For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. (Psalm 62:5-7)
We have to be honest with ourselves – from time to time we’re not feeling it. God seems far away and our problems seem like they’re piling up. To wholeheartedly express thanksgiving and praise to the Lord, under those circumstances, feels like hypocrisy.
But have not fear. Psalm 62 is one of many in which David, often beleaguered and frequently down in the dumps, combines worship with self-talk. But is that legit, you might ask?
Obviously, or it would not be in the Bible!
Thanksgiving, praise, worship, and rejoicing in the Lord are all given to us as commands. That means we do it whether we feel like it or not. Naturally, God delights in our wholehearted worship. There is no higher praise than to say to Him that we love Him with our whole hearts and we delight in nothing more than His glory and presence. But if we would only let that depend on feelings, our worship would probably at best be sporadic.
Therefore worship is something we choose. Waiting on God in silence is something we chose. Hoping in Him is a choice. And choosing involves self-talk.
Modern neuroscience has confirmed what the Bible has known for a long time: that the chemical balance and the moods that result from it are determined by what we choose to think. Think negative and you’ll experience brain fog, depression, and sadness. Think positive and we will feel motivated, joyful, and active. Scientists say that our choice of what we think sets off a switch in our brain that releases chemicals. The negative switch releases toxins, the positive switch releases stimulants. Both eventually end up affecting our whole nervous system. So, apparently, God has built into our brains the ability to get to wholehearted worship, joy, and hope by means of self-talk.
Think about it. How do you feel if you keep telling yourself that you’re a worthless idiot, ugly, or that you can’t do what you thought you could. And what happens when you tell yourself you can do it, you are valuable in God’s eyes, and that God is near you when you wait on Him? Positive “self-talk” improves how you feel about yourself, increases your motivation, and boosts your confidence. And it leads you to the restoration of joy in the Lord.
That is the side-benefit of worship. Self-talk in worship begins with “o my soul.” You literally tell your soul to think, feel, say, or do something in relation to God’s greatness. To wait for His help, to have faith in His promises, to hope in His goodness, and so on. It’s like a double-edged sword. One side glorifies God as you tell yourself in which attributes you should rejoice. The other side benefits you. By kicking yourself in the pants, so to speak, you focus on the greatness of God and as you do, the problems that got you down in the dumps get smaller.
Worship is, of course, first and foremost glorifying God. But don’t overlook its reciprocating effect – that it is healthy for your thought life, your brain, your nervous system, and your physical strength, even in the toughest circumstances. Remember Paul and Silas in prison in Philippi (See Acts 16)? They chose to not lament their fate but to pray and sing praises to God, which led to their miraculous deliverance.
So it is with us. The choice of joyful worship sets you free from the prison of doom and depression.
Tell your soul to do just that the next time you feel beset and overwhelmed by life or you struggle with loss and pain. Tell your soul to wait in silence for God’s help and to remember Who He is: your salvation, your fortress, your mighty rock, and refuge.
Then watch your prison doors open. The pain and the problems may still be there, but you’ll look at them through the eyes of hope and joy in God.