Stewart Smiley was a character played by (now
Senator) Al Franken during his career as a comedian. Stewart was famous for making self-affirming
statements to help him overcome difficult times in life. His famous quote is, "I'm good enough.
I'm smart enough. And doggone it, people like me." But, truth be told, Stewart was a loser and
his mantra was merely whistling in the dark to placate his doubts.
We all send ourselves messages like Stewart
did. For all the comments about people
who talk to themselves being crazy, the truth is we all talk to ourselves –
although not always out loud. The singer
Pink comments on this in her song Perfect,
“You're so mean when you talk about yourself, you were wrong. Change the voices
in your head. Make them like you instead.”
Unfortunately that can be a little
Stewart Smiley-like, too. It is very
important that the “voices in our heads”, that internal dialogue that is always
going on inside of us, speaks the truth.
Psalm 31 is a conversation with God that
reflects a lot of internal dialogue. The
psalmist is speaking reminders to himself as he prays. He is speaking the truth about his need for
God, his frustration with life, his sorrow and insecurity, his trust in the LORD, and where his heart
(his internal self) finally finds security.
The psalms do this beautifully and serve as an example to us of how to
pray in all sorts of circumstances.
I hear two major tones in this psalm (as I
read it in my head). Verses 1-13 seem to
me to be filled with doubt, insecurity and fear. He is pleading for deliverance, guidance, and
forgiveness. He knows that God is his
refuge, rock, and fortress. He hopes in
God’s steadfast love and willingness to intercede in the midst of his sorrow,
yet he begs for God to be gracious, and complains of his sorrow, sighing and
his bones wasting away. And for all of
his maladies (enemies, troubles, and internal turmoil) he finds one cause; his
iniquity. This is very important because
the only cure for iniquity, the only solution to this problem, is forgiveness,
which we know comes to us through the blood of Jesus. (Unfortunately the NIV chose to translate
this in such a way as to say that the problems the psalmist faced were because
of his “affliction.” The Hebrew is much
better translated “iniquity”.)
Starting at verse 14, the tone changes. It begins with the word, “But.” “But,” is an important word. It negates things. When a person is apologizing and they throw
in the word, “but,” you can know that they are probably about to begin taking back
what they just said. The psalmist’s
dread is swallowed up by this “but” and his confidence and hope begin to
rise. As he speaks the truth to himself
his faith grows, because God’s Word grows our faith. He is simply and strongly reminding himself
of God’s promises and blessings. God
said He would be his God. God promised
to rescue from enemies. God commanded
that His people be blessed with words about His face shining upon them.
In boldness wrought by God’s Word, we, like the
psalmist, call out to God. When we feel
weak and we dread the future we remind ourselves of what He has done. Holding the Cross in our mind’s eye should
bring us to the conclusion, “I’m not good enough, but God still loves me. I can’t redeem myself, but Jesus has redeemed
me. This faith is too marvelous for me,
but the Holy Spirit planted it in my heart when I was baptized.” We can confess that we may have thought we
were “cut off” or rejected by God, but the truth is that God has been there for
us every moment of our lives. It’s like
saying, “Be strong! Heart, take
courage! Wait for the LORD! Remember what He has done. Believe what He will do.” Then we sigh in relief and wait for Him to
keep His promises.
Ah, Lord, I fear and doubt. Hold
Your truth before me. Help me trust you
in all things. Amen.
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