David was a lover of God who talked to the Lord constantly and wrote Psalms about the Lord very expressively. In this situation, however, we see him not talking to the Lord, but talking to his heart. The Hebrew phrase translated “in his heart” literally means David talked to himself. And in so doing, he got mixed up. He came to wrong conclusions. He fell into depression. He ends up living in enemy territory for almost a year and a half because he talked to himself rather than talking to the Lord.

I can do the same thing oh, so easily. I talk to myself and convince myself of all kinds of things that are completely untrue. As I drive home from church, I overhear myself saying,

“Now, Jon, what do you think about that?”

“I think what he said was unfair.”

“I do too!”

“I think she could have been a little kinder. What do you think, Jon?”

“I completely agree. I don’t know what’s gotten into her.”

“I’ve been wondering the same thing! It seems like they used to be so nice and so pleasant, but something’s wrong with them now.”

“I concur! You need to do something about them. You need to yell at them.”

“You’re right, Jon. Excellent advice!”

I think a lot of us talk to ourselves from time to time. Driving to church, walking the dog, mowing the lawn, we convince ourselves that we’re right. We build up a case that’s airtight. We become our own best ally. We feel more justified with each passing moment as we talk to ourselves.

But here’s the danger with talking to yourself, with talking to your heart: According to Jeremiah 17:9, the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. This means that when you’re having a good “heart to heart” talk with yourself, you’re getting counsel that is desperately wicked.

What are we to do? Philippians 4 says, “Be anxious for nothing. But in everything with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known” - not to yourself, not to your pastor, not to your spouse - “unto God. And the peace of God will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Imagine two stopwatches in your hands. One starts every time you talk to yourself or to others about a situation. The other starts every time you talk to your Father about the matter, communicating in articulate, intelligent, understandable prayer. After three days, what would these clocks look like? How much time would have been spent talking to yourself? How much time would have been spent talking to your Father?

There are some people with whom spending time is a joy. Why? Because their hearts and minds are at peace. Why? Because they’re people of prayer. They have no fish to fry, no axes to grind, no battles to fight, no points to prove because they have learned to say, “Father, I don’t know what to do about this. I’m tired of mulling it over in my mind or talking to people round about me. I’m just going to talk to You.”

The only way to have this peace is to pray. If you talk to yourself more than you talk to your Father, you’ll make big mistakes. But if you choose to talk to the Father, there will be a genuine peace about you that is winsome and attractive, pleasant and contagious. Bend your knee, open your heart, and wait on Him.