Cacophony of Comfort

“When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.” (Ps 94:18-19 AV)

 

I truly needed these verses this morning.  What the Spirit highlighted for me is verse nineteen.  My thoughts are indeed a multitude of thoughts.  These thoughts can be of all kinds.  These thoughts can be wrong, or perhaps injurious to hope and faith.  Pessimism, negativity, and doubt creep in.  These thoughts are not thoughts of comfort.  So, as the Spirit leads, I mused on an intimation here.  We all have many thoughts.  We all have a multitude of thoughts.  These thoughts can take on a life of their own.  But it is suggested by the writer that the multitude of much of his thought life brings comfort to his soul.  This would suggest a purposeful and disciplined thought life.  This would suggest his thought life does not go on and on without some boundaries in place.  These boundaries are boundaries that result in comfort.

State fairs are kind of fun.  We are not into all the rides and games.  My wife and I enjoy some of the animal competitions and window shopping among the hundreds of vendors.  Sampling the fair food is also an enjoyable experience.  That is unless there is no off button.  Then one might become rather ill from all the fare that entered our stomachs.  When one walks the fair, it is hard to have your mind on anything else.  There are hawkers all over the place.  They are trying to earn a living by selling you something.  There is that part of the fair, both in the expos center and outside on the grounds, where products one can only find at a fair or online are offered.  The fair is a great time to pick up some of those unique products that one would normally purchase to save on shipping and handling. Aisle after aisle has booths set up, selling everything from fried ice cream to dish towels.  There are so many people and so much going on, it is a great place to forget all your troubles.  With that much mental input flooding the mind via your eyes, nose, and ears, that which might be troubling the mind is soon put in the back of the mind as to not be a trouble.

That which determines the condition of our soul is that which is mused over in the mind.  What we dwell on determines how we feel.  If we dwell on troubles or trials, then we become despondent or depressed.  If we dwell on injustice, we become angry and bitter.  If we dwell on our needs, we become envious or anxious.  The emotions we feel are determined by what we think.  Our psalmist explains exactly how to overcome and spirit that lacks comfort.  It is our thought life.  I have a book in my library that is a collection of verses arranged by topic rather than canonically.  When there are emotions I deal with or situations of life that might have my soul in knots, that book is a great comfort to me.  I can read specific bible verses that address my situation and the result is comfort.  The psalmist states it is in the multitude of his thoughts.  Which means the majority of them.  He seeks truth that will bring comfort and chooses to dwell on that truth rather than the circumstances which might have the opposite effect.