“Self. Listen.” 

Martin Lloyd-Jones’s classic book, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures, began as a series of sermons on Psalm 42. As a pastor, professor, and physician, Dr. Jones writes as a soul physician of embodied-souls. One of Jones’s most well-known quotes is from his sermon on Psalm 42:5, where the Psalmist says,

“Why are you cast down, O my soul? Why are you so disturbed (disquieted, in turmoil) within me? Put your hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, my salvation and my God.”

Pastor Lloyd-Jones famously Psalm 42:5 like this:

“Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but there they are, talking to you. They bring back the problem of yesterday. Somebody’s talking. Who’s talking? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment in Psalm 42 was this: instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself, ‘Why are you 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’” (Spiritual Depression, 20-21).

Talking to God About Our Embodied-Soul 

I would go even further than Dr. Lloyd-Jones went. I would say it like this…

“Our body and our feelings, our brain and our emotions, our embodied-soul—they talk to us all the time. Instead of only listening to and being talked to, we should talk to our embodied-soul. Even more than that, we should talk to our Soul Physician about our embodied-soul. And then, together—the Trinity and you—speak to your embodied-soul.”

Or even more succinctly:

“Don’t just let your body and emotions talk to you. Talk to God—your Soul Physician—about your embodied-soul. And then, in Christ, talk to your embodied-soul.”

A Spiritual Conversation with My Embodied-Soul 

What might this conversation sound like? How might we talk to God about our soul and then talk to our embodied-soul in the midst of depression, despair, grief, sadness, anxiety, fear, worry, panic, health concerns, sickness, suffering, slander, or persecution?

Here is one sample spiritual conversation with our embodied-soul. At the end of this post, you’ll find a link to a free Word version of this scriptural meditation—so that you could use it (or re-write it) whenever you wanted to talk to God about your embodied-soul.

A Scriptural Meditation as Spiritual Medication for My Embodied-Soul 

“Embodied-soul, I’m not going to pretend. I’m not going to deny. I’m not going to try to ‘spiritualize’ away reality. I am going to face what I am feeling—emotionally and physically. Like the Psalmist did in Psalm 42. Like Jesus did in the Garden (Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; and Luke 22:39-46.). Like Paul did in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9; 2 Corinthians 4:7-11; and 2 Corinthians 12-7-10).”

“Soul, body, brain, mind, emotions, feelings, embodied-soul—why are you so disquieted within me? What is going on? Why am I feeling all of this? Why am I so sad, or so downcast, or so depressed, or so overwhelmed, or so concerned, or so worried, or so anxious, or so fearful, or so panicked? Why is my body so fatigued, or so exhausted, or so trembling, or so fidgety, or so tight, or so tense, or so shaky, or so agitated? Why can’t I sleep? Why can’t I find rest? I long for peace…for shalom.”

“So there. I’ve said it. I’ve verbalized it. I’ve faced it. I’ve felt it. I’ve admitted it. Body/soul, you are no longer hidden in the shadows. Fear, I will not run from you in fear. You are out in the open.”

“But I’m not just talking to you, embodied-soul. I am talking to my Soul Physician about you, my embodied-soul. Like the Psalmist, like Jesus in the Garden, like Paul in 2 Corinthians, I am going to put my hope in God.”

“Father of compassion and God of all comfort, thank You for Your compassion on me in my distress. You invite me to come to You with all my troubles (Psalm 34:4). When I come, You do not shame me (Psalm 34:5). You do not condemn me (Romans 8:1). You comfort me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me (Psalm 23:4). I put my hope in You.”

“Son of God, my sympathetic High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16), You understand the feelings of my infirmities. In the Garden, Your embodied-soul reacted—Your ‘sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground’ (Luke 22:44). Your emotions, Your feelings, reacted: You were in anguish (Luke 22:44). Your embodied-soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death (Matthew 26:38). You were deeply distressed and troubled (Mark 14:33). Even while, and even after, You prayed to Your Father, You still experienced emotional turmoil and physical distress. Your perfect soul and Your perfect relationship to Your Father did not remove You from embodied-soul suffering. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for understanding me. Thank You, for inviting me to approach Your throne of grace with confident boldness, so that I may receive mercy and find Your grace to help me in my time of need. Thank You, for inviting me to come to You when I am weary and burdened so You can give me rest. Thank You, for being gentle and lowly. Thank You, for promising me rest for my embodied-soul” (Matthew 11:28-30).

“Spirit of God, thank You, for Your parakaletic ministry in my life—by dwelling in me and comforting and encouraging me (John 14-16). Thank You, for helping me in my weakness. Thank You, for groaning with me and translating my prayers to the throne of grace (Romans 8:26-27).

“Trinity, I pray what Jesus prayed in the Garden. I pray what Paul prayed in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. Jesus asked three times for His cup to be taken away. Paul asked three times for his thorn in the flesh to be taken away. I ask time and time again for my emotional distress and physical stress to be taken away. But like Jesus in the Garden, I say, ‘Not my will, but Yours be done.’ For Paul, instead of removing his embodied-soul thorn, You said to him, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ I am weak. Enlighten me, like You did Paul, to know that ‘when I am weak, then I am strong’ (2 Corinthians 12:10). Like Paul, when I feel ‘great pressure, far beyond my ability to endure, so that I despair of life itself; and when I feel like I have received the sentence of death’ (2 Corinthians 1:8-9), open the eyes of my heart to believe that ‘this happens to me so that I might not rely on myself but on God, who raises the dead’ (2 Corinthians 1:9).”

“Father, Son, and Spirit, talk to my embodied-soul with me. ‘Embodied-soul, you are not my enemy. You are me. Body, you are not my enemy. You are me. Feelings, you are not my enemy. Embodied-soul, you may be doing your thing right now. Body/brain, you may be sending your messages to me right now. Feelings/emotions, you may be sending your messengers to me right now. I don’t deny you. I face you. I feel you. You are me. I come to you—embodied-soul—in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit—and I declare that I am putting my hope in God. I do not put my hope in my circumstances changing (though I pray for that). I do not put my hope in my feelings changing (though I pray for that). I do not put my hope in my body healing (though I pray for that). I put my hope in God. For I shall yet praise Him. He is my salvation and my God. Feelings, you are powerful, you are a part of me, but you are not God. Body, you are powerful, you are important, but you are not God. I put my hope in the Father, in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit. I put my hope in my Father of compassion and my God of all comfort. I put my hope in my sympathetic High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. I put my hope in my groaning Holy Spirit. I trust in You, Lord, that You will command Your lovingkindness in the day time, and in the night Your song shall be with me (Psalm 42:8). My fears may not disappear; my anxieties may or may not dissipate; but I will take courage in God—feeling whatever I feel, experiencing whatever my embodied-soul experiences—but taking courage in God. I repeat, I come to you—embodied-soul—in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit—and I declare that I am putting my hope in God.”

“Father, Son, and Spirit, I do all of this for Your glory. Whatever I am feeling; please empower me in my embodied weakness to glorify You and to serve others. Whatever my body is doing; please empower me in my embodied weakness to glorify You and to serve others. I long and groan for that great day when there will be no more sorrow, no more suffering, no more tears, no more pain (Revelation 21:4). But until that day, through Your all-sufficient grace, empower me to glorify You by loving You and loving others. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.”

Join the Spiritual Conversation 

What would it be like to pray this prayer in the midst of your distress and despair?

What would it be like for you to talk to God about your embodied-soul?

How might it help you to say the words of this scriptural meditation to your embodied-soul?

How might you “tweak” or “re-word” my wording to better fit you, your situation, and the unique way that God specifically fearfully and wonderfully formed you?

A Word Version 

If you would like to use the prayer portion of this post in your time with the Lord, I’ve created a free Word version that you can download and print:

A Scriptural Meditation as Spiritual Medication for My Embodied-Soul