Psalm 103: Talking to Yourself in the Presence of God

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— - Psalm 103:1-2

The use of pronouns in the prayers of the Psalms always confused me.

• Sometimes the writer is talking to God (Ps. 22), 
• Sometimes the writer is talking to the audience there with him in the temple (Ps. 68:26) or the nations (Ps. 47), 
• Sometimes the writer is talking to the mountains and the rivers (Ps. 98), 
• Sometimes the writer is switching back and forth (Ps. 25:1-7, 16-22 are talking to God  and 8-15 are talking to the congregation.

But I realized today that there is another category: sometimes the writer talks to his/herself-while praying-in the presence of God. These are the "O my soul" psalms. The writer argues and encourages his "soul" to trust in God. In Psalm 103: "He does this by chiding his heart that tends to 'forget' its salvation...his heart forgets in that our instinctive responses and drives and emotions and attitudes do not connect themselves to the truths we profess."[1]

This isn't just self-talk, such as we do when we're in stressful situations, where we say: "You can do it, Tim!" or "Get your act together, Tim!" Self-talk is focused on convincing me that self can do it or self should do better. But these psalms are focused on what God has done and is doing. For example (continuing in Psalm 103):

...who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. - Psalm 103:3-5

Stress pushes our history with God from our minds. Satan uses this spiritual amnesia to keep us focused on survival fight-or-flight reactions to that stress. For me, prayer revitalizes those hard-won lessons learned while walking with God, bringing them fresh to the current situation. My mind surfaces doubts, regrets and fears and my mind recalls trust in Jesus, forgiveness through Jesus and security in Jesus.

At the end of Psalm 103, the writer (of course) switches pronouns to give a little over-the-top advice for those watching God at work:

Praise the Lord, you his angels...Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts...Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the Lord, my soul. - Psalm 103:20-22

[1] Tim Keller, Prayer (New York, NY: Dutton), p. 153