Listen up, my soul!

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God. Psalm 42:5,11; 43:5.

Have you ever been given “a bit of a talking to” by a trusted friend? They’ve sat you down and told you one or two things that perhaps you would have preferred not to hear. At the time you really didn’t like it very much, but with the benefit of hindsight you realise that in fact they were doing you a favour, indeed one that required a lot of courage, and one, perhaps, that significantly changed your life. You end up thanking God for them - and that they loved you enough to care.

Great. But what if there is no such person in your life at the time? What then? Are you left to carry on with life as it is – perhaps with a guilty conscience you prefer to ignore, or with a heavy spirit you can’t shake off. What are you to do?

Whoever wrote Psalms 42 and 43 provides an interesting suggestion by his example: if there is nobody else to give you that talking to, well, you’d better do it yourself, hadn’t you?

These psalms, taken together, consist of a mere sixteen verses, yet three times the same question is repeated: “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?” And then follows the same reply: “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God” (42:5 and 11, 43:5). He talks to… himself. Does the thought of talking to your own “soul”, your very inmost being, seem strange to you? Me too. But learning new habits can be a good thing!

It sounds easy enough. But of course it may be anything but. The psalmist seems to be struggling with what today we would probably call “depression”. He feels isolated in his suffering, the butt of other people’s mockery (42:3). He can’t help remembering what we might label “the good old days”, which are now just a distant memory (42:4). He feels forgotten by God himself (42:9-10), even perhaps a little bitter (43:1-2).

And so it may be with us. Quite apart from serious clinical depression, which may require help including medication and professional counselling, our moods and circumstances can conspire against us to bring us low. Christians of an earlier generation used to speak of it as “melancholy”, and there were those who lived with it for a lifetime. It wasn’t regarded as necessarily a symptom of sin – psalms like these reassure us that even the most Christlike of people can suffer in this way. We too can take encouragement from them.

Talking to ourselves like this may take different forms – a scold when we know we are somehow in the wrong, a renewed determination to draw strength from God if we have heard bad news.

But whatever our situation may be, one thing is certain: we must be serious about it. If, frankly, we have allowed ourselves to slip into laziness or lethargy, the old cliches, corny and shallow though they can seem, are worth taking seriously - “pull yourself together!”, “get a grip!”, “snap out of it!”. A bit of spiritual finger-wagging may be in order.

But if that kind of self-motivation is simply beyond us at the moment, there is no blame in that. God sees and understands total honesty – for example, when we read “my soul thirsts for God, for the living God”, it may be that we simply can’t echo those words. “No, that’s my whole problem!” we cry. “My thirst for God has evaporated! If anything I feel angry with him”. If that’s honestly how we’re feeling we can be sure that God’s shoulders are big enough to take that kind of protest.

What in particular might we feel it good to tell our souls? I suggest these possibilities…

First, a word of rebuke. If we have indeed fallen into sin, that word might be, “Look, soul, you know that we’ve been out of step with God for a time now. Well, it’s time to be truly sorry and start again”. We don’t need to wallow and agonise (probably not, anyway), but we do need to mean business. Remember – God loves to forgive.

Second, a word of reminder. “Look, soul, just think of all the times God has answered our prayers and brought us through difficult circumstances. Is there any reason why he cannot do the same again? Count your blessings…”

Third, a word of determination. “Look, soul, God never promised that everything would be easy in following Jesus! Have we forgotten that?  We were told to take up our cross to follow him – and that wasn’t just a graphic figure of speech. Well, let’s do it then; it’s more than worth it in the end”.

Fourth, a word of faith. “Soul, start believing again! Start looking for clear answers to prayer – all right, not necessarily big, dramatic answers, and not necessarily intense and lengthy prayers, but clear indications that God is at work, however heavy the circumstances might be”.

Fifth, a word of commitment. “Remember, soul, that God has work for us to do. He has called us to serve him in perhaps small but nonetheless significant ways – at home, at work, around the neighbourhood, in a multitude of ways. Well, let’s roll up our sleeves and get on with it, then!”

Father, I’m finding life particularly difficult at the moment, and my walk with you has ground to a halt. Please restore me by your Holy Spirit. Where the fault lies with my own sin, please forgive me. Where it lies with circumstances beyond  my control, please give me the gift of perseverance, and refresh me and guide me by your Spirit. Amen.

O for a closer walk with God,/ A calm and heavenly frame,/ A light to shine upon the road/ That leads me to the Lamb.

Where is the blessedness I knew/ When first I saw the Lord?/ Where is the soul-refreshing view/ Of Jesus and his word?

What peaceful hours I once enjoyed!/ How sweet their memory still!/ But they have left an aching void/ The world can never fill.

The dearest idol I have known,/ Whate’er that idol be,/Help me to tear it from thy throne,/And worship only thee. Amen.

William Cooper, 1731-1800