Whose Counsel Are You Listening To?
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked…” (Ps. 1:1)
We typically think of this verse as referring to following the many unhelpful voices that exist outside of us. But it is important to recognize that sometimes “the counsel of the wicked” originates in our own heart and mind. Sometimes it isn’t what other people are saying or doing that is the problem. Sometimes it is what we are saying or thinking about ourselves.
When our internal self-conversation is not being directed by the truth of God’s Word and the wisdom of God’s ways, it is not counsel which can rightly be called “righteous”. To the contrary, wherever it contradicts the truth of God’s Word it is counsel which is properly assessed as “wicked”. It is not wicked because it is necessarily especially heinous or vile in nature, but simply because it does not align with the truth. Something does not have to be extreme to be incorrect and damaging. It only takes a few feet of veering into the other lane to place a car in grave danger. Likewise, a small untruth about God or ourselves or sin has powerful effects on our lives when it is given permission to roam freely in our thoughts.
Learning To Talk To Ourselves
Throughout the Psalms we see many examples of the peculiar Christian practice of preaching to ourselves, (Ps. 42:5; 103:1-2). The psalmist’s often feel like close friends to us and people with whom we can relate. This is true in part because they vulnerably share their struggles and honestly voice their laments. Yet throughout the highs and lows they face, we see this recurring theme: These faithful (and oft struggling saints) always receive fresh strength to persevere by setting their soul on God—not on themselves or their problems, but on the God who is ever-faithful to his chosen people, (Ps. 25:10).
Turning our thoughts to God often means beginning by changing the conversation within. As the late Welsh preacher Martyn Lloyd Jones once powerfully put it: “…we have to stop listening to ourselves and start talking to ourselves.” In other words, we don’t have to accept every suggestion which our sinful heart offers us. We do not have to be a passive listener to the false internal dialogue of anxiety, doubt, and despair. We are called to take every thought captive (as our prisoner) and make them obedient to Christ—we are not to become the prisoners of our many unholy thoughts and feelings and acquiesce obedience to them, (II Cor. 10:5). As we are sanctified by the Spirit and learn to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, the helm of our life must be captained more and more by the truth of God’s Word—not “the counsel of the wicked”—regardless of whether that counsel originates from within or without.
We all have many remaining corruptions and struggles this side of glory, (Phil. 3:12-15). Some of them inflate our ego and fill us with pride. Others deflate our ego and fill us with despair. No matter what kinds of thoughts and feelings they are, they must be recognized as the poor counsel that they are whenever they are out of accord with the gospel of our salvation. They must be dealt with according to the truth of the new, unchanging, and eternal identity which we have been given through the Beloved Son of God, (Eph. 2:1-9). It is not what others think of us, or even what we think of ourselves that matters in the end, (I Cor. 4:3). What is of utmost importance is who God has made us to be and declared us to be in the Lord Jesus Christ, (Gal. 2:20). This is the truth upon which our lives are to be built—and that includes our internal self-conversation.
Walking It Out
As you seek to walk with God today, and to order your life according to the holy counsel of his Word, don’t forget that bad counsel doesn’t only originate from without, but also from within. Sometimes the voices that lead us astray most often and most convincingly are our own. Let the voice of your Father in heaven be the counsel which guides you in all that you think, say, and do as you live for his glory, (Eph. 2:10).
As we fight the good fight and press on toward glory, we can be ever-sure of this great truth: that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion at the day of our Lord who is coming soon, (Phil. 1:6).