Ron Dunn Podcast - Ministry Of Depression

Episode Date: December 22, 2021

Ron Dunn speaks on depression

I want you to open your Bibles to Psalm 42, and I'm going to read the whole psalm. Actually, Psalm 42 and 43 go together, but we'll not read Psalm 43 for the sake of time. But probably originally these two psalms were one. You know, of course, the chapter divisions are not inspired, and sometimes they come at inconvenient times, and I think this is one of those points, because the 42nd and 43rd psalms actually combine one psalm, but we'll just read the 42nd psalm, then we'll refer to part of the 43rd. Psalm 42. As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night.

While they say to me all day long, Where is your God? These things I remember, and I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude-keeping festival. Why are you in despair, O my soul, and why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise him for the help of his presence. O my God, my soul is in despair within me.

Therefore I remember thee from the land of the Jordan and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the sound of thy waterfalls. All thy breakers and thy waves have rolled over me. The Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime and his song will be with me in the night. A prayer to the God of my life. I will say to God, my rock, why hast thou forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because

of the oppression of the enemy? As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me while they say to me all day long, where is your God? Why are you in despair, O my soul, and why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him, the help of my countenance and my God. And then the last verse of Psalm 43, verse five, which ties these two Psalms together. Why are you in despair, O my soul,

and why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, the help of my countenance and my God. Now, you'll notice that there is a heading attached to this psalm, and these headings in the psalms are a part of the inspired record. It says, For the choir director, a mascal of the inspired record. It says, for the choir director, a mascal of the sons of Korah. Word mascal is the Hebrew word for teaching and the sons of Korah were a family of singers who passed down the tradition of singing from generation to generation.

And so this is a psalm about David, probably when he was in exile or maybe when he was cut off from the temple during Absalom, his son's rebellion. But it's a psalm about David's experience. But it was written by the sons of Korah to teach us something. Well, what's it trying to teach us? What is the theme of this psalm?

There is a refrain that is repeated three times in psalm 42 and 43 in verses 5 and 6 and again in verse 11 and then in the last verse of psalm 43 it is this verse that says why are you in despair oh my soul and why have you become disturbed within me three times he says that. That's the theme of this psalm. It is a psalm teaching us how to deal with depression and blues. And it's to the choir director. And so I think a good title of this is the King David Blues. It's a choir special they're going to sing on Sunday morning. And it's teaching us how to deal with spiritual blues, spiritual depression. As a matter of fact, if you read carefully the Psalms, you might be amazed at how much they have to say about this matter of spiritual blues, depression, being disquieted and disturbed within us.

I know that there are times when, as believers, we somehow feel that we should be exempt from this and that if we're really walking with God, that we'll never be depressed. But if you study the lives of the saints of God through the ages, you'll find that a great deal of them, almost a majority of those, had what Spurgeon called fainting fits. In his Spurgeon's lectures to the students, he has a chapter on dealing with the fainting fits of the ministry, becoming depressed. And Spurgeon, of course, had gout of the big toe of all things and it caused his death when he was just at the age of 58, but that contributed to his depression.

As a matter of fact, it is said of Spurgeon that every Sunday night when the service was over, he went home in a fit of depression, feeling that he had failed. And on his tombstone, written the last verse of that great hymn, there is a fountain filled with blood when this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave. Probably the most eloquent preacher of modern times was Spurgeon, and yet he himself did not think himself to be eloquent.

He was always depressed about his own preaching. And through the centuries, if you read the stories of great Christians, you'll find they were disturbed over and over again. J.H. Jowett, one of the great American preachers of the past generation, was troubled constantly by these feelings of shadows. And he said, I have to get myself back into the sunshine again. So it is nothing new, nor is it anything exceptional for Christians to be disturbed by depression. There are times when you and I just wake up and for no reason at all, it seems as though God is

a million miles away, and we're just depressed down in the dumps. And that's what this psalm is dealing with, the spiritual depression. I know that some depression is caused by physical infirmities and by chemical imbalances in the blood and such. But I think what the psalmist is writing about are those times when you and I are spiritually depressed because of adverse circumstances and situations. And just because there are times when there seems to be no evidences of God's blessings or of God's work. And so I want us just to go through this psalm. And I have about four suggestions that I'd like to make. Maybe you're never bothered with spiritual depression.

Maybe you don't know what I'm talking about when I talk about the King David blues or feeling abandoned and feeling depressed. But if you don't, you need to get a tape of the message because sooner or later you'll need it. Because I doubt if any of us are going to get out of this world alive and any of us are going to escape from what we might call the fainting fits of the Christian life, the spiritual depression. So there are four things that I'd like to say. Number one, when you are having these spiritual blues and you are depressed, the first thing I think you need to do is to talk to your soul instead of letting it talk to you.

Actually, most of the time when a person is depressed, it's because he has become introverted and his soul keeps telling him things. And it's interesting how often in the Psalms, David commands his soul and gives his soul a good talking to. That's usually what my spirit needs, my soul needs. You'll notice in verse five, he says, why are you in despair, oh my soul? He just has it out with his soul.

He's tired of listening to his soul. I don't know about your soul. My soul's always telling me things. It's always telling me things. It's always telling me that I, I, my wife and I driving over here today and we were got behind the truck, had an unusual bumper sticker on it. It said, you're ugly and your mother dresses you funny. And I came in and I stood next to brother Jack and he looked at me and he said, you're ugly. And he said, do you want another opinion? I said, yes. and he said you're ugly and he said you want another opinion

i said yes he said you're crazy too you know uh there i don't know does your soul ever talk to you like that does your soul ever say boy you're a loser nobody likes you see those two people over there in the corner whispering they're whispering about you Does your soul ever talk to you? David said, finally, you just need to give your soul a good talking to. For instance, over in Psalm 103, that very familiar Psalm, he says, bless the Lord, oh my soul. He's telling his soul what to do. And all that is within me, bless his holy name. In Psalm 104, he says, bless the Lord, oh my soul. There is a sense in which you and I need to interrogate ourselves. Why am I feeling depressed? Why am I feeling blue? And I think the first thing you need to do is just admit it that we are depressed. Once in a while,

I run across some folks who feel like it's unspiritual to admit that, and so they go along. I have a lady ask me a question not long ago. She said, when do you draw the line between lying and making a positive confession? And she told me about a preacher that she worked for, and she said, I knew he was in poor health and felt miserable, and the ministry was going bad, but every time somebody would see him,

they'd say, how are you feeling? He said, man, I'm feeling great. How's the work going? Man, it's just just going great what he was doing was making a positive confession but she said I want to ask a question she said where do you draw the line between making a positive confession and just flat out lying that's a pretty good question and so sometimes we say I if I'm going to be spiritual and give the appearance of spirituality I must never admit that I'm blue I must never admit that I'm dejected must never admit that I'm going to be spiritual and give the appearance of spirituality, I must never admit that I'm blue. I must never admit that I'm dejected. I must never admit that I'm depressed. That's a negative confession. But I think one of the first steps that you and I have to take in

order to overcome the spiritual blues is admitting that we are depressed and then asking ourselves, as David did, he said, why are you in despair, O my soul? And there are two reasons in this psalm that I think are applicable to us. Number one, one of the things that causes us to be spiritually depressed is the conscious absence of God. We have lost the consciousness of God's presence. This psalm opens, as the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for thee, O God, my soul thirsts for God, for the living God. The only problem is he can't find God. All the brooks have dried up. All the streams are parched. And he says, my soul thirsts for God. I'm like a man in a desert. And you see, he's in the desert.

And the desert wasn't made for the deer, nor was the deer made for the desert. The deer is not a camel who can live for days without water on the desert. The deer must have that daily supply of water. And so he says, I'm like a deer. I'm like the heart in the middle of a desert. And all the streams of water have dried up. And he said, my soul is panting after God and I can't find him.

He said, when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night. What David is saying is I can't find God anywhere. I reach out and I can't touch him. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever been bothered by the absence of God's presence? It seems that God in the middle of the night has moved a million miles from you. The conscious absence of God's presence. But there's something else that contributes to our depression. It's the critical attitude of our

friends or our enemies. And notice he says in verse 3, My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all day long, Where is your God? Same thing in verse 10. He said, As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me, while they say to me all day long, Where is your God? Interesting thing happened to me a couple of years ago.

I made a set of tapes called, Does God Heal Today? Immediately after that, I started getting sick. Now, I'll tell you something. Being sick depresses me, and it has. But I'll tell you what depresses me more. It's when my friends or my enemies come up and say, What about that set of tapes you did on healing? Where is your God?

Have you ever had anybody say something like that to you? I thought you were a Christian. I thought you'd been filled with the Holy Spirit. I thought you were trusting God. Why are you depressed? Why are you in trouble? Why don't you just think positive? Why don't you just trust God?

Where is your God? You ever had anybody say that to you? That'll depress you. And so David says, even while I can't find God, can't get a hold of him, all the while these people are saying, uh-huh, yeah, where is your God? Where is all that power? So the first thing I'd suggest is this. You need to give your soul a good talking to. Talk to your soul instead of letting it talk to you. Admit that you are depressed and then ask why you are. Interrogate yourself. Why am I depressed? Why am I? All right, the second suggestion I'd make is this, that when we feel spiritually depleted and spiritually defeated, we need to dwell on the

God who is present rather than on the things that are past. Now, there's a very revealing statement here in this psalm. You'll notice in verse 4, David says, these things I remember. Now, notice the word things. These things I remember, and I pour out my soul within me, for I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude-keeping festival. You know what David's doing? He's remembering the good old days. Oh, he's remembering how it was in days gone by. He was remembering what it was like

when revival was splitting the air and when everywhere he went, there was rejoicing and power. He remembers what it used to be like when he was leading the procession in festivals at the house of God. And he's pining for the good old days, remembering how things used to be. And he says, these things I remember. But I want you to notice the difference that comes in verse 5. He says, oh my God, my soul is in despair within me.

Therefore, I remember thee. Now notice the difference in verse 4. He's remembering things. Now in verse 6, he's remembering thee. And what the psalm is saying to us is this, that you and I need to dwell on the God who is present rather than on the things that are past. All of us can remember things that are past.

All of us can remember days when perhaps God's presence was more real and more powerful than it is today. I think we move in cycles. I think the Christian life moves in cycles. And I have to say that there have been times in the past when I believe I was perhaps more conscious of the presence of God than I am now. Maybe there were times in the past when it was more obvious that God was working and God was working in a more miraculous way, maybe a more obviously miraculous way

than he's working now. And sometimes we long for those days and remembering those days, we dwell on the way it used to be and that keeps us from enjoying the way it is now. It robs us of the present because we keep wishing that we had the past back with us. I think sometimes some of us are so anxious

for revival to come that we just sit down and wait for revival to come instead of doing anything right now. Friends, I've been praying and I know most of us, many of us have been praying for years that a great awakening would come. It's a good thing we haven't decided just to sit down and do nothing until the awakening comes.

There is a God who is present. I don't know what your present circumstances are. They may be the worst you've ever had. There are some ways in which this is the worst year I've ever had in many ways. But I know this, God is still present. God is just as real. God is, that's what the writer of Hebrews says,

this is the faith that pleases God. They that believe that God is, you see, God is, that's what the writer of Hebrews says, this is the faith that pleases God. They that believe that God is, you see, God is, even when it looks like He isn't. And so the psalmist is saying that you and I in overcoming spiritual depression need to dwell on the God who is present rather than on the things that are past. Instead of remembering things, remember thee.

Notice he says, I remember thee from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon and from Mount Mizar. It means little hill. I think Jordan refers to that entering into the land of conquest and the peaks of Hermon refer to some of the greatest spiritual experiences in the history of Israel and Mount Mizar. The word means little hills, little things. In other words, what the psalmist is saying is,

I'm going to remember thee. I'm going to remember all the things you've done for me. I'm going to remember the very first time you led me into conquest and you led me into victory. I'm going to remember the spiritual mountaintops and I'm going to remember the little things, the little hills. I'm going to remember the little things, the little hills. I'm going to remember the little evidences along the way that you've given me of your love and your care and of your constant presence. I'm going to concentrate my attention upon the God who is present, and

instead of remembering things, I'm going to remember thee. The third suggestion that I would make is this, that the reasons for despair, our reasons for hope are greater than the reasons for despair. Now, I don't think that we ought to lie to ourselves. I think sometimes we've got a good reason to be depressed. My wife is very good at trying to pick me up and cheer me up when I'm depressed. And I remember saying to her one day, I don't want to be cheered up. I've earned my depression.

I'm going to enjoy it. And frankly, when I'm enjoying a real good deep depression, I don't want somebody come around and pat me on the shoulder saying, now let's cheer up, Ron. Everything's going to be all right. I don't want to cheer up. I want to feel bad. I want to feel blue. I want to feel depressed.

Because why? There are good reasons for it. Listen, folks, sometimes we have mighty good reasons for being depressed and being in despair and being dejected. If you look out, maybe your situation is one that would contribute to that. But listen, whatever the reasons for despair,

the reasons for hope are greater. The reasons for hope are greater. I love what the psalmist says again and again. He says, oh my God, my soul is in despair within me. By the way, that word despair is a very interesting one. It means to be sunk low. It means to be humble. One good translation would be be it means having the

arrogance knocked out of you he said something has happened situation has uh happened a circumstance has uh salted me and such that it's knocked all the arrogance out of me and i've just had the wind knocked out of me there's no pride left in me and I'm just down. But notice he says, hope thou in God, for I will again praise him. Hope thou in God. Three times he says it, hope thou in God. Whatever the reasons for despair, the reasons for hope are greater. Number one, there are three reasons. I'm just going to give you real briefly. Number one, because my life belongs to God. He says in verse eight, the Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime and his song will be with me in the night,

a prayer to the God of my life. There is a reason for hope. This life that right now is passing through the storm, that right now may be about to become shipwrecked upon the rocks, yet this life belongs to God. He is my strength and he will command his loving kindness in the daytime and his song will be with me in the night. My life belongs to God, but there's something else. Not only my life, but my problems belong to God. There's a very interesting little statement in verse 7. He says, deep calls to deep at the sound of thy waterfalls. All thy breakers and thy waves have rolled over me. Now David is describing himself.

He's describing the circumstances under which he is right now laboring. He's saying it's like having waves rolling over me. It's like being waves rolling over me. It's like being lost in a stormy sea. And about the time you open your mouth to get a breath of air, you get a mouthful of water, a mouthful of ocean. Thy breakers are passing over me. He said, I'm being drowned.

But he said, they are thy breakers. It's like being lost in a stormy sea. And about the time you open your mouth to get a breath of air, you get a mouthful of water, a mouthful of ocean. Thy breakers are passing over me. He said, I'm being drowned. But he said, they are thy breakers. And they're thy waterfalls.

They belong to God. Somebody asked me last night if I were a Calvinist. I said, well, if you'll let me define it, yes, I'm a four-point Calvinist. Not five-point, not tulip Calvinist. But I said, I do have a lot of Calvinistic blood in me. I do believe in the sovereignty of God. I don't know that I can explain it or understand it, but you can know some things without understanding them.

And I know the Bible teaches that God is sovereign. And even though the devil may be assaulting me, I don't understand it, but I know that he cannot do a bit more to me than God allows him to do. And I know that in the first chapter of Job, when the devil is challenging God, he says to God, you put forth thy hand now. And God says to the devil says to God, you put forth thy hand now. And God says to the devil, all right, you put forth thy hand. There is a sense in which the hand of God and the hand of devil almost are the same in some situations. They're thy breakers, thy waterfalls. Over in the book of Isaiah, when the people are being released from captivity

they're going to have to make their way back to their land and they're going to encounter some mountains some obstacles, some barriers but God gives the promise He said I'll make a way through my mountains they're my mountains you remember whatever obstacle is thrown in your path whatever barrier is there

whatever your circumstance it's still in the hands of God. I don't believe God has given up one iota of His power. I think He's still in control. I may not be able to understand it nor explain it, and yet I know that my life not only belongs to God, but my problems belong to God. Also, my future belongs to Him. Have you noticed how three times the psalmist says, for instance, look at the 11th verse of the 42nd chapter, about the middle of the verse.

He says, hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him. Now, there's a word of faith. There's a positive confession. He says, for I will yet praise him. He said, I can't praise him right now. He said, just to be honest with you, I'm so depressed, I'm so disquieted, I'm so upset. I can't praise him right now.

I just can't find God. I'm like a deer that's panting after the water brook and every water brook I come to, the old formulas don't work anymore. I can remember how I could used to do these things and I could use this formula and I had these seven easy steps for overcoming the devil and these three steps for for being spirit filled and I the old the old water brooks have have dried up and I can't get hold of God anywhere and right now I'm just in the pits and I can't praise him. But he said, hope thou in God, I will yet again praise him. One of these days, I will praise him.

You see, my future belongs to God. I was preaching in a city one night and a lady came up to me after the service. And she said the strangest thing. She said, it sure is good to see you smile. I said, well, thank you and she said it's just so good to see you smile well I said thank you very much she said I have thought that I would never smile again summer before their son had been killed in an automobile accident. And she said, I have thought that I would never be happy again

and never smile again. She said, my best was in the past. But she said, I know that you lost a son. And she said, seeing you smile tonight told me that I'll smile again. And you know, really, that's all people need to know. They just want to know, am I going to survive this? Will I come through this?

Oh, yes, it may take some time. It may take a while. It may take a year or two years. But I want to tell you something. My soul will yet again praise Him. I may not be able to praise Him today. I may just be too under the load. And you may say, well, you ought to be more spiritual.

I know that. You pray for me that I'll be more spiritual. But, folks, there are some times I'm like that pastor friend of mine whose 17-year-old daughter suddenly took ill and died. And one of his members said, don't you still believe in Romans 8, 28? He said, yes, I still believe in it, but don't ask me to preach on it right now.

I still believe in it, but don't ask me to preach on it right now. And he says, listen, my future belongs to God. I know my present right now looks mighty dark and bleak and I can't praise him because the waters are rolling over me, but they're His waters, and I will yet again praise Him. I will yet again praise Him.

The future belongs to God. And my dear friend, you may be in the pits this morning, and you may be in circumstances and situations that are strangling any praise in your throat before it ever escapes your mouth, but I want to tell you something. Hope thou in God for one of these days, you will praise him again. And then the last word I would say is this, you need to keep affirming your hope in God in spite of repeated failure. In spite of repeated failure,

keep affirming your hope and faith in God. Now, I think it is significant that three times in these Psalms, 42 and 43, you have that refrain. It's what ties them together. Verse 5 and 6, verse 11, and then verse 5. And let's go to the fifth verse of Psalm 43. It's the end of it. He says, why are you in despair? Have you noticed he's still in despair?

I mean, he's gone all the way through Psalm 42 and he's gone through four verses of Psalm 43 and he's still depressed I mean he went to the Bible conference and listened to all the tapes

and he's still depressed why are you in despair oh my soul and why are you disturbed within me hope thou in God for I shall again praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.

You see, he comes to the end, and I want to tell you something, not a single thing has changed. Not a single thing has changed. Circumstance hasn't changed. Situation hasn't been altered. Nothing has changed. But what's he doing? He's still affirming his confidence in God

in spite of repeated failure. One of my favorite little books is the book of Habakkuk. Boy, that's a great book on faith. That's where originated that tremendous statement, the just shall live by faith. And if you read that little prophecy of Habakkuk, it is the story of one man's progress through faith, coming to trust God.

And in the last verses, let me just read the last verses. It's just three chapters in Habakkuk. And in verse 16, he says, I heard and my inward parts trembled at the sound, my lips quivered, decay enters my bones and in my place I tremble because I must wait quietly for the day of distress for the people to arise who will invade us. Though the fig tree should not

blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olives should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength and he has made my feet like hinds feet and makes me walk on my high places. Do you see what I'm getting at? Not a single thing has changed. He says the blossom still isn't, the fig tree still isn't blossoming. There's still no fruit on the vines. The olive is still failing. The fields are still producing no food.

The flock is still cut off and there's no cattle in the stalls. Yet I will exult in the Lord. Nothing has changed. Nothing has changed. I used to think that faith lived on answers to prayer, but it doesn't, it just lives on prayer, whether they're answered or not. So not a thing has changed,

but he says, yet will I exalt in the Lord. And so the psalmist comes to the end of this choir special and he's still depressed, but he keeps on affirming his confidence in God. And that's what we must do. In spite of repeated failure, you continue to affirm your faith and confidence in the Lord.

Would you bow with me while we pray together? Now, Father, I pray that you'd bless the Word to our hearts this morning. And you know how to apply it to each individual life. You know which ones of us today identify so very vividly with this psalm. The waters are breaking over us, and we do feel like we're going down for the third time. And maybe we've been trying to find God and no matter where we go, we can't seem to find Him. And yet I pray, Lord, that You'd help us

with the confidence born of faith. I will yet again praise Him. Hope Thou in God. Enable us to by faith to continue to affirm our confidence and hope in Thee in spite of repeated failure. And we're thankful for the promise that in spite of present distress, we will someday again praise Him. Bless the word to our hearts is our prayer in Jesus' name. Amen. The Ron Dunn Podcast is available only for personal edification, not to be duplicated, uploaded to the web,

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