There’s No Reason to Dance
Psalms 10:1
LORD, why are you so far away?
Why do you hide when there is trouble?
We all understand what depression is and how it affects us. Some of us are more given to depression than others but we’ve all felt its power in our lives – irrespective as to whether or not our faith is great or meager. Depression strikes us all and sits on our chest like a black anchor of iron. Depression makes every movement a great effort and every step a challenge.
Charles Spurgeon, preacher in the early 1900,s said, “I am the subject of depressions of spirit so fearful that I hope none of you ever get to such extremes of wretchedness as I go to.”
Martin Luther described the experience in varied terms: melancholy, heaviness, dejection of spirit; downcast, sad, and downhearted. He suffered in this area for much of his life and often revealed these struggles in his works.
If you go to Amazon.com and type in the word depression you’ll find 5251 books dealing with the issue. Here are a few of the titles:
• Undoing Depression
• Depression-Free, Naturally : 7 Weeks to Eliminating Anxiety, Despair, Fatigue, and Anger from Your Life
• Yoga for Depression : A Compassionate Guide to Relieve Suffering Through Yoga
• Overcoming Depression: A Step-By-Step Approach to Gaining Control over Depression,
• Depression-Free for Life: A Physician’s All-Natural, 5-Step Plan
• I DONT WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT: OVERCOMING THE SECRET LEGACY OF MALE DEPRESSION
• Peaceful Mind: Using Mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioral Psychology to Overcome Depression
• Self-Coaching: How to Heal Anxiety and Depression, Conquering Depression: A 30-Day Plan to Finding Happiness
• Depression for Dummies
All of these books and the other 5241 focus on the self-help aspect of beating depression. Somehow you can overcome this terrible weight.
Portia Nelson writes her autobiography in five short chapters detailing how she fixed her own life.
Chapter 1
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost…I am helpless, It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
Chapter 2
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place but,
It isn’t my fault.
It takes a long time to get out.
Chapter 3
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in…it’s a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am. It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
Chapter 4
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
Chapter 5
I walk down another street.
Did you hear how many times the word “I” was used in this auto-biography? The problem with this scenario and all these self help books is that it doesn’t work. We need help from another source to overcome the weight of life. Those who try to defeat it themselves often find that they are living like a human yo-yo or as if tied to the end of a bungee cord and bouncing up and down – one moment in exhilarated, adrenalin laced ecstasy and the next moment at the depths of despair. Manic-depression becomes their way of existence.
David shows us a different and better way of overcoming depression. This is a way of life that all of us – like Al and Sally Aldrich must learn to apply to our lives.
Defeating Depression
Psalms 42
This morning we’re going to look at the 42nd Psalm which is a “maskil.” This is a teaching psalm, intended to help us learn how to handle the spiritual blahs. We could call it, “How to Deal With Depression,” or “Beating the Blahs.”
The inscription identifies this as a maskil of the sons of Korah. This refers to a family of singers, much like the Esther and the worship team here at MCC. They loved to sing and lead others in worship. Tradition regards this to be a psalm written by David for the sons of Korah who put it to music.
The context in which David wrote this is when he was forced to flee into the wilderness because his son Absalom was leading a rebellion against him in 2 Samuel 15-16.
David was removed from the throne, his life was threatened, his friends had bailed on him, he was ridiculed and mocked, and he was miles away from the temple where he loved to worship.
Certainly at a time like this you get depressed and down about life. David was piled with problems. He was on the run. He was alone and discouraged.
This was his personal “ground zero.” He’s been where some of you are today and yet in this instruction he gives Godly counsel for defeating depression. First…
Seek God With Everything You’ve Got
As a deer thirsts for streams of water,
so I thirst for you, God.
I thirst for the living God.
When can I go to meet with him?
Psalms 42:1
We have deer all around this area. I’ve seen deer in my backyard and crossing the street near my house. They are simply amazing to watch. There’s something about them that makes us stop what we’re doing and just look at them.
I’m told that when a deer is thirsty, he will run full speed until he finds some water. When he finally finds it, he will stick his face into the cool stream, forgetting everything else around him. This is unusual for deer because they are normally very alert and cautious. But, when they’re panting, they’ll do almost anything to quench their thirst.
Whenever a deer senses danger, it will run to a stream. Most hunters think the deer is trying to avoid leaving a scent. The deer, however, seeks water for a different reason. When a deer is retreating from an enemy, it develops a tremendous thirst. Fear and the physical strain of running create a strong desire for water.
David is picturing himself like a deer that is on the run in desperate search of refreshment.
Verse 2 tells us that just as a deer can’t wait to quench its thirst, his soul is thirsting “for the living God.” He wants to know God. He’s seeking Him with everything he has.
Thirst is powerful. It must be satisfied or we’ll die. But some things we use to quench our thirst do not work. I don’t know about you but I can drink a can of pop and be just as thirst afterwards as I was before I started – and so it is in life.
Seek God With Everything You’ve Got
“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”
Jeremiah 2:13
God built into us a thirst for him so when you are feeling low begin with this premise to find relief… Jesus put it this way in John 7:37: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.”
What does this mean?
Remember:
Let me tell you what it means! We need God in our lives everyday and we need each other to experience God every day by remembering that there are some truths in the world. These truths are absolutes that do not change and never ever fade.
Recently I heard about A part of a golden treasure, unearthed since last summer in an ancient tomb near the central village of Dabene, located 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of the capital, Sofia, is exposed in the National Historical Museum Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2005. Bulgarian archaeologists have unearthed some 15,000 tiny golden pieces that date back to the end of the third millennium B.C. _ a find they say matches the famous treasure of Troy. (AP Photo)
These truths are like fine gold that never rusts, degrades, or loses their value.
When you’re in the pits and you feel like there’s no way out, then resolve to remember what is true. I know when I’m down, it’s easy for me to lose sight of what is really true. Doubts can creep in and despair can skewer my soul. That’s why you need worship…
Remember: You Need God-seeking People
When I remember these things, I speak with a broken heart. I used to walk with the crowd and lead them to God’s Temple with songs of praise.
Psalms 42:3-4
When David fled Jerusalem in the midst of the rebellion led by his own son Absalom there were many who stood against David – and a some who stood with him.
As he traveled down the road away from the city one man even threw rocks at him and mocked him but in the middle of this chaos David remembered the crowds he used to worship with.
“How I used to go with the crowds…” David is alone and probably afraid. As he thinks back to the times of sweet fellowship he had with other believers, a smile begins to form on his face. He can’t wait to reconnect with God’s people again.
Friend, one of the best things you can do when you’re down is to be with the people of God. I know this is difficult because when we feel low we often want to be alone. But God has put within each of us the need and desire for community. We’re not meant to function alone. We need one another. If you’ve been disengaging from people, if you’ve been pulling back, then determine to get back in touch with people.
Remember: You Need God-seeking People
“Let us think about each other and help each other to show love and do good deeds.
You should not stay away from the church meetings, as some are doing, but you should meet together and encourage each other…”
Hebrews 10:24-25
Do you really want to defeat depression? You and I need to minister to each other. This is about a lot more than simply self help. This is about the church being the church. Pray for each other. Listen to each other. Challenge one another. Care about each other.
Look around you see the people?
Hebrews 10:25 challenges those of us who are not consistent in our church attendance: “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Pennsylvania Miners
Do you know what kept the nine miners in Pennsylvania who were trapped underground for three days going? They tied themselves together so they would “live or die as a group.” They huddled closely so they could stay warm and they also worked at keeping each other encouraged. In an interview this week, one of the miners said this: “Everybody had strong moments. At any certain time maybe one guy got down, and then the rest pulled together and then that guy would get back up and maybe somebody else would feel a little weaker. But it was a team effort. That’s the only way it could have been done” (Daily Leader, 7/29/02).
Listen carefully. The only way to do the Christian life is to live it in community with others. We’re a team. Turn to the person next to you and say, “We’re a team”. Now say, “ I need you to walk with me.”
When you’re down, ask for help. When you’re up, encourage those who are weary and remember that you need worship!
Remember: You Need Worship
Why am I so sad? Why am I so upset?
I should put my hope in God and keep praising him, my Savior and 6 my God.
I am very sad. So I remember you where the Jordan River begins, near the peaks of Hermon and Mount Mizar
Psalms 42:5-6
The Hebrew here conveys a strong expression of determination: “I will remember.”
David forces himself to remember the sweetness of corporate worship: “I used to walk with the crowd and lead them to God’s Temple with songs of praise.”
While it’s important for us to be with each other, we must never forget that we’re together in order to give shouts of joy and thanksgiving to God. We’re together so that we can worship.
There is something powerful about worship and it’s not about what it does for God! It is about what it does inside of us.
Remember: God loves you
The LORD shows his true love every day.
At night I have a song, and I pray to my living God.
I say to God, my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why am I sad and troubled by my enemies?”
Psalms 42:8-9
David remembers that God loves Him. Look at verse 8: “By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me.” The word “day” here refers to prosperity of joy and lightness of life.
Night refers to the times of depression and overwhelming darkness in life. But notice that even in these times David has a song and he remembers that he has a loving God and father.
The expectation of the psalmist was that a time of goodness would return and the loving-kindness of God would again be manifested to him.
Remember: He is God… and you are not
Why am I so sad? Why am I so upset?
I should put my hope in God and keep praising him, my Savior and my God.
Psalms 42:11
David remembered who he serves
David locks into the fact that He serves a “living God”. God is not dead. He’s not sleeping. He’s alive and at work, even when we can’t sense Him. We could say it this way: “He’s God and we’re not.”
In verse 5 and then again in verse 11, David says to himself, “Self, even though you’re depressed it’s time to trust God.” Follow along as I read: “Why are you downcast, O my soul?” This phrase comes from the picture of a “cast sheep.”
The Hebrew here is very interesting. The tense is not only referring to the idea of what ought to be done: “I should go,” it also can refer to the future: “I will go.”
He’s making up his mind to trust God and to do what is right, even when he doesn’t feel like it.
Be Honest When You Can’t
God, defend me. Argue my case against those who don’t follow you. Save me from liars and those who do evil.
God, you are my strength. Why have you rejected me? Why am I sad and troubled by my enemies?
Psalms 43:1-2
There are times that we are so low that nothing we do is enough. We are “down cast.”
The spiritual life is not always smooth sailing. We have down times as well. There are seasons in life when we’re hurting. There are times when we wonder why God seems so far away.
A cast sheep was a sheep that was flat on its back and couldn’t get up without help from the shepherd. “Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” This is a decision of the will to put our hope in God even when we can barely eke out the words. We must let our faith conquer our fears and let hope win out over sorrow. Hope is not a vain feeling that maybe something better will come; rather it is a certain expectation of faith in God that He will come through for us.
Do you feel like you’re stumbling spiritually? Are tremors rocking your life? Do you have a hard time swallowing the things that have come your way?
A key part of the process of defeating depression is to be honest when you’re hurting. You can be real before God and you can be yourself in this church.
You don’t have to fake it here. In a few minutes we are going to continue a tradition we’ve started here at MCC – a time for prayer and encouragement following the message. This is not normal in most churches. Usually the only reason people go forward is to accept Jesus as Lord and if they are really seriously deeply in trouble – so we never go forward.
Helping People Find The Way Home
Helping People: Our Method is Acceptance
Find The Way: Our Purpose is Jesus
Home: Our Goal is God’s Love
At MCC we are building and have a culture of acceptance, encouragement, and love. Helping People Find the Way Home is not simply a slogan
Our method is simple. People need to be acceptable. We accept others through actively serving and helping them.
Our purpose for existence is Jesus – he is the way and there is no other path. In the early days of the church believers were called people of “The Way”.
Our goal is God’s love. We simply want to bask in his presence – in our Home Groups, our Celebration Service, our ministries. We want to make this our place our tabernacle (in more ways than one!) and make heaven our temple! Our home is with God – enjoying his love.
In a few minutes some of us will be singing words of encouragement to those who are cast down and needing encouragement as we praise our God.
A number of people will come to the front – some for words of encouragement in prayer and some to offer up those words of encouragement. In fact I’m going to ask our those in our prayer ministry and our elders and ministers to come right now.
This is the church in action – real – authentic – dynamic – powerful – and we are part of it.
Come to the waters and drink – there is plenty for all – whether you are hurting or you are helping others. We’re going to have an extended time of worship here – plenty of time for prayer and encouragement. You come while we sing.
Let us encourage each other all the more…
A time of prayer and worship
The Table of Remembrance
As we prepare to celebrate and worship let’s focus for a few moments on the role that memory plays in our faith.
When David says, “therefore I will remember you” nothing is different yet everything has changed. It’s at this point that some hope sneaks back into his life.
Listen carefully. Sometimes the recovery of our hope doesn’t depend on making sense of the present moment but rather in our memories of who God is and what He has done for us. Ultimately we cling to the memory of what happened on the cross, where Jesus died for you and me.
Someone has said that the past provides a stable foundation for our existence because it’s unchangeable. We would not have a future to look forward to if we didn’t have a reliable past to look back on.
Neurologist Oliver Sacks tells us about a man I’ll call Joey. Joey’s memory is a sieve. Joey remains forever stuck thinking it’s 1945. Harry Truman is president, and the war has just ended. Joey is a very nice man but if you spend two hours talking to him and leave the room for a minute, when you come back, he will greet you as if for the first time. Dr. Sacks has observed that the overall effect of this memory vacuum is that Joey has no joy. Joey is joyless because he is confined to an ever-changing, yet meaningless, present moment. With nothing new ever to look back on, and with nothing ever to look forward to, joy is impossible.
According to Dr. Sacks, there is only one time when Joey displays some joy. It’s when he takes communion. There’s something about this ordinance that helps Joey anchor his reality to the past. It’s the assurance that Jesus loves him and died for him that gives Joey a glimmer of hope for the present and the future.
Maybe you’re so down today that the cross is all you have to go on because right now nothing else makes much sense. We don’t come to the table because we have it all together but because we often feel like we’re falling apart. We come because we admit that sometimes we don’t know where God is. But this we do know. We can remember one time when there was no doubt where God was and what He was doing. It was that time when He allowed His Son to hang on the cross as our sin substitute.
If we’re honest, some of us feel a bit like Joey. But by God’s grace, we can find a pocket of stillness and a moment of joyful clarity when we meet Jesus at the table. We’re called this morning to take and remember, and through that, to believe. This is not a memorial to a dead hero but an encounter with the living Lord. The cross is our stable past to anchor our present and our future. Because of what Jesus did for us we can
- Seek him with everything we’ve got
- Be honest when we can’t
- Force ourselves to remember what is true and trust God
When we remember we find hope again. That doesn’t meant that everything suddenly becomes smooth sailing but it does give us assurance that one day we will yet praise God again. When we remember how far God went to forgive our sins, we’ll know for sure that He will never let us go. The crucifixion of Christ is a past reality that we cannot change but a reality that somehow changes us – even if we sneak some ice cream once in awhile.
