Psalm 94:19 is a word for the worriers among us: “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.”
Many of us can identify with the Psalmist, who said that his anxious thoughts “multiplied” within him. Isn’t that how worries are? Our minds move from one bad possibility to the next, often building on one another — they “multiply within (us)!” What is the cure? He shares his testimony:
When his anxious thoughts are many, he says to God: “Your consolations delight my soul.” Assaulted by worry, the Psalmist purposefully turns his thoughts to the joys that God gives him, and his soul then finds “delight.” God is the One our souls were made to delight in. He is the One we will glory in forever in heaven. Psalm 16:11 says “In Your presence there is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” Sin separates us from the joy and pleasure God designed us to know from Him, but thankfully, through Jesus Christ we have a payment for our sin, and a way back to God. When we trust Jesus as our Savior, we can then begin to know the “consolations” we long to experience from God. This Psalmist says that GOD is the One he turns to when his soul is distressed by worry: “Your consolations delight my soul.”
Oh that each of us would truly apply this verse, and “take every thought captive” (II Cor. 10:5) by chasing away every anxious thought through meditating on the consolations of the lovingkindness of the Lord! Replace anxious thoughts with prayers and songs of praise. Perhaps a place to begin is by memorizing this verse! Learn it by heart and make it your mantra: “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul”!
I love Psalm 94:19. I particularly love the translation you have used for the “Worrier’s Mantra” But I don’t which translation expresses it just this way. Can you help?
Yes’m, I’d be glad to help; it is the New American Standard Version — I should probably put a note on my blog that “unless otherwise noted, all scriptures quoted are from the NASB” — which has been my favorite ever since sitting in Hebrew and Greek classes in seminary, and seeing that it was closest to the originals. Thanks for writing!