Remember to Look Up

Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
Relieve the troubles of my heart
and free me from my anguish.
Look on my affliction and my distress
and take away all my sins.
See how numerous are my enemies
and how fiercely they hate me!
Guard my life and rescue me;
do not let me be put to shame,
for I take refuge in you.
May integrity and uprightness protect me,
because my hope, LORD, is in you (Psalms 25:16-21 (NIV).

I have no way of knowing for sure, but I believe that David struggled with depression. His prose and poetry often relates what seemed to be a constant war in his soul to trust in God’s love and promises in the face of great opposition and difficulty.

I think David’s secret to battling depression was that no matter how low he sunk, He always managed to look up.

He looked up by believing God was there, even when He did not see Him.

He looked up by continuing to pray believing God heard him because He loved him.

He looked up by being honest and transparent about his feelings, struggles, pains, sorrows, anger, and loneliness with Him.

He looked up by trusting God to see his afflictions and to bring him through them.

He looked up by continuing to see, own, and confess his own sins and trust God would grant forgiveness.

He looked up by recommitting his trust that God would not let him finally be ashamed.

When I see Anna this afternoon, I am going to share this with her. Yesterday was a more difficult day for her. I will also be bringing an encouraging letter from a friend who walked this valley too.

One of the things that I have been learning is that we need to not fall into the natural temptation to find a way out—a short cut, early exit, or even to run faster—we need to walk through this incarnation of Mirkwood Forest (I am reminded of Fénelon again). I do not think the words of Psalm 23:4 are merely coincidental, “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” This is a valley God has led us to, and we must all walk it to get where He needs us to go. But we are not going anywhere our Lord Jesus has not walked first, and He will guide us safely through in His time.