Mental Health In The Psalms: 40 Series

MENTAL HEALTH IN THE PSALMS: 40

PSALM 40:1-17

#mentalhealth

INTRODUCTION 1 … POOR BISHOP HOOPER PSALM 40 (EVERY PSALM) youtube.com/watch?v=lmFwV00q6RQ [5:07]

INTRODUCTION AND NEED FOR METAL HEALTH EMPHASIS… who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response

The World Health Organization (WHO), who?, I said the World Health Organization defines mental health as “a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. It is an integral component of health and well-being that underpins our individual and collective abilities to make decisions, build relationships and shape the world we live in.”

Why bring up this definition? We are beginning a series of sermons today in the Psalms and our focus is going to be mental health. Before we get too far, we have to address an issue that may plague us in these weeks as we talk about mental health. I have to dive right in and bring it up right away or you may tune me out right away.

The issue is: We may not think this is a worthy topic to address in sermons or from the Bible or in church. Mental health is not a topic that the Church (the big ‘C’ church) traditionally addresses well. Over the years, we Christians have left mental health to godless psychoanalysts and human-centered therapists to the detriment of generations of Christians. We divide mental health and spiritual health as two different areas of life. Not everything a psychologist or psychiatrist may offer is terrible or even untrue, but God has much to say about mental health because our mind is an integral part of how God Almighty made us.

An emphasis on the mind and mental health exists in the New Testament and even in the ministry of Jesus. Let’s just take a look quite quickly at the Gospel of Mark for example:

READ MARK 3:20-21 (ESV)

Then He [Jesus] went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when His family heard it, they went out to seize Him, for they were saying, “He is out of His mind.

READ MARK 8:32-33 (ESV)

And He said this plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But turning and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

READ MARK 12:29-30 (ESV)

Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

I cannot help but see in Mark 3 that Jesus’ family was concerned for His mental health as He began His ministry which was physically and emotionally taxing. In Mark 8, Jesus sees in Peter unhealthy thought patterns that were leading him away from God and towards Satan and Jesus wanted to correct them immediately. And even in Mark 12 Jesus cites the most important command from the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) as focusing on God with our hearts and souls and also our minds!

Not only do we see this emphasis on the “mind” in the life and ministry of Jesus, but the word “mind” itself is used 139 times in the Bible, 75 times in the New Testament, and 10 times in the book of Romans including Romans 12:2:

READ ROMANS 12:2 (ESV)

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

My point is simply this: We should not ignore mental health for it is an integral part of how God fashioned us as human beings. Because God knows us best as our Creator and as the All-Knowing Almighty, we should absolutely understand God’s Word for us about mental health.

TRANSITION

The Book of Psalms in the Old Testament, many written by King David, is an ideal book to dig into mental health because the Psalms often share with us unfiltered thoughts, raw emotions, and a mind that is awash with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Our Psalm today is Psalm 40. Some of the words may sound familiar from the video I showed a few moments ago.

READ PSALM 40:1-17 (ESV)

“I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry. 2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD. 4 Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie! 5 You have multiplied, O LORD my God, Your wondrous deeds and Your thoughts toward us; none can compare with You! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.6 In sacrifice and offering You have not delighted, but You have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. 7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: 8 I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.” 9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as You know, O LORD. 10 I have not hidden Your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness from the great congregation. 11 As for You, O LORD, You will not restrain Your mercy from me; Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness will ever preserve me! 12 For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me. 13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me! 14 Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt! 15 Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!” 16 But may all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; may those who love Your salvation say continually, “Great is the LORD!” 17 As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my Help and my Deliverer; do not delay, O my God!”