Do Talk to Yourself!

Psalm 42:5 “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.”

Do you ever talk to yourself? Now be honest! We would probably all get a good laugh if we could hear a recording of conversations that we have with ourselves. Don’t feel bad, because the psalmist here was a man who talked to himself. What is given to us in verse 5 is repeated almost word for word three times in both Psalm 42 and 43. First he says, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” Then he speaks of his soul being “disquieted” within him.

I think we all know what it means to be “cast down.” Some people these days might call it “depressed,” “down,” or “discouraged.” There may be many reasons that someone could feel this way. For David, one reason was that he felt forgotten. Verse 9 says, “I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me?” Because of the circumstance that David was in, it was easy for him in his flesh to think that God was no longer mindful of him-that somehow God was not actively working for his good anymore. He also was feeling oppression from his enemies (v.9). These were not imaginary enemies but literal people who were out to kill him. So if anyone had good reason to be “disquieted,” it was David! So what was his solution?

Look at verse 5 again: “Hope thou in God. . . .” Turn your eyes toward heaven for hope! Now this is interesting-both verse 5 and verse 12 are exactly the same, except for the last line. Verse 5 says, “I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.” Verse 9 says, “I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” When He looked to his God for direction, the strength and peace of God’s countenance was then reflected in his own.

Let me give an example-if you have children, you know this to be true. When my youngest son takes a fall or hurts himself in some way, he will have this blank look on his face for a couple of seconds. He looks to me to figure out if he should be crying or not. If I shriek and respond in utter horror, “Son! Are you all right?!” that is his cue to start crying. If I’m calm and cool, he stays calm and cool as if to say, “If Dad thinks I’m OK, I must be OK.”