PSALMS 42-43 PRAYER AND DEPRESSION 42:5-6 PUT YOUR HOPE IN GOD, FOR I WILL YET PRAISE HIM, MY SAVIOUR AND MY GOD Not all depressions are the same. Some are circumstantial, the result of loss or disappointment or fatigue; some are clinical and more complex. But whatever their nature or source, their symptoms are very similar: the numbing dread that the darkness and grief are impenetrable and immovable; the lie that which is passing is really eternal. These two psalms give some very helpful clues as to how to deal with depression. The first is to talk to God about your depression. That is what these psalms are: addresses to God about how the psalmist feels. You can be brutally honest – the psalmist certainly is: “I say to God my Rock, ‘Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?’ My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’” (42:9-10). It’s always better to talk to God about how you feel about God than to talk to others about how you feel about God. The most destructive aspect of any depression is the sense of abandonment by God. So talk to him about that! Prayer can turn the chasm into a bridge. Talk to yourself about your depression too. Three times the psalmist says, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God” (42:5,11; 43:5). Feelings can be like unruly children; and like unruly children, they them know about what is true. It may seem a little strange at first to talk to yourself this way, but the power of depression is schizoid; it splits you off from what is true. It takes a piece of the picture and makes it the whole picture. Talk back to yourself and affirm the truth and your intent: “I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.” Let your faith speak to your faith. Remind yourself what your deepest need is, whether you are depressed or not: God. Depression can be a reminder that we are not whole without God, no matter how well we may feel. P R A Y: By day, O Lord, you direct your love toward me, at night your song is with me – a prayer to the God of my life (see 42:8). Why are you downcast, O my soul? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 09:43:22 +0000