“Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.
Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.”
Psalm 42:5, 11 (NASB)
Here we find the sons of Korah talking to themselves; or since this is a Psalm, possibly singing to themselves.
When I was young, people were ridiculed for talking to themselves. These days, with ear buds and bluetooth technology, we tend to assume people are talking on the phone or singing along with a song. We can talk to ourselves and actually get away with it.
In the sons of Korah’s case, they definitely were talking to themselves, to their souls, to be specific. I don’t know what these guys were going through, but they were upset. They had the spiritual fortitude to realize their despair was doing them no good. Instead of wallowing in their tears, they gave themselves a good talking to. They told their soul what to do.
“Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence… Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance.”
The Message Bible says it this way:
“Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul? Why are you crying the blues? Fix my eyes on God – soon I’ll be praising again. He puts a smile on my face. He’s my God.”
When discouragement comes, our emotions push to the surface. It’s easy to go with the flow, but it only makes things worse. If we turn our focus on God’s Word, remembering Who our God is and what He has done for us, praise will be the appropriate response. If we don’t tell our souls what to do, our souls will tell us what to do.
I want to be like the sons of Korah. If it looks like I am talking to myself, I probably am.
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