“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” — Psalm 42:5

Reading: Psalm 42

Reflection:

Psalm 42 is an emotional, intense psalm. The psalmist pants (v. 1), thirsts (v. 2), cries (v. 3), pour[s] out [his] soul (v. 4), and asks serious questions of himself (vv. 5, 11). But notice how the psalmist does this. He does it all before the Lord in prayer. The psalmist is in a deep state of prayer. He’s doing business with the Lord.

Psalm 42 is an encouragement to us to “pray until we pray,” as the Puritans often said. No matter what season of life you are in, but especially if you are in a season of pain, suffering, or despair, I encourage you to pant, thirst, cry, and pour your soul out before the Lord. There comes a point when we have to stop listening and talking to ourselves and begin listening and talking to God.

In a sermon on Psalm 42, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones states, The first thing we have to learn is what the Psalmist learned — we must learn to take ourselves in hand . . . . He is talking to himself, he is addressing himself . . . .

[It is important to see that this is not the same as] morbidity and introspection . . . . We must talk to ourselves instead of allowing “ourselves” to talk to us. In spiritual depression, we allow our self to talk to us instead of talking to our self. Am I being deliberately paradoxical? Far from it. This is the very essence of wisdom in this matter. Have you realized that so much of the unhappiness in your life is due to the fact you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? . . .

So this man stands up and says: “Self, listen for a moment . . .” Then you must go on to remind yourself of who God is, and what God is and what God has done and what God has pledged himself to do . . . . Then end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with the man, “I shall yet praise Him . . . for he is my God.”

As you begin to talk to God, pouring out your heart before him, may you also yet again praise him! Remember that in pain, suffering, and despair, you are not alone. God has promised to never leave you nor forsake you. The one in whose name we pray, Jesus, suffered the greatest when he died for us, and he is Immanuel — God with us.

By prayer let me wrestle, and He will perform,
With Christ in the vessel, I smile at the storm.

Though dark be my way, since He is my Guide,
‘Tis mine to obey, ‘tis His to provide . . . .

— “Begone Unbelief,” John Newton

Response:

1. What doubts, fears, and questions do you have tossing around in your head that you need to talk to the Lord in prayer about?
   
   
2. The only way to truly talk to ourselves instead of allowing ourselves to talk is to read and pray God’s Word. Spend some extended time reading and praying God’s Word.