Hope In God

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,

my Salvation and my God.

My soul is cast down within me; 

therefore I remember You.

Psalm 42:5-6a (ESV)

Why am I so depressed?

Why this turmoil within me?

Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,

my Savior and my God.

I am deeply depressed;

therefore I remember You.

Psalm 42:5-6a (HCSB)

Sometimes I feel haunted and discouraged by all the moments of time in my life where I have felt "down cast"/"depressed".  Those moments date all the way back to when I was a young girl and have continued throughout my life.  In fact, in just the past couple months I can name numerous different occasions where my foe, depression, has descended on my soul like a vulture descending upon a wounded animal.  I feel like the wounded animal: helpless, unable to run, scared, and exposed to danger.

God is teaching me (through His Word, His Spirit, and my husband) that every single time I give into this foe I am not trusting Him: in His goodness, in His grace, in His plan, in who He says He is.

I am learning that when I feel the darkness and despair of depression descending on me I am:

NOT HELPLESS

Psalm 54:4  Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.

ABLE TO RUN TO GOD FOR DELIVERANCE

Psalm 18:28-30  For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness.  For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.  This God--his way is perfect, the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.  

NOT AFRAID

Psalm 56:3-4  When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.  In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.  What can flesh do to me?

PROTECTED

Psalm 91:1-6  He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

God is teaching me that when I am depressed I am being SELF-FOCUSED.  Psalm 42 reminds me that when I am depressed (self-focused) I need to look to God and remember His goodness and grace in my life, because when I do the darkness starts to lift.

The song below was shared with me by my sister Alex.  It is by the Sing Team and is based on Psalm 42.