There are some questions that
break my heart.
Every year at our church
we have a question-and-answer Sunday,
where anyone can ask anything
about the Bible,
about God,
about religion.
And we get questions about everything.
But there are some that break my heart.
And they're the ones that come from our
depressed brothers and sisters in the faith.
"Why am I so depressed
if God is my joy, Pastor?"
"How do I get over anxiety?
"I try to fix it and then
I feel more anxious that I don't."
I know these come from hurting hearts,
from repentant hearts.
Hearts that want to change
and yet they can't find the joy
that seems to exist in the lives of other Christians
but not theirs.
And maybe you've been there.
Or maybe you love someone who, who is there.
And sometimes it feels taboo,
like we don't talk about that stuff –
what we're supposed to trust and have faith
and have peace and joy
and that's what the Christian life is like, right?
Well, maybe not.
One of my favorite parts about the book of Psalms
is how brutally real and raw
and honest they are.
And Psalm 42 is a psalm like that.
A man cries out, out of his desperation.
He, he tries to tell himself to feel better,
to trust in God's unfailing love.
But it doesn't seem to be working.
And then right in the middle of this song
is this incredible verse.
Listen to Psalm 42:8,
In the middle of all the depression,
all the anxiety,
all the stuff I should be doing,
all the ways that I should be changing,
all the stuff that wasn't working
is this promise
that God directs his love.
In Hebrew, the word "direct"
is the word "command."
God isn't commanding you to do anything
in this verse. He is commanding his
love. His grace.
"Go. Be with my son.
"Be with my daughter.
"They're in the pit.
"They can't fix themselves.
"You just sit with them and
remind them that I will never stop loving them.
"I will be with them always."
"And at night his song is with me."
In the book of Zephaniah,
God says that his song is the way that he rejoices
over the people he's forgiven and saved.
Even when you can't get out of bed.
Even when you didn't get anything done that day
because of your depression,
there is still God's song of love and acceptance
and delight.
There's lots of things that we need to do
if we battle depression.
To take care of our bodies
and exercise
and stay in community.
But, but even if it doesn't get better today
remember this:
God's love is always with you.
His song of delight will never leave you.
Are you looking for guidance and direction
in your life?
Are you struggling with a spiritual problem
or just need a reminder of God's incredible grace?
We'd love for you to visit
yourtimeofgrace.org.
Our website that's filled with hundreds of videos
just like this one.
We pray they're a blessing to you and to your faith.
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