When Depression Threatens

You know, it’s so exciting to get into God’s Word together and get perspective. We are living in really challenging times and we all know, Jesus promised, “I am with you always.” But what we are talking about is how do you experience His power, how do you experience His presence?

In our time together today, I want to go to a very sensitive area. I want to talk about experiencing God’s power and His presence when you’re depressed.

Now, I say that and it’s a pretty complex issue so I’m not talking about clinical depression and the physical causes for depression. I’m talking about the normal, run-of-the-mill, you feel blue, you feel down, you lose perspective. In fact, it’s not abnormal at all for very godly people to be depressed.

Have you ever thought about Scripture? I mean, Elijah, he gets so depressed after a great victory, he basically says, “Forget it, God. Just kill me. I can’t take it anymore.” And isn’t it interesting that in the kindness of God, what he needed was some rest and some good food and then to hear the Lord’s voice?

Or Jonah got depressed. Jonah got depressed because God was so kind. Or we have other biblical characters like Jeremiah who, in a moment of ministry, he literally said, “I wish I had never been born.”

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, J.B. Phillips – some great men of God have really struggled with depression. John Bunyan, the great writer of The Pilgrim’s Progress. You read the diaries of these people and you hear there are these up and down valleys that come with these mountains of great impact in ministry.

And so, all I want to say is depression is not a sin.

Certainly can it be? Can we let ourselves get down and go in a bad direction? But depression is something that happens to all of us when we lose perspective.

Sometimes there’s some spiritual causes, emotional causes, some physical causes. But what I want to talk about is what do we do with the kind of depression that we are seeing lots of people, I mean, the articles I’m reading about pastors, pastors across America and across the world that are really discouraged and really depressed.

And what I want to do is give you a few characteristics about depression so you can spot it and know, Oh, this isn’t just being discouraged. This is something that is pretty serious. And then I want to pray with you. And then I want to take you to a place that I go, Psalm 77, where God will model for us through this worship leader, Asaph, when you are feeling depressed, this is what you do in order to experience God.

Before we get there, let me give you a few characteristics of depression. It’s a feeling of hopelessness, you tend to be apathetic – “I just don’t want to do anything” – you lose perspective. It’s hard to concentrate. Sometimes there’s some physical issues like, “I’m not hungry, I’m not motivated, I don’t want to do anything.” Low self-esteem.

When you get depressed, many people withdraw. “I don’t want to be around people.” The phone rings and you think, Oh gosh, I can’t even answer it, right? You just don’t want anyone or anything.

People often are oversensitive, they are depressed and they could react either in anger or just oversensitive to, you think, Wow, that was a two-cent issue but it feels like a twenty-five dollar one, and you responded in ways you think, Why am I acting like this? Why do I feel these things?

With depression, often is guilt. You feel like God is far away. What did I do wrong? I don’t want to do anything and I’m angry inside, and all kind of stuff going on.

And so, I want to take you where God takes me when I’m feeling discouraged and it’s moving into depression. And there is a model of a very godly man name Asaph. And he’s a worship leader. And it’s found in Psalm 77. I would encourage you to open that in your Bible and he walks through a process that I want to walk you through that as you struggle with depression or deep discouragement, this is the process.

And I want you to notice a number of things. I have given you some notes and you can see I’ll give you one word to fill in in each one, because that’s the key word, that’s how we can beat depression. Now, are you ready?

He starts in verses 1 through 3. And listen to the words. “I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered You, O God, and I groaned; and I mused, and my spirit grew faint.”

And I would let you know right now, this isn’t like a little prayer. When he says, “I cried out,” I mean, he’s talking about, “I feel desperate. God, I need You.” And notice, “Where are you? I am in distress.”

And I don’t know about you, but I’ve been depressed at certain times, but, boy, in the middle of the night, it just seems amplified. “Where is God? What is going on?” He cries out. There’s no feeling of God and he’s reaching out and saying, “Help me. Help me. Help me.”

Can I tell you something? It’s normal for godly people, at times, in certain situations, to get depressed. And he does the right thing. He didn’t feel like praying, I’ll guarantee. But he says, “I cry out.”

That’s your first word. Cry out to God. Choose to cry out to God when you’re really depressed. You have to battle; you have to fight.

And then notice what he does in the next section. Look at verses 4 through 6. “You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak. I thought about the former days, the years of long ago; I remembered my songs in the night. My heart mused and my spirit inquired.”

He says, “God, I can’t sleep.” Any of you there? I’m thinking, I’m lying awake all night. These issues are going over and over and over and over in my mind and I can’t get them resolved. And I’m trying to pray and I don’t hear anything and I don’t have any answers. And it just – knots are happening in my stomach.

And then he goes, “I remember, I remember days when there were songs in the night. I mused and thought about when we were close and it’s not like that now.” He’s deeply, deeply discouraged. But he pauses and he begins to recall past blessings. And he ponders them. And then what he’s going to say is he goes, “Look, right now, objectively, my life is a mess and I don’t feel anything and I’m angry and I’m hurt and it’s dark. And if You’re around [God], I don’t know where You are.”

And then he goes, “I remember,” he brings some objectivity and this is what you have to do, “I remember this is true.” And this is where I was a few months ago. These darks times would come and it was like, God, my emotions are telling me You’re nowhere. And my emotions are telling me You don’t care. But Your Word and my past experience tells me You’re here. But it’s just like there is a wall, a black veil between You and me and in my emotions, I don’t feel anything.

Now, notice, he chooses to cry out when he doesn’t feel like it. He then says, “God, I can’t sleep.” And he shares honestly how he’s feeling. And then he recalls some past blessings, because what happens when you get depressed, man, your perspective goes. You start thinking really not good things about, Why do this? You know, this marriage hasn’t been very good. This is time to opt out. Or, I’m in the ministry and you know what? It’s just too much. People’s expectations, this is ridiculous. Or, I’m just going to call it in. I’m not going to do my best work. And who really cares? And no one really cares about me. All these lies. All these things about, they just start to fill your mind.

And then notice, and this is so unusual, this is why I love God’s Word, in the next section, verses 7 through 9, he asks God hard questions. You need to do that; He can take it. Six hard questions. Look at verse 7.

“Will the Lord reject forever?” Translation: Hey, I have been asking, I have been crying, so You say You’re faithful? Are You ever going to show up?

“Will He never show His favor again?” Am I not going to experience Your blessing again? Is this it?

“Has His unfailing love vanished forever?” He’s really saying what we feel. Do You care, or not? Do You really care? Haven’t you felt that? Do you feel the passion? Do you feel the vulnerability? Do you feel the reality? I meet people, I meet godly people, I meet pastors, I meet people that are elders and deacons and people that we all look up to who, you know what? They feel guilty about having these kinds of thoughts. The psalmist didn’t. This guy is a worship leader. He is being real and honest with his emotion. When you try and cover up what you’re dealing with, I’ll tell you what, it just multiplies it. Now, I’m a terrible person. How could I ever have those thoughts? God says He is faithful and in my mind I don’t feel like He is. Tell God.

Notice he goes on. “Has His promise failed for all time?” He’s raw. You going to come through or not? Lord, You said You would be with me always. So, where are You? That’s what is happening here. He goes on to say, “Has God forgotten to be merciful?” In other words: I know I don’t have it all together, I know I’ve messed up, but what about that great principle, that hesed, the mercy, the covenant loyalty? Is that gone? You made promises.

And then finally, “Has He in anger withheld His compassion?” Don’t – isn’t that how you feel? I don’t measure up. I mean, literally, I’m sure you get this too but people kind of laugh when I tell them this. When I get depressed, I feel like I’m a bad person, I’m a bad husband, I’m a bad father, I’m a lousy pastor, and I’m a bad friend. Other than that, I think I’m doing okay.

But, see, that’s what happens. You need to understand when you start getting discouraged and depressed, your focus, your perspective, it really, really gets warped. And the word picture I have is I live near the coast here in California. And when I live nearer the coast is that you could look out on the ocean and you would see the fog and it would come in. I mean, it’s just like it would just keep moving in, moving in, moving in, moving in. And sometimes the sun wouldn’t be really bright until one, maybe even two o’clock. And that’s my experience with depression. It’s like this grey or blue fog and you start to feel a little bit down, you’re a little discouraged, and it just starts creeping up, creeping up, creeping up. Here’s what you need to understand, you’ve got to fight.

When you feel it coming on, you’ve got to fight. You’ve got to really, really fight. Because the closer it gets, there’s part of it, this is weird, it feels kind of good. You know, I think I’ll be depressed. I think I’ll have a little self-pity. Yeah, you know what? I work so hard and I’m doing everything and people here at the house, I’m taking care of that and there are all these people that I minister to. And…

And you can just sort of settle into that depression and I will tell you what, it’s lethal. So, he gets honest. He cries out, he recalls past blessings, he asks God hard questions.

But notice this, we pick it up in verses 10 through 12. He chooses to redirect his thoughts.

Look at verse 10. He says, “Then,” transition, “I thought, ‘To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most-High.’ I will remember the deeds of the Lord, Yahweh; yes, I will remember our miracles of long ago. I will meditate, I will consider Your mighty deeds and Your mighty works.”

Now, did you hear a few things? “I will, I will, I will, I will.” Let me tell you something. You can’t believe your feelings when you’re getting depressed or are depressed. They are liars. And by the way, when you start listening to your feelings, the enemy will whisper. He’ll whisper condemnation. He’ll whisper, “You know something? This marriage hasn’t been all that good. It’s never going to be any good. It’s not worth it. Just forget the ministry. Forget the church. You have worked hard. It doesn’t matter. Boy, you…”

“I will, I will, I will.” And did you notice five different words? He goes, “I thought,” “I will remember,” “I will remember,” “I will meditate,” “I will consider.” Five different words he talks about that my thinking. And then notice where his thinking goes. His thinking goes beyond his circumstances and his dark feelings and he chooses to think, remember, and consider and he remembers who God is.

I love this where he says, “The right hand of the Most High,” it’s El Elyon. It’s God Creator, God Protector. And so, what he does is he is in a battle. And he is being honest. Yes, he has cried out and he has remembered the past and where he’s at. And he’s now going to say, “You know what? I’m in the battle. I need to choose to redirect my thoughts.”

And then I love this next section, verses 13 through 18, you need to magnify God to diminish your problems.

See, you get your thinking straightened out, then what you need to have is a high, exalted view of God where you remember His works, remember His miracles, where you exalt Him. Because here’s the deal; I’m going to read it in just a second. But I want you to see what the psalmist does, Asaph.

Little by little by little by little, he was looking at all of life through his problems and he was down, discouraged, wanting to give up, “God doesn’t care.”

And then what happened was he stopped and then he began to think and the more he thought, and then there are miracles and this is what God did in the past, and this and this and this, that problem got farther and farther away. And then what you’re going to read is he gets this grand remembrance of, “Oh my! You’re the all-knowing God! You’re the all-powerful God! You’re the Creator God. You’re the God that parted the Red Sea. You’re the God that gave birth to the universe.” And then all of a sudden, all those problems get out here, because here’s the principle.

If you have really big problems, you have a very small God. When you have a very big God, you have much smaller problems. Watch it. Pick it up with me in verse 13. These high thoughts lead to considering God’s ways.

“Your ways, O Lord God, are holy. What god is as great as You? You are the God who performs miracles; You display Your powers among your people. With Your mighty arm you redeemed Your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.”

Now, in that little section, He says three things.

“God, You are holy. You’re completely other. ”This word has the idea of separate. That God reigns in unapproachable light. In the midst of your discouragement, my discouragement, our depression, we lift up our eyes unto the Lord. He is holy. He is, at this moment, on the throne and angels are crying out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” And they cover their eyes.

Second, he says He is great. In other words, He is powerful. “What god is like You?”

And then he says, I love this, he goes on to say, “Who redeemed Your people.” And he uses a Hebrew word for the Kinsman-Redeemer. In other words, He is transcendent and awesome and yet He cares. He is getting this magnified, clear, powerful, high view of God that is also tender.

It’s the same word, remember when Ruth got redeemed? Kinsman-Redeemer? This is the same Hebrew word. It’s God saying, “I care about you.” He’s, all of a sudden, his perspective is off of his own personal experience. He started with this thinking and then his thinking led to: these are God’s ways. But he’s not done. Then he remembers something that you need and I need.

He goes on to say, “The waters saw You, O God, the waters saw you and they,” literally, “withdrew from the very depths and were convulsed. The clouds poured down water, the skies resounded with thunder; Your arrows flashed back and forth. Your thunder was heard with the whirlwind, and Your lightning lit up the world; and the earth trembled and quaked.”

He’s getting this picture of when God created all that there is. And he alludes to even Mount Sinai when everything was trembling and the lightning. And then he goes back to what every good Jew does when you’re really desperate. You go back to the one great moment where you realize, no matter what happens, wait a minute. God delivered me.

[Message Notes: Trust God to be your deliverer.]

“Your path led through the sea,” remember the Red Sea? “Your way through the mighty waters, though Your footprints were not seen,” invisible. “You led the people like a flock through the hand of Moses and Aaron,” tenderly, pastorally.

In other words, what he’s saying is: God, You did impossible things. There was a time when things were absolutely impossible. There was this army behind us and there was this water in front of us. And we said, “There is no way out.” And there’s a lot of you right now that are experiencing, as far as you know, impossible times. And you’re wrestling with deep discouragement and you’re wrestling with, literally, depression.

And God wants to say to you, here’s what I want you to do, examine your thinking. Do you recognize first that it’s normal? So don’t get overwhelmed with guilt.

And second, where is your focus? Is your focus on God or on the problems?

Then examine your behavior and your perspective. Is your behavior reinforcing more and more depression or are you doing things that are positive and good that bring you out of it?

The moment I battled this depression I decided I had to – not matter if push-ups, sit-ups, treadmill – I had to work out every day. I had to worship out loud and sing songs. I had to take the psalms and read them out loud and I had to remember, I literally, I literally went through my journal and started reading where God was faithful in the past.

We even, during that season, my wife had a big birthday, one of those milestones, and we went through albums of our whole forty years together. And as we looked at those pictures, all of a sudden, little by little by little, the depression lifted and then my focus was changed.

So, examine your thinking, examine your behavior. Here’s the thing about depression. When you’re depressed, the kind of behavior that follows depression causes more depression. So you have to fight.

And then finally, examine your future. You have a history that God delivered, delivered, delivered in your past.

Here’s the question: Do you really think He’s going to leave you hanging out to dry now? Fight. He’s for you, He’s with you, He loves you. Revamp your thinking. And then magnify the Lord. And then press ahead.