Once you accept Jesus Christ as Savior your life will become a cakewalk. All your prayers will be answered, situations will always go your way, and relationships will always be peaceful. Heaven begins at the point of your surrender, or so a lot of modern theology would have you believe. They teach that if you are a faithful child of God you should never experience depression. Or anxiety. Or fear.
I can only suppose that those holding this foolish (trying to watch my language here) opinion have never read their Bibles. Because here is a brief list of faith-filled men of God who suffered bouts of depression, fear, worry and anxiety: Moses, Job, Elijah, David, Jonah.
How's that for a short list of men who experienced the fear of the present and despondence for the future?
Today, we are going to discuss one of those men on that list, David. His circumstances at this time that he wrote the Psalm we are about to read was pretty dire. He had been running from King Saul, the most powerful man on the planet and who has made it his mission to destroy David. His best friend, Jonathan, who happens to also be the son of King Saul, had been banned from ever seeing David again. Later, after leaving this cave, David becomes so desperate to find a way out of his situation that he joins the ranks of his arch-enemies, the Philistines.
So with that back story let's hear from David himself.
Psalm 142
I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord; I make supplication with my voice to the Lord.
I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare my trouble before Him.
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path.
In the way where I walk, they have hidden a trap for me.
Look to the right and see; for there is no one who regards me;
There is no escape for me; No one cares for my soul.
I cried out to You, O Lord; I said, "You are my refuge,
My portion in the land of the living.
"Give heed to my cry, for I am brought very low;
Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me."
"Bring my soul out of prison, so that I may give thanks to Your name;
The righteous will surround me, for You will deal bountifully with me."
Listen to the word pictures that David is painting of his emotional and spiritual health. "My spirit is overwhelmed", "There is no one who regards me", "There is no escape for me", and "No one cares for my soul".
Can you imagine a pastor today stepping up to the pulpit, opening up his private journal and sharing about a time in his life where he experienced this kind of despair and isolation?
I have found that when prolonged suffering is my fate, as I wade through those deep waters, it is most often alone. Sometimes people, even our best friends, will choose to step away during our time of need. And sometimes God will allow our resources to be stripped away from us just so we can truly understand our dependence upon Him.
That is exactly where David finds himself as he takes stock of his situation. David takes out his pen and parchment, and he makes a list of all the "Good" things in his life and all the "Bad" things and guess which side has the most entries? (See the Psalm above for David's list . . . )
David is unable to think clearly because of the saturation of despair that has settled down upon him. Up is down and down is up. He looks for friends and family to help and advise him in his time of need, and as we have discovered, there is no one there. He gazes into the future and he can see absolutely no way out of his situation. Every option he appraises leaves him circling back to this defeated position, living like a hermit in this cave.
And perhaps worst of all, there is no one who cares for his soul. David has been a leader for a few years now and with his position of Israel's military leader he has grown used to having a staff, his inner circle of friends and advisors who have always been there and helped him when needed. He has grown used a life of giving orders and having his objectives fulfilled. But not now. Now he is utterly alone.
Does any of this sound familiar? It does to me. When faced when prolonged suffering, my circle of vision starts to close in and my ability to discern my true reality begins to distort. This is what is so dangerous about depression, its trait of siphoning off our ability to see the good, any good, as well as the function to properly evaluate our future. It has been my experience that during these seasons, having a personal relationship with God, is sometimes my only hope.
Notice that is David's experience as well. Look at the words that he writes after proclaiming that his spirit is overwhelmed, "You knew my path". Even in the midst of this season of pain, isolation, and depression, David remembers that God is faithful, and more importantly, He is there.
But this Psalm is not a happy bedtime story, and just like real life, David continues to vacillate between fear and faith. One minute he is describing God as His rescuer, the next David is complaining that his enemies are too strong for him to fight.
But he is not alone and God is about to bring about healing to David in a very unexpected way.
You know, one of the many things I love about the Bible is the rich layers of stories that interconnect with each other. For instance, in 1 Samuel, chapter 22, we learn of another side to David's cave experience. As David is crying out to God, evaluating his situation, and trying to gather enough strength just to take his next step, look at what happens!
"David escaped to the cave of Adullam. (Where he is writing this Psalm) And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men."
Wow. As David is seeking his own way out of his own pain, his family and those in the vicinity discover that he is hiding in this cave. And look who God brings to David's aid, not the strong, not the powerful, not even the healthy, but everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, flocked to be beside David in this cave. And he became their leader and there were around four hundred men.
At a time in David's life when he could barely hold it together, God brought him an army of people to lead. What did David need during this time of despair? Purpose. And God, in His mercy, brought Him an antidote to His illness.
“The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” Do you know who wrote these words? David. (Psalm 34) I often wondered if David wrote Psalm 34 before or after his experience in the cave of Adullam.
God rejoices in His propensity to use weak and broken people to achieve His purposes!
I'm reminded of a verse that helps explain one of the many reasons that God allows suffering in our lives, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God."
That is exactly what happens to David in this cave! Because of his own brokenness, people are drawn to him. Have you ever had a boss or followed a leader who seemed to be void of mercy and empathy? Not someone who usually generates a loyal following. But show me a leader who has not only personally experienced life at the bottom of the barrel, but retained that ability to help those in similar situations, there is a person I will follow to the ends of the earth.
There is a multitude of reasons why God allows His children to be stricken with pain and suffering. We see one of the reasons in the story above. But our main focus, however, has to be to keep our eyes on Him. Take our eyes off of God and we start to improperly evaluate the reality we think we are experiencing. We also quickly lose hope in the One who can do all things. "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
In fact, we are never too far gone that God cannot rescue us and set our feet on His promises. He is our hope. He is our promise. He is our rescuer. He is our Savior. He is our rock. He is the faithful One. This is the God that David served, and this is the same God who is available to each of us during our times of suffering, no matter what the challenges we are going through.
One last promise from the One who will never fail you.
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."
