The Voice
Sometimes I talk to myself. Actually, I talk to myself a lot. There is a running conversation between me and myself that usually lasts all day, and often into the night. This has been my normal as long as I can remember. My conversation is usually quiet while I talk under my breath about tasks I am doing at the time. But it can also be dramatic, like when I am rehearsing for an imaginary conversation or event. By now some of you readers are wondering just what is going undiagnosed in my psyche, while others are smiling and nodding knowingly.
Unfortunately for me, my “self-talk” is not always uplifting. Too often my inner voice is insulting, ridiculing, correcting, and harsh. The level of mercy I show to myself and speak to myself is shamefully low. Mercy is not a prominent gift of mine, and its lack in my life shows up first in how I speak to myself. When I perceive I have fallen short of the standard, or even just short of perfect, my inner voice becomes loud and it is not pretty.
It is a fact that all of us have an inner voice, and it is also a fact that we have a say in what that voice speaks (pun intended!). For training on how to speak to ourselves we can go directly to the Bible and learn from the example of King David.
Before David was king, while he was keeping plenty of distance between himself and King Saul, he and his men made camp in Ziklag. But while the men were readying themselves to fight alongside the Philistines, the Amalekites came and raided Ziklag.
“So David and his men came to the town, and behold, it was burned, and their wives and sons and daughters were taken captive. Then David and the men with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. David was greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him because the souls of them all were bitterly grieved, each man for his sons and daughters. But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” I Sam. 30:6 (AMP)
Surely this was all David’s fault. He was the leader. He had decided to fight alongside the Philistine army and their king. He had decided to leave Ziklag defenseless. The blame for it all fell on David. What is remarkable to me is David seems to waste no time berating himself for his decision. There is so much instruction in the last sentence of verse six: “But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”
How futile it is to rehearse and re-rehearse our failures. In absolute contrast, how wonderful to turn ourselves to the Lord our God. What a time saver to go directly to the one who has all power, all control, and loves us with a never-ending love.
Psalm 103 is a psalm of David, and it is one of the many examples of David telling himself, his innermost self, what he should be saying:
“Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget any of His benefits . . .” Ps. 103:1-2 (AMP)
David tells the deepest part of himself, his very soul, to bless and affectionately praise the Lord. When we remember all His benefits, all the great things the Lord has done, all the excellent ways He has shown his power throughout the Bible and throughout our own lives, we can not help but overflow with praise to Him. And I love how David instructs his soul to, “affectionately praise the Lord.” This is more than an inward attitude of praise, because affection is demonstrative. Affection is something we show by our actions. We show affection with our arms, our gaze, our actions, and give voice to our affection with our words. To affectionately praise the Lord there must be an action, an expression of praise.
In Psalm 7, David says, “I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness and justice, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.” We do not know what David was doing prior to this, but the moment David said, “I will,” he made the decision to express thanks and sing praise.
David again, in Psalm 34, gives action to his praise, decides what to do, and does it out loud so others can hear it:
“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My life makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble and afflicted hear and be glad.” Ps. 34:1-2 (AMP)
For those with a loud, negative inner voice like mine, the decision to express thanks and sing praise will take practice. Remembering the freedom from my failures that is provided through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ brings me to a place of affectionate praise. Let’s agree together and decide to bless the Lord, to remember and boast of His power, and encourage ourselves in the Lord instead of berating ourselves. With the help of the Holy Spirit, let’s silence our negative voices and give expression to our praise. How much better to have God’s praise continually speaking louder than any other voice!
