Is your soul downcast?

Are you in a time of despair?

Does darkness surround you and light flees?

We’ve all been there. Some call it depression. Some call it a funk. Some call it life.

But life isn’t meant to be lived in such a gloomy state. God wants us to have joy.

In our weekly women’s Bible study class this spring, our teacher, and one of the most respected women of faith I know, reminded the class of the most beautiful and simplistic way to rise above a soul downcast. 

She led us to the 42nd Psalm, specifically the 5th verse.

She explained that when we get depressed, when that thick fog settles over us and refuses to lift, we must do as the Psalmist explains.

QUESTION

First we must ask why we are feeling down. Perhaps it is the loss of someone. Or maybe guilt of something you did and seek forgiveness. Maybe it is a hormonal imbalance. Maybe it is the lack of sunshine and self-inflicted isolation. Whatever the reason we have to ask why in order to remedy what plagues us.

HOPE

Once we know the why, then second, we must put our hope in God. This hope is an intentional decision to let God remedy our affliction. Maybe you are down because of a real medical issue. God can lead you to a doctor that can help. He can lead you to a solution in ways you probably would have never thought of. It might even be months or years down the road when you can look back and see that everything fell into place not by coincidence, but by God’s grand design. That is the hope the Psalmist talks about.

PRAISE

Finally we must praise God. And this is a no-exception kind of praise. We need to praise him in the best of outcomes, we need to praise him in the waiting, we need to praise him when it doesn’t turn out the way we want it to. Regardless, God will bring us through the downcast. Nowhere in the verse does it say it will be a walk in the park, easy-peasy. But we put hope in God because he is our Savior. The definition of Savior is someone who saves you.

God will save you from your depression, God will help you through the bleak times, God will save you from that darkness and blast his loving light across your life. 

In your time of darkness, when your soul is downcast, turn to this Psalm. What a comfort in the simplicity and intentionality of the way out.

“So the last will be first, and the first last.” Matthew 20:16 ESV