Multiple millions of people around the world have suffered from depression at one time or another in their adult life. One could say that it is a worldwide epidemic. For many of these people, their depression is caused by feelings of hopelessness, or loneliness, feeling there is no one to help them in whatever trial or problems they face. They feel that their problems are never ending, and they are at the end of their rope, but no one is there to catch them. Many psalms in the Bible are written from a point or time of depression by their author, and our Scripture today is one such psalm.
The psalmist, one of the Sons of Korah, alternately prays to God and also talks to himself in this psalm. We don’t know the exact reason for his depression and discouragement, but this is a very low time for him. Even his friends and associates, people he saw daily, came to him wondering where God was in his life (vs. 3). They told him that things looked so bad in his life that it looked like God had abandoned him. That’s a rather sad state to be in, when others think that our situation is so bad that God certainly can’t be paying attention to us! He was, as we say, at the end of his rope.
When we feel the same, we have two choices. We can turn away from God in anger and frustration, or we can turn to God and step up our faith. Our psalmist did the latter. He turned to God. He knew that God was his only true and reliable hope in coming out of this state. Perhaps for a time he had strayed from God. Perhaps that is what got him in the state to begin with. We don’t know. But now he wants a renewed relationship with Him. He thirsts for God, like an animal searching for a cool water brook (vs. 1-2).
When we want to overcome discouragement we need to take some steps. First we need to look and see if we can identify what is causing our depression and discouragement. Maybe there is something in our life that we can or need to change. Then we need to look to the Lord, and put our hope and trust in Him. People can, and often do, let us down, but the Lord God is faithful. He is there to help us.
God can handle our real emotions. It is not like He doesn’t already know how we feel. The prophet Jeremiah was one person in Scripture who turned to the Lord, crying out to Him in raw emotion. We see that especially in the Book of Lamentations. Job was another. These godly men unburdened themselves to God from intolerable pain, grief, and agony, and He did not chastise them further for doing so.
Sometimes we may even need a change of friends or companions, as they can frequently pull us further down. Whoever the psalmist seemed to be hanging around with brought him even more discouragement, as they kept questioning where God was when he needed him (vs. 3, 10). Similar words were hurled by the Pharisees and religious leaders at Jesus while He hung on the cross.
Another thing to help us get out of depression is to remember all that God has done for us. We need to remember His past care and provisions for us. Our psalmist knew that remembering God and His love and care was one key, along with singing songs of joy and praise (vs. 4, 6, 8). Remembering God’s faithfulness in the past, along with uplifting songs of praise will encourage our soul.
Are we finding ourselves spiritually dehydrated? If so, we need to spend more time with God. When we don’t, we begin to feel empty, lonely, dissatisfied, and then downright depressed. We find there is no joy in our life. The answer is turning to the Lord, crying out to Him. Remembering His past blessings, and giving praise.
Be full of hope, for God will not fail you. God still loves us in the midst of all of our trials. We can rejoice while passing through the furnace, for as Paul said in II Corinthians 4:17, this light affliction will soon be over.
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