Then Tell Yourself So

"Talking to yourself? That's o.k., as long as you don't answer yourself." How many times have I heard that one! If that's all it takes to label me crazy, then write it on a Post-It-Note with a big, black Sharpie and stick it to my forehead! AND YET, in my talking to/answering myself, I've noticed that I'm in some pretty good company.

The Psalmist did the same thing. In Ps. 42:5,6 he says, "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me; Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan, and from the heights of Hermon, from the Hill Mizar."

He's asking and answering his own questions, isn't he? Told you I was in good company!

Now, why would the psalmist ask his soul a question and then answer it? If he can answer the question, doesn't his soul know the answer already? I think he did this for the same reason I do...to remind himself of something.

Look at the last part of vs. 6. The psalmist says, "Therefore, I will remember." In the midst of his discouragement, in the midst of being far from home and in the middle of everything UNfamiliar, the psalmist simply he declares that he'll remember God. He'll remember to worship, even in the unfamiliar places. He'll remember God is good, even at a distance...and he'll tell himself so.

I've not been in captivity, but I've walked in the unfamiliar places of the psalmist - places where my soul has longed to be quieted with something "known." In those places, discouragement comes naturally...BUT, not if we remember. Remember Who God has been to you, and Who He promises to be. Remember He loves you. Remember He's passionate about you. Remember He holds your very life in His hands and numbers the hairs of your head. Remember God is still good, even at a distance...and then tell yourself so.

Doesn't sound so crazy after all, does it!?!

Thank You God, that when my heart aches, I can take heart in You. I can remember Your faithfulness to me in the "land of the living," and I can rejoice for what's to come, instead of focusing on what has been. Thank You for writing down the feelings and emotions of the psalmists, so I can know I am never alone. Help me to speak life to my soul...to encourage myself in You...to tell myself so. Thank You, Father. Thank You.