Preaching the gospel to yourself
by Chelsea Pietsch
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
‘Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God’ (Psalm 43:5).
Do you ever talk to yourself? Perhaps you do this out loud, in a journal, or in your head.
It seems to me that this is the very thing the psalmist is doing here in verse 5. He is talking to himself, ‘Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?’
Self-talk can be a helpful thing. It can help us untangle the knots of our thoughts and emotions. It can help us understand why we are feeling the way we are feeling or behaving the way we are behaving. Healthy self-reflection can help us find the proper paths to peace and reconciliation. It can also help us as we grow in the Christian life. Or, as our liturgy says, as we ‘strive daily to lead holy lives, even as Christ has made us holy’.
But there is such a thing as too much self-reflection. Too much self-reflection can easily lead to ungodly accusations, which, in turn, can lead to self-loathing or self-pity.
‘I can’t believe you did/said/thought that! If you were a true Christian, you would have been more selfless/patient/generous/gracious/humble/self-controlled …’
‘I can’t believe he/she/they did that! You poor thing. You’ve been dealt such a hard lot. No one understands your burdens. You have to carry this all alone.’
Do either of these sound familiar? Both, perhaps?
Here in verse 5, the psalmist models to us a healthy dose of self-talk. He notices and acknowledges that he is downcast and disturbed. But his reflection is brief. He doesn’t give unnecessary airtime to his thoughts and emotions. He doesn’t indulge them, replaying them over and over in his head.
Instead, he notices them and then lets the truth of God’s word penetrate his own heart: ‘Yes, I see you are disturbed and downcast’, ‘Put your hope in God!’, ‘Praise him!’
He is your Saviour. Nothing can be so big that it cannot be forgiven nor restored. Remember what God has done for you – what he is doing for you, even now!
In doing this, the psalmist’s gaze is redirected. He’s not stuck looking at his sins or the sins of others. Instead, he sees the God who created him and laid down his life for the world.
Dear Lord, when we are downcast by our sins or the sins committed against us, help us to turn our gaze to you so that you can shed light and truth into our lives. Amen.
- Click here to read previous devotions.
- We are also posting them on LCA Facebook, making it easy for you to share them with family and friends.
- Sign up to receive Daily Devotion in your inbox every morning. If you’re already doing that, please encourage others to sign up. Click here for the link.
