when they are going slow in the passing lane. But lest I digress into a personal rant, there is value in talking to yourself. If…
If you talk to yourself using words that help, not hurt. Words that lift your spirits, not words to put yourself down. And it’s okay to talk yourself out of being discouraged. One key lesson we have learned from the Psalms is how David and the other psalmists talked about God and talked about their trust in God. David and the other authors of the Psalms talked not only to God, they talked to themselves. Our verse for today is a great example of talking to yourself and talking yourself out of being mentally down and disturbed. Don’t throw that thought away. If someone else can speak words of encouragement to you, why can’t you skip the middleman and speak directly to yourself?
Why are you so dejected soul? Why are you in turmoil? Instead of accepting dejection and mental turmoil, the psalmist is questioning why. What a great idea. Instead of accepting every negative mood and thought that comes our way, why not question their intrusion into our minds and emotions? Why not deny them permission to stay? The psalmist appears to be asking his soul rhetorical questions. He is not even waiting for an answer. His next step is to directly tell himself, his mind, and his emotions to put hope in God. Soul, you are going to put confident trust in the goodness of God. And to take it one step further, not only are you going to hope in God, you are going to praise God. Praise God for His help and salvation. Praise God because He is my God.
If you think this sounds a bit strange, you are correct. It is strange because we have not been taught to do this. Many of us grew up with cultural wisdom that told us not to talk to ourselves. And we were not instructed to resist negative thoughts and emotions. Maybe you were raised differently. I hope so. For those of us who are still learning, I wonder how much mental and emotional anguish we could have escaped if we had learned to talk like David and the psalmists. And we can bring these lessons into New Testament wisdom and learn from Paul and, most definitely, from Jesus. Paul spoke of some of the troubles he experienced while taking the gospel to the nations. But Paul does not speak like a tormented man. He speaks like a man who is strong in the Lord. A man who uses his words to help and heal, not hurt and discourage.
As a child, I was taught not to talk back to my parents or elders. That’s good manners. But talking back to a discouraged soul is godly wisdom.
PRAYER
Lord, teach me how to talk to myself and make me more aware of when my mind and my emotions start down the wrong path. I can always put my hope and trust in You.