Sir Winston Churchill described it as his ‘black dog’ days. Others say they are feeling ‘down in the dumps’. However we label depression, we can take heart from knowing that we are not alone. According to the Depression Alliance, one in five people in the UK suffers from some form of the condition.
Recognising these times of depression to be a natural occurrence is the first step to getting through them. We also need to realise that we are more prone to feeling ‘down in the dumps’ when we are tired or out of sorts. Add worries about a friend or family member, money or work to our lot, and anxiety levels soon start to rise.
Humans are made up of body, mind and soul; so if one part is out of sync, the others are also likely to be affected.
Without the help of antidepressants or counselling, the writer of Psalm 42 had only himself and God to help him battle the blues. Although we aren’t told the cause or nature of his worries, they might well have involved a crisis of self-confidence.
Struggling with depression, discouragement and despair, the psalmist feels that God has forgotten him (see 42:9). He even tries a spot of self-diagnosis: ‘Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?’ (42:5 New International Version). He longs to be restored to his former state, to have an answer to those who ridicule his apparent lapse of faith with their taunts: ‘Where is your God?’ (42:10)
Each Jew was required to travel to Jerusalem three times a year to participate in the major religious festivals. Unable to make the journey this time round, the psalmist tries to console himself with the memory of past occasions. By recalling God’s goodness and unfailing love towards him, he begins to put his present troubles into perspective. He stakes his hope of recovery and restoration on God’s reliability and strength. As a result, his spirit is renewed.
He answers his own question with his own proven remedy: ‘Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God’ (42:5).
On the days when we feel at the end of our tether, we can be assured that God is holding the other end.
UK & Ireland War Cry June 2013
Photo credit: War Cry pictures
