Heart Cries: Depression – Will This Darkness Ever End?

Psalms 42-43

Today, we will hear what the Bible says about a heart cry that I think all of us have at some times and to differing degrees in our lives, i.e., times of deep discouragement. On my father’s side of the family, many have dealt with clinical depression. Although, I am not personally inclined in that direction, many of those closest to me – both family members and friends – do. So, this topic is very real and personal to me.

The Song and Our Emotions -- To the choirmaster… of the Sons of Korah

Psalms 42-43, which were originally one Psalm, is the place most believers have turned when they have gone through dark times. It’s a song written to be sung in worship services. Look at the superscription before the Psalm. It was for the “sons of Korah.” These sons of Korah were a group of priests who were charged with the ministry of singing. This one is an amazing song. It speaks of times when people who love God go through dark emotional times. And the way it’s written helps you feel what the experience is like.

The song has four stanzas that speak of how discouraged the psalmist is, each of which is followed by a refrain in which the believer urges himself to trust God. Many of you probably know from personal experience that this the way that depression often hits. It comes in waves. And, when the wave hits, people who know God experience this emotional darkness and, when we do, we keep turning to God. In doing so, we often find enough relief that we are tempted to think that the depression will never return. But, in this imperfect world, all-too-often, it does. The rhythm of this great Psalm captures that.

Listen carefully to me now: Some churchgoers seem to think that this kind of depression is something that no strong believer could ever experience. But, the Bible doesn’t support that.

Moses went through this depression in Numbers 11:15 when the people were complaining about his leadership. He said to God, “Why don’t you just kill me at once?”
David went through it after his son’s death in 2 Samuel 18.
Job went through depression and wanted to die in the midst of all his afflictions in Job 3:1-11.
Elijah went through a deep depression even after a great victory in 1 Kings 19.

And, of course, we dare never forget how Jesus, the one who is fully God and fully human, expressed his emotional state as he faced the fact that he would have to bear the punishment for the sins of the world: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death (Mt 26:38).

These were not people of weak faith. They are people living in a world filled with sorrow and pain. This great song in Psalm 42-43 expresses what people feel in this fallen world. And, it also teaches us how to live.

The Song and Our Minds -- A Maskil

Look again at the superscription. You’ll see it’s called a “maskil”. That word comes from a Hebrew verb that means to make someone wise, or to instruct. So, a maskil is a song that instructs. So, this song is for our hearts and for our minds. God inspired this part of his Word both to help shape what your mind should think in times of darkness as well as to shape what your heart feels. When you immerse yourself in this Psalm, it should help you “think and feel with God.” That’s what I am praying this message will help you to do.

The Triggers

The problem the Psalmist confesses three times is that he is “downcast” (42:5,11; 43:5). It’s a strong word. It means that he feels that like he will collapse; he’s about to fall apart; he has nothing left. Have you ever felt that way?

Now, notice this: The Psalmist isn’t downcast because he is suffering or in great pain. There are other Psalms about that. And, the problem isn’t that he feels shame or guilt for a sin he has committed. It has become clear to me over the years that there are times when we who love God are doing what God would have us to do and still this kind of darkness of soul comes upon us.

So, look at what triggered his depression as he expressed it in the song:

Trigger #1: Rhythms of worship and fellowship out of sync – I remember how I would… go to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise. (42:4)

The Psalmist wrote this song when he was away from his home worshipping community. See v.4: He missed going to worship. He missed singing with God’s people. Sometimes, when depression hit, you just don’t feel the energy to go to church or to your small group. But, this may be the the thing you most need. Why? – because you have been made by God to grow in Christ-centered, Bible-grounded community. Living in a world in which many reject God, worship and fellowship gives that regular motivation to put God at the center of your life. When you miss worship, things get out of sync. An emptiness inside grows.

Trigger #2: Ongoing spiritual attacks on his faith – My adversaries taunt me while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” (42:10)

Many of you have spoken to me about how hard it is to be day-by-day in a place in which people mock your faith. That’s might be your work place or school – or when you are the only Christian in your family. For the Psalmist, this combination of not worshipping regularly with his church people and being surrounded by those antagonistic to his faith just about did him in.

Trigger #3: Rhythms of life out of sync – My tears have been my food day and night. (42:3)

The words in 42:3 and other things the Psalmist writes in his song show that he wasn’t sleeping and eating well. He had no nourishment and no rest so that all he feels like doing is crying. Some Christians tend to think that when discouragement comes, all you should do is pray and go to church. Those are, indeed, important things to do. However, God made us as physical, emotional, relational and spiritual beings. All those parts of us make up the one person we are. What we do physically, emotionally and intellectually affects every other part of our lives – including our spiritual lives. I see that truth expressed in this song. Because of that, sometimes we have to deal with the physical conditions in our lives in order to deal better with the spiritual condition. As I said in my message about anxiety a few weeks ago, sometimes that help comes through good counseling and appropriate medications.

An example of this is what happens with Elijah when he was depressed in 1 Kings 19. After a stupendous and miraculous victory over the Prophets of Baal in ch.18, Elijah went into a deep depression and headed out into a wilderness. He wanted to die. So, God sent an angel to him to help him and guide him. Do you know the first thing the angel did? Did he tell Elijah to pray more? To listen to more of Pastor Waybright’s sermons? No! The angel cooked him a meal and told him to eat. Then, the angel let him sleep. Then he cooked Elijah another meal and told him to eat again. And the Bible says, “Elijah got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached the mountain of God.” (1 Kings 19:8).

The Foundational Trigger: God seemed far away. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. (42:1)

When depression hits, as much as there is wisdom and help in disciplining yourself to have good eating habits and sleeping patterns, or of having good medicines and personal counseling, the foundational need of every human being is to be in a genuine and close relationship to God. Knowing God is as essential to your inner being as water is to your body. Do you believe that?

When we are young, we often fool ourselves into thinking that there must be something in this world that can fill that thirst for God. We think, “If I can just get into the best university… If I can get on with the best firm… If I can marry that wonderful person I’m attracted to…” then my joy will return. And all those things are wonderful. But, you and I are made for more than anything in this world can satisfy. As Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 3:11, “God has set eternity in the human heart.” Great dining -- world travel -- better jobs -- even good human relationships cannot take God’s place. St. Augustine put it so well in his Confessions: “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless, until they can find rest in you.”

Of course, this Psalmist did know God and still he went through dark times. Let me tell you: Even for us as believers, when we go through dark times, the greatest need we have is to have the assurance that God is with us. This entire Psalm shows us how a man who loves God but feels, at times, that God is far away goes about seeking to experience the reality of God in his heart again. What does he do? When I read this song, I make note of some things that I and many others have found to be helpful. I pray that you might as well.

What Does the Psalmist Do While in the Darkness?

#1: He prays when he doesn’t feel like it – I pour out my soul… Why have you forgotten me? (42:4,9)

The Psalmist does this not just once – but four times (42:9; 43:2). This is evidence of a true and honest relationship. For him, prayer was not simply reciting prescribed words. No, this man knew God and he talked with God about what was on his heart. N 42:9, he says, “God, why have you forgotten me?” I’m sure he knew God had not forsaken him. In fact, he had just said in v. 8, “By day the LORD directs his steadfast love toward me, and at night his song is with me.” What he means is that, in that moment, he feels as if God has forgotten him. And he tells god honestly what he feels.

In this, I urge you to keep praying even when you don’t feel like it. Tell him you don’t understand. Tell him he seems far away. What I find happens is that it’s a lot like opening my eyes in the middle of the night. At first, you can’t see anything – but then your eyes being to adjust. You begin – just begin – to see. In dark times, open your eyes and fix them on God in prayer. It’s sometimes hard to do but, I will tell you, it is a step forward. Learn to pour out your soul to God in prayer as the Psalmist did.

#2: He affirms God loves him when he doesn’t feel it. By day the LORD directs his steadfast love. (42:8)

In v.4, he remembers experiencing God’s presence in his life in the past. I think you should note that much of what he experienced of God’s love, he experienced in the community of people of faith. He remembers past corporate worship experiences. V. 4: “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.

I could say much about the importance of corporate worship in your life. Don’t take these times together in worship lightly. God means for these encounters with him in corporate worship to preserve your faith now and in the way you remember them later. And even though the Psalmist says it looks as if God has forgotten him, he never stops believing that God is with him and that God is absolutely in control over all his problems. He keeps remembering that God is god and that God loves him. Finally, when we get to 43:3-4, he begins to find a breakthrough into the light. Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to the place where you dwell. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight, O God, my God.

#3: He sings when he doesn’t feel like it. At night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. (42:8)

This is not a joy-filled Psalm. He doesn’t feel joy. This is a prayer song and pleading song — a song “to the God of my life.” That is, it’s a song in which he is pleading for his life.

But isn’t it amazing that he is singing his prayer! And this is something I have learned to do. And many of you have done this as well. I asked LAC pastors and staff this past week whether there are songs they sing when they are in dark times and within an hour I had quite a playlist. If you wonder what songs you might sing, we have the songs our LAC people are recommending on our website.

I find that music is a gift from God. Songs engage our emotions. When we sing songs expressing what we believe about God, we often find our hearts being lifted out of the darkness and into the light.

#4: He speaks truth to himself that he might not want to hear. You, God, are my stronghold… Why are you downcast, soul? Put your trust in God. (43:2,5)

Of course, you must know what God’s Word says to be true in order to do this. Throughout the song, the Psalmist takes the promises of God and speaks them to his inner being. Listen to what John Piper, a pastor who confesses to struggling with depression his whole life, says about this:

“I cannot tell you how many hundreds of times in my years as pastor I have fought back the heaviness of discouragement with these very words: “Hope in God, John. Hope in God. You will again praise him. This miserable emotion will pass. This season will pass. Don’t be downcast. Look to Jesus. The light will dawn.”

Or, you might even learn simply to pray Scripture like this from Romans 8: “Listen, self: If God is for you, who can be against you? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for you, how will he not also with him graciously give you all things? Who shall bring any charge against you as God’s child? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for you. Who shall separate you from the love of Christ?

This Psalm is so real to life. The really remarkable thing is that at the end of the psalm, the Psalmist is trusting God – but he’s not yet fully where he wants to be. He had been through four waves of darkness before so he knew another one might come again. The last words of the song are “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God. I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”

Like all people of faith in the Bible, he knows God will ultimately make all things right. So, even when darkness comes in this imperfect world, he’ll trust God. He won’t give up. He’ll keep praying on. He’ll keep singing on. He’ll keep holding on by faith until he stands before the Lord face to face. And, I pray you will do the same – to the glory of God.