God Cares About You(r Mental Health)نموونە

In his book Spiritual Depression, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones asks a powerful question: “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?”

Throughout Psalm 42, the speaker is wrestling with feeling forgotten and forsaken. Although at one time he felt loved and protected by God, now he’s fighting against the feeling that he may be all alone in this world.

But in today’s verse, Psalm 42:11, the speaker turns and talks to his own soul: “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”

Notice first of all that he does not pretend like his feelings are different. Many people have the idea that the Bible wants us to pretend like our lives are easier than they actually are. But Psalm 42 models the practice of purposefully acknowledging how we’re really feeling to God.

And yet the speaker doesn’t stop there. Instead of allowing these dark thoughts to drift through his mind unchecked—and only listening to himself—he decides to talk to himself. He reminds himself of what he knows to be true, regardless of how he is feeling in that particular moment.

Following the example of Psalm 42, and reminding ourselves of what we know to be true about God even when it doesn’t feel true, can make all the difference in our lives.