One Sunday Pastor Steve spoke about depression and the Psalms. I want to stop right here and say how fortunate I feel to learn from a man who pastors a church AND recognizes that depression exists; that it's not a weakness but a sign of the human condition.
That it can come from the way our brains are wired or our environment or both.
He read to us 3 Psalms of praise-filled depression. Psalms 40, 42, and 77. I'm not going to post them here, this blog is more about what Psalms can do for us within mental anguish. I want you to go read all three and then come back.
Did you read them? Great! Most of the rest of this blog (in purple ink) is a little sample of what Pastor Steve had to say that day. I took the following notes from his sermon.
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We live on planet earth and we'll feel depression, anxiety and mental anguish (at least from time to time) until we die.What these Psalms say is where I am now is terrible but I am going to remember You God and what You have done.
As we read these Psalms, they give us a biblical vocabulary to deal with our depression, anxiety and mental issues.
Psalms of praise-filled depression like these show us that psalmists sang when they were depressed. It was how they coped but they didn't just tap into their angst and wallow there. Every generation taps into their angst with singing. Think Kurt Cobain or Pearl Jam. They "got" angst and that's why people connected with their music. But it tended to end at angst.
While Pearl Jam is awesome, psalmists saw something bigger in their singing. They tapped into something futuristic which was hope in God while still IN their present pain. And then? They sang it out and people who heard it related to the song. It's what songs do right? They connect us in mutual experience, joy, pain...
And then the psalmists remembered God. They, out loud, in front of other people, remembered hope, love, peace, GOD.
And then the psalmists remembered God. They, out loud, in front of other people, remembered hope, love, peace, GOD.
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Those were things I'd never considered about Psalms that I've read often. They give us a biblical vocabulary to deal with our mental pain. Now THAT is a life changing thought.
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