Have you ever had to give yourself a good talking-to? I have. Sometimes I can encourage someone else with wonderful reminders of God’s faithfulness, only to struggle to believe those same truths when I’m the one who needs encouragement. I know God is faithful. I know He hears my prayers. I know He has never failed me. But sometimes my feelings tell me a different story.

That’s one reason I love Psalm 42. Much of this psalm sounds like a man conversing with himself. He’s discouraged, overwhelmed, crying, and he isn’t afraid to admit it. He begins with these familiar words:

“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.” (Psalm 42:1)

What a beautiful picture of spiritual thirst! But here’s what strikes me. The psalmist isn’t simply asking God to change his circumstances. He’s longing for God Himself. And I wonder how often I’ve confused the two.

Sometimes I need a problem solved, a prayer answered, or a burden lifted, when what I really need is to draw closer to the Lord. Then comes this heartbreaking admission in verse 3:

“My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, ‘Where is your God?’”

I appreciate how the psalmist expresses that his tears have been his food day and night. Can you imagine a grief so deep that you live entirely on your own tears? They flow constantly down your cheeks, forcing you to taste their heavy saltiness day after day.

I’ve certainly experienced seasons when tears came more easily than smiles, when something weighed so heavily on my heart that I thought about it when I went to bed and again when I woke up. And sometimes the hardest part isn’t the problem itself. It’s wondering why God hasn’t done something about it.

What fascinates me about Psalm 42 is that the psalmist spends much of the psalm talking to himself. He remembers better days, rehearses his sorrow, and he asks questions. He reminds himself of God’s steadfast love. And twice he interrupts his own discouragement with essentially the same question:

“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” (v. 5)

He’s asking himself, “Why am I so discouraged? Why am I allowing these circumstances to overwhelm me?” But the remarkable thing is that the psalmist doesn’t simply listen to his troubled soul. He talks back to it!

“Hope in God; for I shall again praise him.” (v. 5)

I don’t want to miss that. He doesn’t wait until he feels hopeful to remind himself where his hope belongs. His circumstances haven’t necessarily changed. His tears haven’t magically disappeared. But he’s reminding himself of what he knows to be true.

And that’s something I need to do more often. Instead of rehearsing everything that’s wrong, I need to remember everything that’s true.

God is still good.

God is still faithful.

God is still listening.

And God is still worthy of my praise.

Psalm 42 ends with the psalmist giving himself essentially the same talking-to he gave himself in verse 5. Apparently, one reminder wasn’t enough!

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; (v. 11)

I can relate to that, too. Sometimes I need to remind myself of God’s faithfulness more than once, and repeat the same truth tomorrow that I believed yesterday. And that’s okay, because faith doesn’t mean I never get discouraged. It means I know where to take my discouragement.

So the next time my soul needs a talking-to, I want to remind it of three simple words: Hope in God, and not in changed circumstances, answered questions, or better days. But hope in God Himself.

When discouragement comes, do you let your feelings tell you what is true about God, or do you let God’s truth speak to your feelings?

(Note: The graphics are AI-generated.)