Breaking Free from the Darkness of Depression | Psalm 42
We are experiencing a mental health crisis in America, especially among teenagers. But this is not just a young people thing. Do you know the top two prescribed medications in America? Antacids and antidepressants. We are eating wrong and thinking wrong. Some say, “A depressed Christian is a contradiction of the term.” But that is not true; unfortunately depression has plagued some of the greatest heroes in the Bible like Elijah, David and Jeremiah (he wrote a whole book about depression and sadness called Lamentations) and in church history, Martin Luther and Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon said, “I have spent more days shut up in depression than probably anyone in the world.” If you are a depressed Christian, you are not alone. We have an enemy who wants to “steal, kill and destroy.” The Bible seems to teach that nobody living in a fallen world and in a broken, sinful body is safe from depression.
Psalm 42 was written by one of the sons of Korah, the sect of Levitical priests who were responsible for singing and writing music for worship. This Psalm is a Maskil which means “a song that instructs.” This song was meant to instruct our minds and our hearts towards God when we feel down, defeated and depressed. Some scholars believe that the psalmist was writing about King David when he was on the run from his son Absalom. Others believe this is from the psalmist’s own personal experiences. Regardless, this psalmist gives an honest account of depression and how to deal with it. In this psalm, we see the weariness of depression and the way out of depression.