Jared Wilson at The Gospel Driven Church has a good quote from Martin Lloyd Jones' book Spiritual Depression on the need to talk back to yourself:
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 start talking to you, they bring
back the problems of yesterday, etc.
Somebody is talking. Who is talking? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment 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 a moment, I will speak to you . . ."
The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul: "Why art thou cast down" -– what business have you to be disquieted?
You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: "Hope thou in God" -– instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do.
Then having done that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: "I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, who is also the health of my countenance and my God.”
Somebody is talking. Who is talking? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment 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 a moment, I will speak to you . . ."
The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul: "Why art thou cast down" -– what business have you to be disquieted?
You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: "Hope thou in God" -– instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do.
Then having done that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: "I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, who is also the health of my countenance and my God.”
That is something I am taking to heart in this season of my life. It is my duty and calling to speak the gospel to myself and, to borrow a phrase from John Piper - to fight for joy, and not let the illness cause my soul to become downcast.
David, you're an inspiration. And you're a pastor to all of us who are following your journey.
Praying for healing for you. And thanking God for his glory, the through-line to all you write, as it has been to all you've written before.
Get well, brother.
Posted by: Jared | January 21, 2009 at 08:26 PM
very good advice.
maybe talking to my self is not as bad as i thought!
Posted by: nancy | January 21, 2009 at 08:52 PM
Thank you. I prayed for you today and reflected on another of your recent posts.
Posted by: Chris Brauns | January 21, 2009 at 11:03 PM
Amen. Very good advice. It's the little thoughts not being taken captive that spiral us down.
Posted by: Dwayne Forehand | January 22, 2009 at 01:16 PM
Thank you for this, David. It is a good word I needed to hear today. Had I done this from the beginning this morning, I would not have gotten off to such a bad start. By the grace of God and the prayer of friends, the day has become a blessing.
I hope the best for you in Christ.
Posted by: Jan | January 22, 2009 at 02:59 PM