Depression and Despair

Psalm 42 and Psalm 43 today.

So the Psalms, it's divided into five sections, five books they call them.

So that's kind of modeled after the five books of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.

And then first book is Psalms 1 to 41.

So we just finished the first book, which means we're about 20% of the way there,

which is exciting.

And we usually cover one Psalm on Friday, as you know,

but we're going to cover two because Psalms, just like Psalms 9 and 10,

Psalms 42 and 43 are widely believed to have been a single composition originally.

That's why a lot of the Hebrew manuscripts have them actually as one Psalm.

And then they have the same theme and there's a trajectory and same refrain in both of those Psalms.

So those are all clues that tell us that they were originally a single composition.

And like the other songs in the Psalter, this one is also rich theologically and spiritually,

but it's very raw emotionally and experientially.

And it's kind of, this one in particular deals with depression and despair,

that very common human experience, although that doesn't make it any less difficult experience.

And as we read through it, kind of we see the psalmist's thought process,

how God brings him through his depression and despair.

And it teaches that we can hope in God in the seeming absence of God by remembering him and praying to him.

So that's really the main point of this Psalm.

So first we're going to talk about the absence of God in verses 1 to 5 of chapter 42.

And then we'll talk about the remembrance of God in verse 6 to 11.

And then we'll talk about prayer to God in chapter 43.

So verses 1 to 3 express how the psalmist feels spiritually parched and longs for communion with God.

It says,

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?

My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long,

Where is your God?

If you're like me, you have experienced this seeming absence of God at some point in your life, a dry season.

And I say seeming because God's of course not really absent, but it sure feels that way, right?

It feels dry, weary, and you're stressed and harassed by the circumstances of your life.

And then you feel like, you know, just that relationship with God seems to be waning, and you don't feel his presence.

And the contrast in the images of water in verse 1 and verse 3 is very revealing.

The first in verse 1, it says,

He longs for, pants for, he thirsts for flowing streams of God, like a deer in a dry country.

But then instead, in verse 3, it says,

His tears have been his food day and night.

So the contrast of the water imagery, right?

So drinking, instead of drinking of the vigorous life-giving stream of God,

he has to be satisfied with the dripping tears from his own eyes.

That's his food.

It's a really sad picture.

And so he, you know, kind of wistfully reminisces about the good old times in verse 4.

He says,

These things I remember as I pour out my soul, how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God

with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude-keeping festival.

And the psalmist apparently used to lead God's people in the worship, in the celebration of the Jewish feasts, the festivals.

But now he is alone in his depressive thoughts.

And we don't know exactly what kind of state he is in, what he is experiencing.

But he is definitely dealing with some kind of loss and sorrow.

And he feels deserted by God and is lamenting the fact that he can no longer worship God in the temple in Jerusalem.

And so he says in verse 5,

Why are you cast down on my soul?

And why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

And the psalmist is kind of here giving himself a pep talk, right?

He's trying to exhort himself.

He's examining himself.

And exhorting his own soul.

And why are you cast down on my soul?

He says,

And why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

So this is the refrain that occurs again and again three times in these two psalms.

And even though there is an expression of hope at the end,

really the dominant note at this point of the psalm is one of being downcast.

Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And then he continues his conversation with God in verse 6.

He says,

My soul is cast down within me.

Therefore, I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon from Mount Mizar.

So he admits that his soul is still cast down.

Therefore, he says, I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon from Mount Mizar.

So land of Jordan and of Hermon are distant from Jerusalem.

They're far away.

So it shows where the psalmist is.

And because of that, he's choosing to remember God because he can't be in the temple,

in the presence of God to worship him now.

He chooses to remember him.

And so this is,

though he doesn't feel God at the moment,

he thinks about him and remembers him.

And this is using his spiritual memory to aid his fight against the depression and despair.

And as he remembers God,

he acknowledges that even his difficulties are from God's sovereign hand.

And so he says in verse 7,

Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls.

All your breakers and your waves have gone over me.

And then it's God's waterfalls that fall thunderously upon the waters.

It's his ocean waves that are raging around him and foaming all around him.

Instead of the refreshing waters of the flowing streams of God,

now he's feeling overwhelmed by waterfalls and waves of God.

Yet the psalmist, even in the light of this,

remembers an important truth about God in verse 8.

He says,

By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,

and at night his song is with me,

a prayer to the God of my life.

So he doesn't feel God's steadfast love toward him,

but he knows God's steadfast love,

and he's encouraging,

he's rehearsing that truth at this point.

And it's this remembrance of God's character

that spurs him to pray more boldly

and honestly in verses 9 to 11.

It says,

I say to God, my rock,

why have you forgotten me?

Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

As with a deadly wound in my bones,

my adversaries taunt me

while they say to me all the day long,

where is your God?

And notice how the psalmist never impugns God's character.

Even in his desperation,

he says,

God is my rock.

And he cries out to him.

And it's this belief in him,

that the belief that God loves him

and cares for him,

even in the midst of this,

that helps him to pray to God

and respond to the enemy's taunt,

where is your God?

Accusing him of God's absence.

And as he's trying to remember God

and rehearse the truth about God,

he goes back to the refrain in verse 11.

Why are you cast down on my soul?

And why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God,

for I shall again praise him,

my salvation and my God.

And this recurring self-exhortation

is really insightful,

if you think about it,

because speaking to yourself

in the midst of depression and despair

is really one of the most important things

and helpful things we can do,

is speaking to ourselves,

speaking the truth of God to ourselves.

And in his book

on the issue of spiritual depression,

Martin Lloyd-Jones writes this,

asks this incisive question.

He says,

have you realized

that most of your unhappiness in life

is due to the fact

that you are listening to yourself

instead of talking to yourself?

So don't just listen to your doubts

and fears,

but exercise faith

and tell yourself of God's sovereignty

and care and goodness.

So then don't wallow in your guilt

and self-condemnation.

Don't listen to that,

but then speak to yourself

instead about God's grace

and his justifying work

through Jesus on the cross, right?

So by remembering God

and rehearsing the truths about God,

we can overcome much of the depression

and despair that beset us.

And this is not,

I just want to address this

because it's a common misunderstanding,

but it's not just a fringe,

you know,

regressive opinion

of a scientifically ignorant pastor, right?

I mean,

this is a,

because often I hear people say things like,

well,

but isn't depression

caused by a chemical imbalance, right?

And so,

I mean,

what good does it do to a person

if you tell them

to speak to themselves

and adjust their attitudes, right?

And,

but that's actually

an erroneous idea

from the last century

that to think

that depression

is caused by a chemical imbalance.

It's in a widely acclaimed book

entitled The Depths.

Psychologist Jonathan Rottenberg,

who is an expert

on major depressive disorders,

writes that

that suggestion

that depression

is caused by a chemical imbalance

is wrong

and naive

and misleading.

Rather,

he suggests

that depression

is a result

of a confluence of factors,

including our own choices,

relationships,

our thought patterns,

and how we regulate

our emotions, right?

And there are,

of course,

instances

where there is

a biological reason, right?

So, for example,

thyroid problems

or, you know,

intolerance

for certain foods

and certain illnesses

can cause

feelings of depression,

but those account

for 10% or less

of all the observed cases

of depression.

And so,

chemical imbalance

really has become,

that theory

has become widely popular

because of the

pharmaceutical companies

who, on the first case,

want you to believe

that you're depressed

and then secondly,

want you to believe

that their pill

will solve that problem,

right?

So, I mean,

that's in large part

why that view

became so popular

without scientific backing.

And so,

this is corroborated

by findings

of Harvard Health Publications

and Scientific American.

They all published articles

dealing with this.

And it turns out

that the Bible,

which has been saying

the same thing

for millennia,

has been right all along,

right?

That these things

can be dealt with

through rehearsing

the truths of God.

And so,

we can maintain

our hope in God

by remembering Him

and rehearsing

the truths about God.

So then,

when we feel neglected

and alone,

we remember

and rehearse

the fact that God's

omnipresent

and with us,

imminent.

And then,

when we feel afraid

and anxious,

we remember God's sovereignty

and love for us

and that helps us

to deal with

our repression

and despair.

And as the psalmist

continues to remember God

and rehearse His truths,

His tone grows

ever more hopeful

and that's when we turn

to chapter 43

and then His lament

turns to prayer,

to a petition.

And so,

this is a really

important transition

because so far,

this was just

the internal dialogue

with Himself,

but now He's adding

a third party

to the dialogue.

God comes into the picture

and then that decisively

changes the whole tone

of His introspection.

So,

1 to 4 of chapter 43,

it says,

vindicate me,

O God,

and defend my cause

against an ungodly people

from the deceitful

and unjust man.

Deliver me,

for You are the God

in whom I take refuge.

Why have You rejected me?

Why do I go about mourning

because of the oppression

of the enemy?

Send out Your light

and Your truth.

Let them lead me.

Let them bring me

to Your holy hill

and to Your dwelling.

Then I will go

to the altar of God,

to God my exceeding joy,

and I will praise You

with the lyre,

O God,

my God.

Sometimes when we see

other people struggling

or suffering

or when we are ourselves

suffering and struggling,

we pray that God

will help us cope

with the situation,

but we don't pray

that God will deliver us

from the situation,

that God would intervene

to change the situation.

And this tendency

often betrays

people's kind of

functional deism

where they think of God

as,

oh, God's there,

but He's not really

going to intervene

in our lives.

He's not going to do

anything about it.

Or rather,

just a lack of faith

and resignation.

So I'm willing to pray

for small things

but not for these big things

because I don't want

to be disappointed

and lose my faith.

It could be

a lot of those things.

But then as Christians,

we can't resolve

that tension.

We need to pray

for both.

And that's exactly

what Jesus does

in Gethsemane

when He prays to God.

Mark 14, 36,

Abba Father,

all things are possible

for You.

Remove this cup from me,

yet not what I will,

but what You will.

So we see in the first part

the request

to just in faith

remove this from me

because that's what I want.

But then at the same time

that trust in God

saying,

but not my will,

but Your will be done.

And the Father,

it turns out,

was not willing

to remove the cup, right?

So Jesus' prayer

to remove my cup

from me is not answered.

And because that prayer

is not answered,

as believers

who have been saved

by Jesus,

we can be,

God's answer to us,

His presence with us

is guaranteed

because Jesus' prayer

was unanswered.

And that's why

we can pray

the prayer of the psalmist.

Send out Your light

and Your truth.

Let them lead me.

Let them bring me

to Your holy hill

and to Your dwelling

and have complete confidence

that God will answer

that prayer.

And because now

Jesus has died for us,

He's the new temple

through whom

we have access to God.

And then through Him

we have been sanctified

so that even the very Spirit

of God dwells in us

as temples of God.

Right?

So because of that,

now we,

this prayer

that psalmist prays

is one full of hope

and faith for us.

And then the final refrain

comes again

in verse 5.

And at this point,

because of the context

of the prayer

and the hopefulness of it,

what used to sound

like a forlorn cry

in the previous chapter

now soars with hope

and it almost sounds

like He's rebuking

His own soul

for its faithlessness.

It says,

Why are you cast down,

O my soul?

And why are you

in turmoil within me?

Hope in God

for I shall again

praise Him

by salvation

and my God.

So then in the midst

of depression

and despair,

let us find hope

in God

by remembering Him

and praying to Him.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.