Depression And The Brain Series

broken relationships, all kinds of things, because of wrong choices. But there are also times where if we don't deal with our sin, our sin deals with us. Can you think of an Old Testament Bible person who had that problem and ended up getting depressed, and out of it came a number of Scripture passages? Who?

David.

David. So let's listen to Psalm 51. [Volunteer reads]

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to

Your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my

iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and

my sin is always before me.

Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight;

so You are right in Your verdict and justified when You judge. Surely I

was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely

you desire truth in the inner parts to teach me wisdom in that secret place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter

than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed

rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit to

sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so sinners will turn

back to You. Save me from blood guilt, O God, and God will save me, and

my tongue will sing of Your righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. You do not

delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You do not take pleasure in burnt

offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite

heart, O God, you will not despise. May Your good pleasure make Zion

prosper, to build up the walls of Jerusalem.

The Lord will never despise a broken heart, a contrite heart. In this case, David had not confessed his sin. He had not really dealt with it. He had covered it up. He had raped, if you will, Bathsheba. Then he had Bathsheba's husband killed. And that pain and the consequences of it went deep for him. There are a number of Psalms that we could read that were written right around that time where it's pretty clear that David was in a state of clinical depression. And it had to do with guilt. So I don't want to dismiss that for us today. I don't want to make light of the fact that there are times where you and I are in despair and it has to do with choices we've made. I know this full well. There are times where you can end up being at the bottom of a pit, and it is because you jumped into that pit.

So with that said though, there are other times where the brain misfires, just like your arm might break, or you might have high blood pressure. It's all physical, and it's because of a physiological issue with the brain. Let’s view a short video with an interesting perspective of: what if we treated physical illnesses like people treat mental illness?