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Depression

Psalm 42 is a song of lament. The Psalmist is describing a time of deep turmoil, where the Psalmist is wrestling with his faith in his current experience. He writes that he has cried a lot (v3), that he is dejected (v5), deeply depressed (v6), and feels forgotten by God (v8). Can you relate to these feelings?

It is ok to struggle and wrestle with God and what is happening in your life. The Psalms (and Scripture) are full of examples of this. Knowing this, is it not interesting that we so often feel we need to hide our struggles or even depression?

It is also worth noting that in Psalm 42, it doesn’t appear that the writer’s struggle is the result of sin. This shows us depression and struggle are not always the result of sin. Sometimes we don’t know where our sadness comes from. Sometimes life is just hard, even when we are faithfully following Jesus.

When I was 19 years old, I lost my dad to suicide. What followed was my own roughly 9-month battle with depression. Even though I had not done anything wrong, and even though I was praying, reading my Bible, and trying to stay close to Jesus, I was still depressed. There are many reasons why one may become depressed or deal with depression, and sometimes it is entirely out of our control.

And yet, even in his depression, the Psalmist still wrestles with God. He doesn’t let what he feels stop him from remembering what he knows, even if it is hard to believe in the moment. Instead of giving up on God, he acknowledges that nothing else can fully restore him.

If you are in a season of deep sadness, what would it look like to still wrestle with God? To stay connected to a local church community? To not hold it all in and not tell anyone? To not give up.

Admittedly, this is all easier said than done. But this is the posture the writer of Psalm 42 has taken. They don’t hide their pain. They don’t pretend they aren’t struggling. And they still cling to the Lord with the hope that he will save.

Today’s reflection

If you are facing your own season of sadness or depression, what would it look like for you to honestly wrestle with the Lord about it and confide in at least one other person what you are going through?