Psalm 42:1-2 (ESV)
As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before you God?
Major depressive disorder affects approximately 17.3 million American adults, or about 7.1% of the U.S. population age 18 and older, in a given year. 1.9 million children, 3 – 17, have diagnosed depression. 25% of cancer patients experience depression along with 10-27% of post-stroke patients and 1 in 3 heart attack survivors. And while some Christians may be a bit hard-hearted about the issue, perhaps thinking that “depressed” people just “need more Jesus” in their lives (which is true for everyone), King David wore his depressed seasons on his sleeve and wrote them down into songs to be sung publicly. Today’s psalm is a perfect example of the type of spiritual depression he experienced…something that is far more common in the Body of Christ than we dare to admit.
Depressing, huh?
The word picture at the beginning of this psalm is not of a healthy deer strolling through the woods, looking forward to a nice, cool drink in the heat of the day…but rather, a deer that is on the verge of death in the midst of a drought with no water supply in sight. A human can go 21-days without food but only a week without water. David’s condition as he wrote this psalm – spiritually, emotionally, and mentally – was desperate. Have you been there? Death. Illness. Financial ruin. A broken marriage. A wayward child. The loss of income. You try to hold onto your faith and hope while fighting your doubts and depression and might even have a few unbelievers around you wondering aloud, “What good is all that religious stuff doing you now?” Your soul thirsts (pants) for God’s help and deliverance as the days and weeks drag on.
Charles Spurgeon captures this honest reality well:
“It is the cry of a man far removed from the outward ordinances and worship of God, sighing for the long-loved house of his God; and at the same time it is the voice of a spiritual believer, under depressions, longing for the renewal of the divine presence, struggling with doubts and fears, but yet holding his ground by faith in the living God. Most of the Lord’s family have sailed on the sea which is here so graphically described.”
So, what do you do when this spiritual depression is overtaking you? “Yet holding his ground by faith in the living God” as Spurgeon stated. In short: You fight for hope. This is how David fought, and this is how we should fight, as well (taken from John Piper’s commentary on Psalm 42):
- Affirm God’s sovereign love – recite His promises (v. 5, 11).
- Sing to the Lord – sing songs you know or just what you feel (v. 8).
- Preach to yourself – stop listening to doubt and speak truth (v. 5).
- Remember your past – visit the places of God’s deliverance (v. 4).
- Thirst for God – want Him more than you want relief (v. 2).
Spiritual depression is real, but its not fatal. Fight it aggressively, but don’t fight it alone. Enlist your believing family and friends to join you in prayer for help…deliverance…and more of God. Resist the temptation to fight these battles on your own, as only Jesus is capable of being victorious while being isolated (Mth. 4). Finally, don’t allow Satan to convince you that you are some kind of spiritual loser. You are not. You are a normal follower of Christ who faces seasons of despair and even doubt, but by God’s grace, there is no condemnation for you in that (Rom. 8:1)…only hope via the shed blood and power of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
