MENTAL HEALTH IN THE PSALMS: 46
PSALM 46:1-11
#mentalhealth
INTRODUCTION… Poor Bishop Hooper… youtube.com/watch?v=ZiHHtjwJJKQ [5:48]
READ PSALM 46 (ESV)
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah. 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. 5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. 6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; He utters His voice, the earth melts. 7 The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah. 8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, how He has brought desolations on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the chariots with fire. 10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” 11 The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah.
INTRODUCTION AND NEED FOR METAL HEALTH EMPHASIS… who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response
Health experts (WHO) define 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 finishing a series of three sermons (3 of 3) today in the Psalms where our focus has been mental health. We are continuing an ongoing conversation we have been having since last April (2023) when we focused on this same topic. Mental health is not a topic that is spoken about often in Church, but is a worthy topic for us. It is a worthy topic for us because emotional health and spiritual health need not be mutually exclusive. It is my hope and prayer to overall encourage you in these weeks as we dig through the Psalms to look at mental health and to see it as a normal regular important part of life and health and wholeness.
* I want you to see the spiritual and the mental together rather than something that is separate.
* I want you to see God and His presence are an essential element to being mentally healthy.
* I want you to see that therapy or medicine is a blessing or a tool given by God to help as well.
* I want you to see the spiritual and the mental together rather than something that is separate.
TRANSITION
Psalm 46 is a Psalm used in worship by the Israelites. It is a song about the world coming apart around them, but God is in the midst of them and so they are able to cope with stress and disaster and life coming apart at the seams. Over and over again in the Psalm God says He is with them which is meant to be a great comfort: “very present help,” “God is in the midst,” “God will help,” “with us,” “is our fortress,” “with us,” “is our fortress.” Like I said, over and over again in the Psalm God says He is with them which is a great comfort when life feels against us.
Let’s dig into Psalm 46 a little deeper. We first find that life is described as not going well at all in the Psalm.
THE SITUATION: MY LIFE IS A DUMPSTER FIRE
As we look over Psalm 46, we see that life is described as: “trouble” (verse 1), “earth gives way” (verse 2), “mountains be moved,” (verse 2) “waters roar and foam,” (verse 3), “mountains tremble” (verse 3), “nations rage kingdoms totter,” (verse 6), “earth melts,” “desolations on the earth” (verse 8), “wars,” (verse 9), and “[burning] chariots” (verse 9). I don’t know how David or others in his day might have summarized life like that or a day like that or a season like that, but in our day we use a slang phrase and say: “Life is a dumpster fire.”
ILLUSTRATION/CONTENT… dictionary.com/browse/dumpster-fire [adapted]
For those not hip to the slang, what is “a dumpster fire?” A “dumpster fire” is either (1) a fire in a large bin for trash or (2) a situation, person, or thing that is disastrous and often is out of control.
The name of the large trash container we now call a dumpster was originally a trademarked term. It was introduced in the 1930s by the Dempster Brothers Company of Knoxville, Tennessee as the Dempster Dumpster. The first records of the phrase “dumpster fire” referring to a literal fire in a dumpster come from the 1950s, but its literal sense is not a common term like forest fire or house fire. A literal dumpster fire is often caused accidentally.
The origin of the slang phrase of “dumpster fire” is unknown, but it began to gain popularity around the late 2000s. The figurative use of “dumpster fire” is usually used to refer to disastrous situations that weren’t intended to be that way. This figurative sense of dumpster fire is based on its literal meaning. The slang sense of dumpster fire implies that the situation was bad to begin with (a pile of garbage) and has now become even worse (a pile of garbage on fire).
I think we can agree that Psalm 46 is describing a “dumpster fire.” The psalm describes the earth shaking and mountains being tossed about. In verse 3, we are meant to see the raging sea depicts trouble all around us. Not only is the natural world falling apart, but in verse 6 Psalm 46 describes nations and families and people in upheaval and it seems like everything around them in melting away. The psalm/song repeats the disastrous phrases all throughout the passage because the anguish and distress is real and present and hurting.
CONNECTION TO MENTAL HEALTH
I’d like to review just a minute about what is going on in Psalm 46 and make sure we connect it with us in our lives. The sense we get in Psalm 46 is that life is falling apart. We can imagine that emotions are all over the place including fear, anxiety, sadness, anger, and a whole host of other feelings. Tension exists.
Life is difficult. People are even more difficult. When you and I deal with dumpster fires in life and dumpster fires from other people and dumpster fires within ourselves… our mental health is under assault. Our bodies feel stress. Our emotions may be unpredictable. Our thought life may dwell negative. Our faith may have holes of doubt. I see all of those as interconnected because God created us as integrated physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual beings.
The thing about fear, anxiety, sadness, anger, depression, and stressful circumstances is that everyone processes life a bit differently and sometimes you see the fire coming and sometimes it is a surprise! People, places, and circumstances can become overwhelming.
For example, perhaps you are the parent of adult children. They are still our children, but we have less and less control over decisions they make and this can cause us overwhelming severe issues. We hurt when our kids make bad decisions and maybe feel pressing guilt. Some of us do well as parents of adults and some of us struggle.
For instance, we pack our schedule with work, baseball, the garden, showing chickens, the bowling league, a side trip to see crazy uncle Charlie, and a major home renovation project and we wonder why we are physically worn out, emotionally exhausted, fight with our spouse more often, and haven’t been to church in two months.
For example, we decide to quit our job because it just isn’t working out and then mom has a cancer diagnosis and then daughter has a D- in gym and lunch and then son gets called into the principle’s office for mooning his teacher and then we fight with our husband because he bought Walmart brand toilet paper when he knows only name brand will do… and it all feels so overwhelming that you scream at everyone and then accidentally drop your phone and the screen cracks.
I haven’t even talked about money problems, changing priorities, dating woes, sexual problems, entering a new life stage, the nightly news, moving, ridiculous posts on social media about politics, or the fact that Netflix stopped the DVD service when some of us still wanted DVDs and maybe even a VHS every so often delivered to us in the mail!
TRANSITION
Life can feel like an overwhelming dumpster fire. What are we to think? What are we to do? How are we to act and react? How are we to proceed spiritually? I want you to know that spiritual health and mental health need not be mutually exclusive. When life is an overwhelming dumpster fire, Psalm 46 shares with us God should be our first stop, but that does not exclude talking with someone in therapy or seeking a medicine to help with the chemical changes in our brain.
God makes two promises in Psalm 46.
THE PROMISE OF GOD: THE FORTRESS
Verses 7 and 11 in Psalm 46 are identical. The psalm repeats the same phrase word-for-word twice and we are meant to take notice. We are meant to pay attention that God, the Lord of all the Host of Heaven is with us and is our fortress.
RE-READ PSALM 46:7 (ESV)
“The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”
RE-READ PSALM 46:11 (ESV)
“The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”
The Psalm shares with us a promise of God that when we are in need. God is our needed source of strength and protection and refuge and salvation and direction. Fear, anxiety, sadness, anger, depression, and stressful circumstances press down on our mental and emotional health and we feel unsettled and often unable to cope with it all at once. In the midst of overwhelming life, God says He is our fortress. This psalm and this repeated phrase inspired Martin Luther in 1529 to write a very famous hymn which is included in most hymn books.
ILLUSTRATION… “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” Verse 1 [slowly]
A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
our Helper He amid the flood, of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe, does seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate,
on earth is not his equal.
ILLUSTRATION… “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” Verse 2 [slowly]
Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing,
were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God's own choosing.
You ask Who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He; Lord [of Hosts] Sabaoth His Name,
from age to age the same; and He must win the battle.
ILLUSTRATION… “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” Verse 3 [slowly]
And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God has willed His truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.
ILLUSTRATION… “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” Verse 4 [slowly]
That Word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them abideth;
the Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
the body they may kill: God's truth abideth still;
His kingdom is forever!
Psalm 46 and the hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” which was inspired by it shares with us that life can be overwhelmingly unfair and difficult and stressful and depressing and we may even have an enemy working actively against us… but we have a Mighty Fortress in our God. God promises to be our fortress.
Over and over again in the Psalm God says He is with us which is meant to be a great comfort: #1 He is our very present help, #2 God is in our midst, #3 God will help, #4 God is with us, #5 God is our fortress, #6 God is with us, #7 God is our fortress.” Over and over again in the Psalm God says He is with us when life is a dumpster fire.
* May we trust in the character of God to be our fortress.
* May we trust that God keeps His promises.
* May we trust that God will provide peace from within and help from without when needed.
TRANSITION
Life can feel like an overwhelming dumpster fire. What are we to think? What are we to do? How are we to act and react? How are we to proceed spiritually? I want you to know that spiritual health and mental health need not be mutually exclusive. God makes two promises in Psalm 46. The first is that He is our fortress. The second is that He is the river.
THE PROMISE OF GOD: THE RIVER
In 46:4, in contrast to the raging sea threatening to tear down mountains and the shaking earth, a river is pictured. In my mind, it is a gently flowing river in the midst of all of the other chaos.
RE-READ PSALM 46:4 (ESV)
“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.”
This gently flowing river flows through the chaos and blesses and gladdens the people of God even though they are enduring stress and hardship and their minds and emotions are all over the place. The river is a symbol of the presence of God. The river is the symbol of the holy, calm, and persistent presence of the God of Angel Armies Who is the Creator of the Universe. This psalm is not the only place where the presence of God is symbolized by a river.
READ ISAIAH 33:20-22 (ESV)
“Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken. 21 But there the Lord in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor majestic ship can pass. 22 For the Lord is our Judge; the Lord is our Lawgiver; the Lord is our King; He will save us.”
READ ZECHARIAH 14:8-9 (ESV)
“On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter. 9 And the Lord will be King over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be One and His Name One.”
READ REVELATION 22:1-5 (ESV)
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. 4 They will see His face, and His Name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”
In the Old Testament and in the New Testament God and His blessings and His power and His healing are often times symbolized and visualized as a river. I love that image. I love the truth and the image from Revelation 22 that the source of the river flows from underneath the throne of the God of the Universe. The river flows from God. The river blesses the nations with healing. In Zechariah, the river flows all over the earth spreading God’s Kingdom so that no where is without His presence. In Isaiah, God is more powerful than other forces in life and His will and His way is done.
All of those truths bring me comfort. I hope they bring you comfort. In the midst of fear, anxiety, sadness, anger, depression, and stressful circumstances we have the presence of God with us which enables us to navigate whatever is thrown at us or dumped on us or taken away from us. God is the peaceful providing blessing river in the midst of the chaos of the rest of life. That is a comforting mental picture.
CONNECTION TO MENTAL HEALTH
I don’t know where you might be struggling right now.
ILLUSTRATION… nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness
Mental illness is common in the United States. It is estimated that more than one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness (57.8 million in 2021). Mental illnesses include many different conditions that vary in degree of severity, ranging from mild to moderate to severe.
ILLUSTRATION.. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK587174/
Nearly 20% of children and young people ages 3-17 in the United States have a mental, emotional, developmental, or behavioral disorder, and suicidal behaviors among high school students increased more than 40% in the decade before 2019. Mental health challenges were the leading cause of death and disability in this age group. These trends were exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I don’t know where you might be struggling right now or it could be a person in your life is struggling with anxiety or depression or an eating disorder or an addiction in one degree or another. I know two truths.
One, God is our fortress and our river and only by looking to Him and keeping our eyes on Him do any of us have any hope of navigating life when it is an overwhelming dumpster fire. God is our strength. God is our peace amid the chaos. Our relationship with God needs to be a priority for us in the middle of life when it is good and when life is not so good.
Two, God has provided tools for us to navigate mental health. God can use other people or medication to aid us as we endure chaos and stress and look to Him for our strength and peace. Yes God is our primary source of strength and peace, but talking with someone or medication can also be helpful if needed.
ILLUSTRATION… “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” Verse 2 [slowly]
Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing,
were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God's own choosing.
You ask Who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He; Lord [of Hosts] Sabaoth His Name,
from age to age the same; and He must win the battle.
INVITATION
At the end of every sermon, there is an invitation time where we sing a song and give the opportunity for people to make decisions or come up front to pray. I’d like to go over this part of the service so you know what is going on.
First, if you are here today and you would like to be immersed into Christ and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, this is the time to come forward. This is the time you can decide to follow Jesus. We will chat and if you are ready we can baptize you. We will chat and if we need to talk more and pray some we will do that.
Second, if you are here today and you are already an immersed believer in Jesus and you would like to join our church, this is the time to come forward. Church membership means you want to invest your spiritual life among these people, you will serve and give tithes here, and that you fully support the mission and vision of this church.
Third, if you are here today and you need someone to pray with you or you would like to come up front and pray over something specific, this is the time to come forward. You can pray by yourself or I can pray with you or we also have volunteers that watch and are ready to pray with you when you come up front.
Fourth, if you are here today, it may be that this time is for you to sing and ponder what has happened in the service. Think and pray over the songs sung. Reflect on the communion time. Cement something said in the sermon into your heart. Pray about the coming week.
All of those are what this invitation time is about.
PRAYER
