It seems like there’s one thing that just about everyone can actually agree on: Americans are struggling with despair. A couple weeks ago, the CDC issued a report on high school students. Can you guess what percent of teen girls report persistent despair? 57%. Almost a third have contemplated suicide. 42% of all high school students say they’ve experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. It’s hard to argue with this: There is a lot of despair our country.
Not just in high schools. I’m not going to do it, but if I were to ask you tonight to raise your hand if you struggle with despair, I bet you would be surprised at how many hands would go up. If I were to ask how many people here have taken medication for depression or anxiety, a lot of hands would go up. I have. I hope that at our church we don’t give the impression that you can’t talk about the struggles you face inside. Because you can. Because you matter. Because the people in the Bible do. If you have a downcast heart, there’s a song for that. It’s Psalm 42.
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.
Unlike our last couple of psalms, Psalm 42 wasn’t written by King David. Instead, it was written by the “sons of Korah.” Have you heard of them? They wrote 11 of the psalms in the Bible. The Sons of Korah were musicians at the temple. They were like the praise band of ancient Israel. But whatever Son of Korah wrote Psalm 42 wasn’t doing well. We don’t know the exact situation. It sounds like this man had been exiled from his home. He had been separated from the temple in Jerusalem. He wasn’t able to do what he usually did, and it was devastating.
He longed for God. “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.” I once talked with a hunter in Minnesota who knew a lot about deer. He described how bucks in mating season would run themselves ragged. They would get so tired out they would be panting and sweating and sometimes just collapse on the ground. This man needed God that much. He was panting for God, like he was dying of thirst. Being downcast always has its root in being separated from God. When our hearts are separated from God, it’s sad. “My soul pants for you.”
How bad was it? “My tears have been my food day and night.” Tears have been my food. That’s when the tears are really flowing. So many tears you can taste them. So many tears that you lose your appetite. Have you been there? And the people you’d expect to encourage you say, “Where is your God?” Insults hurt so much! There wasn’t even social media back then. Now? God seems far away. Tears and more tears. Mean people. Can you see why this person was downcast?
All this made him long for the past. “How I used to go to the house of God…” He longed for the good old days, when he would go to the temple and worship God with crowds of people. But could he go back? No. Isn’t that an awful feeling? “Can’t I go back to those good days, when I was at home and felt loved? Can’t I go back to that time before this happened and that happened? Can’t I take that one moment and make it last forever?” No. I can’t. You can’t. What do we do?
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
What does this man do? He preached a sermon to his soul. You do that too. When you’re discouraged, you talk to yourself, right? I do. What do you talk to yourself about? I have pretend conversations in my head with other people. I imagine telling them about my problems, with the hope that they can make it all better. Does that help? No. Or I criticize everything I do. I’m hard on myself. I bet you are too. “Why did I do that?” Does that help? No. Or I complain about my life and convince myself it’s all awful. “Nothing good ever happens to me!” Does that help? No.
Instead, preach this to your soul: “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” There is always a reason to be discouraged. There is always a reason to be downcast. But you have a Savior: Jesus! He came to live and die and rise for you. And you have a God who loves you. Always. Who promises that your life is in his hands. We need to preach to our hearts: “Put your hope in God!”
Notice what this believer in God doesn’t say to his heart. He doesn’t say, “It’s not a big deal.” Know why? It was a big deal! The struggles of life are a big deal! He doesn’t minimize how hard life is. He doesn’t say, “Just get over it.” Know why? That doesn’t work. What help is that? Often, we don’t “get over” anything. But also notice this. He doesn’t say, “I’m stupid. It’s all my fault. I’m worthless.” Tearing yourself down doesn’t help either. What does your downcast soul need to hear? “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.
When he was downcast, this believer in God remembered all that God had done. Sounds good, right? Except there was a problem: Not all that God does seems good. When he remembered what God had done, the first thing that came to his mind was how hard God had allowed his life to be. “Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.” He says, “God, life is like I’m standing under a waterfall, but not to enjoy the view. The waters are pounding on my heard constantly.” “God, life is like I’m trying to walk across a raging river, and every step I take, the rapids knock me over and push me back two steps.” “All your waves and breakers have swept over me!” Not all that God does in our lives seems good.
But then he suddenly stopped and remembered something else: God’s love. “God, your love… It’s still there too. Even with the waves and the breakers… Your love is still there too.” “By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me.” It’s helpful to compare verse 8 with verse 3. “My tears have been my food day and night…” “By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me…” The only thing more constant than tears is the love of God. The only thing more powerful than discouragement is the love of God. Day and night. The sun shines all the time. Whether there are clouds or not. Whether it’s day or night. The sun is always shining. Sometimes we don’t see it. Sometimes we don’t feel it. But it’s always there. Always the same. That’s the love of God for you and me! That makes it all better, right? No! Let’s keep reading…
I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
If you’ve struggled with depression, you know that it doesn’t just get all better. That’s not how it works. Some days are brighter than other days, but it never just goes away. In fact, sometimes life gets worse before it gets better. Sometimes you think, “It can’t get any worse than this.” And then it does! This man knew the love of God. This man preached God’s hope to his heart. And he still felt like God had forgotten him. He still felt like all the enemies were winning. He could feel it in his bones. He could hear it in his ears, “Where is your God?”
If life seems like a roller coaster, it is! Good doesn’t stay good for long. There’s no quick fix to discouragement. There’s no easy answer to depression or anxiety. Don’t let anyone tell you there is. That’s what’s a little concerning about all these Christian revivals going on all over. They give the impression that Christianity is a quick fix. “Make your decision for Christ, and it will all be good!” Maybe for today. Maybe it will be good for as long as the revival lasts. But what about next week? What about next month? What your downcast heart needs isn’t one quick revival. It’s the Word of God, over and over and over again. Everyday. All the time. Like this psalm repeats:
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
In our passion reading tonight, we heard about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Did you hear what he said? “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38). Sound familiar? Jesus understands a downcast soul. But he didn’t seek an easy way out. He put his hope in God: “Not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). Then Jesus took all of our doubt and depression and discouragement to the cross. Remember how the world got dark—really dark—on Good Friday? Jesus endured the darkest day, so that there is hope for you and me on every dark day. Every sin is forgiven. Every pain will end. Every longing will be fulfilled. That will be true forever in heaven, but even now nothing can separate you from God’s love.
Like this psalm writer, you and I need to learn to preach the gospel to our own souls. When your sins torment you, preach to your soul: “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). When you feel so lost, preach to your soul: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). When you feel so sad, preach to your soul: “Weeping may stay for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). When you feel so alone, preach to your soul: “Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
This is the Bible’s song for a downcast heart: “Put your hope in God.” On the days that you long for the past, that your heart aches because you can’t go back to the way things used to be, what can you tell yourself? “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” On the days when people are cruel, when the barbs and sarcasm and criticism get to you, what can you tell yourself? “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” On the days when life overwhelms you, like you’re sitting under a waterfall and the water is pounding on your head, what can you tell yourself? “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” On the days that you are sad and you can’t explain why. It’s just dark. And tired. And gloomy. What can you tell yourself? “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
There’s a song for a downcast heart: Put your hope in God!
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