DAVID’S DEPRESSION AND IT’S REMEDY

Psa 77

Morning Meditations: 2/2/16

Read Psalm 77 and keep your Bible open to this passage as I call attention to some verses. I believe the Bible has the answer to every problem that exists today. Depression is a major problem and is being dealt with by people who are totally unskilled in the Word of God. I was reading this Psalm one day and it dawned on me that we have an illustration in this psalm of a time when David was depressed and he tells us how he dealt with it. Let us notice:

David prayed in the day of trouble with no immediate relief: Verse two says, “In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.”

The word “trouble” (tsarah)means “straits, distress, trouble, vexer, rival wife.” The word “straits” means to be in a tight place. I’m a little amused at the “rival wife” in the definition. Now that really gives meaning to me. I have never had that experience but I know some who have. That is a problem from which you can’t get away. You live with her! With this kind of trouble David said “I sought the Lord.” The Hebrew word “sought” (darash) means “to seek with care.” Then he said in that context “my sore ran into the night.” The word “sore” literally means “hand” and is used to signify strength. The strength of this problem “ran into the night.” The word “ran” means “to be poured or to be spilt.” His problem could not be settled by bedtime. He carried it to bed with him. It spilt into his “sleep time” when he should have been getting rest from his thoughts and work. The words “and ceased not” (puwg) mean “to grow numb or to be feeble.” It is in the imperfect tense and refers to a process. It was numbing in its effect. Have you seen a depressed person? Doesn’t this describe the effects of depression? The words “my soul refused to be comforted” means that this condition continued unabated in spite of David’s prayers.

Verse three says “I remembered God, and was troubled:” The word “remembered” is also imperfect and refers again to the process. When David got in trouble, he went to the Lord for help. He has already told us that he prayed. Then he says, “I complained” and is an imperfect tense that describes a process. His prayer to God was a complaint about the silence of God concerning his trouble. He says “My spirit was overwhelmed.” The word “overwhelmed means “to faint away.” This is a graphic description of depression. Someone goes to bed, pulls the covers over his head and refuses to come out of the room. It is a real condition and can interrupt a marriage and/or the whole family let alone what it does to the person who is depressed.

Verse four: “...I am so troubled that I cannot speak” describes how deeply this had affected David. The family or the psychiatrist cannot get the person to talk. This describes a condition we call depression. We will find in this psalm that speaking is a part of the way out.

How did David deal with this? He says in verse six: “I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.” You will notice his thinking as he remembered (throughout the rest of the psalm). He did not go into his sinful past. Neither did he have to deal with the unjust way Saul had tried to kill him. He began to remember the good times. You see, people get into depression by wrong thinking (at least the kind of depression I am thinking about. And I might add there may not be any other kind. I have heard of chemical imbalances but I am not qualified to comment on that). I have been depressed. Not as deeply as David describes here. I think all of us find ourselves, at least to some degree, depressed at times. It has always been, at least in my case, the result of wrong thinking.

David begins his return to the land of the living in verse ten: “And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.” He acknowledged his infirmity and said, “I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.” Now that kind of thinking has healing it. These were the good times. When we look back, we need to remember the good times. I do not believe that you have to go back and dig up every evil thing that you have done or that has been done to you to get relief. We need to accept the forgiveness God gives and go on with the good memories of our experiences with God.

David says in verse eleven: “I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.” The word “wonders” means “wonder (extraordinary, hard to understand thing)” This refers to God’s intervention in the past that was unexplainable. We all have things like this that describe God’s direct intervention.

David says again in verse twelve: “I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.” The word “meditate” means that David determined to discipline his thinking to think on what is described as “all thy work.” Then he said, “and talk of thy doings” which means “I am going to cease to talk about the problems that got me into this mess. I’m going to talk out loud to others about the Lord and His doings.”

David says in verse twelve: “Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?” He also came to the conclusion that the answer to his depression was not to stay away from church crowds. He recognized that God’s way is in the place of public worship. Oh how often in the last forty-two years of ministry have the psychiatrists advised Christians that I have known to stay away from church and away from crowds. Well, you certainly need to stay away from the wrong kinds of crowds but God’s way is in the sanctuary. God will minister to the depressed in the sanctuary (Church). Here is where he remembered the greatness of God. God to the depressed becomes smaller than their problems. When God is not great enough to solve your problems, you so go someone else for help. Or, it may be to SOMETHING else.

I will let you build on this as you read the rest of the Psalm. There is a way into depression (human viewpoint and wrong thinking) and there is a way out (God’s viewpoint and right thinking). But it is like reaching the unsaved. If they refuse to put faith in what God says, it leaves you helpless. A depressed person cannot be helped if they refuse to think right about God and His plan. I believe we have the proper way to deal with depression in this psalm.

May God bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Earl White