In a recent sermon, I gave the application that sometimes we need to talk to ourselves. We need to address ourselves and give ourselves a heavy dose of truth—especially when we’re most tempted to believe in the lies of the world, the flesh, and the devil. This is not an idea that originated with me. It’s something the Psalmist does:
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. (Psalm 42:5-6)
The great expositor, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, wrote a wonderful book called Spiritual Depression wherein he advises those of us struggling with depression to begin practicing this discipline. He says:
Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them but they are talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment [in Psalm 42] was this: instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says, “Self, listen for moment, I will speak to you.
No doubt, many of us are experiencing seasons of darkness and difficulty. In such seasons, we must remind our hearts of the truths and promises of God’s word. And in order to do that, we must occasionally talk to ourselves.
- Pastor Garrison Greene