Listening to Ourselves
In Psalm 42, the writer asks a haunting question,
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?”
Why are you so discouraged, why are you so distressed, why is your field of vision cast down to the ground before you, emotions swirling?
He doesn’t stop there, but let’s pause and consider this. As humans, we experience seasons of the soul, a variety of emotions and responses to changing circumstances internally and externally. In this Psalm, the Psalmist is particularly sad. He says he feels like a lonely deer in the wilderness, dying of thirst and seeking a stream of clean water to restore his soul. Tears have been his food day and night.
So first, let’s notice that it is a good thing to be curious about our emotions. Not in order to be led by them, but in fact the opposite. Instead of merely listening to ourselves, falling victim to a doom loop of anxious or despairing thoughts, the Psalmist is questioning these feelings. He says: “Why?”
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?”
Consider it. Journal it. Pray it. Discuss it with a close friend. Dissect it. Understand the source and the direction of that distress you feel in your soul. But then, there is a turn. No matter the answer, the response is the same. Listen to the rest of the psalm.
“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.” (v. 10-11).
I have been here myself many times. And in those moments, we remember that Jesus is real. He is real in my distress, my despair, my turmoil. We lift our eyes off ourselves and see Him. He has willingly entered into the hopeless feelings of this world, sacrificing himself at the very center of loneliness and darkness, to bring life and light and hope and salvation to us. He replaces the tears and cries with songs of praise. And so instead of listening to the turmoil of our souls, we ask the question — why? And then we preach to ourselves, Hope in God! I shall again praise him. And this reminds us of our need to confess our sins.
Prayer of Confession
Father, we confess that our strength so often is small. We get tossed to and fro by our feelings, and we are so easily ruled by them. We listen to that internal monologue and fail to push back. We don’t go to your Word for help, but instead doom scroll online. We melt under the pressure and turmoil within us. We are sinners, Father. We confess these, and other individual sins to you now in the quiet of this moment.
