First posted to: https://surehopecounseling.com/psalm-42-battling-depression-with-hope-in-god/
“Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, “Where is this God of yours?”” Psalm 42:3 NLT
Psalm 42 is a passage full of raw emotion. The psalmist describes intense emotions like, yearning, sadness, discouragement, grief, doubt, and pain. Feelings we all have felt when we are depressed and in the lowest of our lows. Yet, in the midst of all of these negative emotions, the psalmist speaks back to these difficult emotions with a radical hope and strives to remember God’s faithfulness:
“Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again- my Savior and my God!” Psalm 42:11 NLT
Why do I feel this way? I believe it is a statement not of shame or self-judgement, rather the psalmist processing their emotions out loud. We must acknowledge and accept the deep emotions within us if we are ever to find a way to move forward. To feel negative emotions is not a sin. What we do with those negative emotions can lead us to sin. The psalmist acknowledges their negative emotions and instead of letting it fester and linger, they bring it all to God and they praise Him by remembering God’s faithfulness. This is where I am right now. This is the state of my heart. I am not ok right now and may not be for a long while. But I know I will be ok because my Savior and my God is with me!
If you remember our previous blog series on Positive Psychology, the psalmist in Psalm 42 utilizes a similar process. The emphasis of positive psychology was not ignoring the negatives in our lives and pretending everything is ok, rather it was refocusing our attention to the actual goodness in and around us. The psalmist acknowledges the depression, and instead of simply focusing on the pain around them, they turn their attention to God. The cycle of depression and sadness is perpetuated by our incessant rumination on the negative. We can break the cycle by intentionally focusing on what brings life.
“Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you- even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mizar.” Psalm 42:6 NLT
Wherever I am, I will remember you. Wherever we are, let us not forget the one who brings us life. The one who pours his unfailing love on us each day. Even though we may not ‘feel’ that love or life when our minds are stuck in the mire of depression, let us place our hope in God’s goodness. When it feels hard to have hope in ourselves, put your hope in someone that is unfailing and never changes, our Savior and our God.
“As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?” Psalm 42:1-2 NLT
In the battle with our depression and sadness, if we are not yearning for God, it is a sign we need to remember who He is. The psalmist is not running away from God, but his desire for Him is even stronger. Let Psalm 42 remind us to run to Him, to thirst for Him, and to put our hope in Him!
-Daniel Pak – learn more about working with Daniel here!
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