1 I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.
2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.
3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.
4 Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.
6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.
7 Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?
8 Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?
9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.
10 And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.
11 I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.
12 I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.
13 Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?
14 Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.
15 Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.
16 The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled.
17 The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad.
18 The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.
19 Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.
20 Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Introduction
Discouragement is the common cold of the emotions. Eventually it affects everybody. Elijah—God’s iron man of the Old Testament—became so discouraged that he sat down under a tree and asked to die. Jesus himself often “sighed deeply within his spirit” (Mark 8:12).
The apostle Paul said that when he went to Asia he was so hard pressed and drained that he “despaired even of life” (2 Corinthians 1:8). The word despair means “to be at utter loss.” The situation with Paul was so hopeless that he saw no way out but death.
Winston Churchill said that he was often hounded by the “black dog” of despair. And Charles Haddon Spurgeon, perhaps the greatest preacher since the apostle Paul, in spite of his sparkling wit and quick humor, fought continual bouts with depression as a result of gout that finally took his life at the age of 58.
If you are singing the blues in your life, it might help you to know that the psalmist understands such feelings. He tells us about them in Psalm 77. In this psalm the writer is looking at life through dark-colored glasses. He feels forgotten and forsaken by God. He prays but the heavens are as brass. He dials heaven’s number but he gets a busy signal. He remembers when he used to be happy and had a song in his heart, but no more. He just can’t feel God’s presence any more. In his search for answers he couldn’t sleep, so he counted the days of the past instead of sheep. Clearly he was down in the dumps.
He bears the marks of a depressed man. First, he lives in retrospect. He feels self-conscious. He relies on the past and rethinks his own life. This leads to insomnia. Not being able to sleep adds to his problem. He has aphasia. He is so tired he can’t speak; he is unable to articulate his ideas because of his emotional exhaustion.
Then he begins to question God (verses 7-9). The questions come from a heart that thinks God could but isn’t doing what he ought to do. He is asking, “Why me, Lord?” His supreme concern was the absence of any sign of God’s compassion and power. The questions came rushing in. They never seem lacking at such a time. Has God rejected his people? Does he no longer care? Has he lost his compassion? These are sharp and piercing questions.
There is always a progression in our emotional experience. Despair always begins a disappointment that is not handled constructively. The pattern is always: disappointment, discouragement, doubt, depression, and despair. Disappointment is the father of despair, but before we ever despair we begin to doubt. Some of you are questioning God’s ability to do anything with your problem right now. That’s the condition this man was in. Every one of us can identify with these feelings.
Then the psalmist comes to a saving insight. He said, “This is my infirmity” (verse 10). He recognizes the problem is with him, not with God. He realizes that his doubts are due to his own weakness and not to any change in the Lord. At this point he determines to do something about his discouragement. Four times in verses 10 and 11 he says, “I will …” This is significant. Our thoughts govern our moods. Therefore if you think right, you feel right. Most depression arises from erroneous thinking, and we have within us the power to control our thoughts. We are not helpless victims of our emotions. We don’t have to be hijacked by our attitudes. We can take action.
We all have the same general experiences in life. It is our response that counts. The ultimate freedom in life is the right to choose our own attitudes in any situation.
In dealing with discouragement, you have got to be mentally tough. Conditions can overpower the intellect and cause a distorted view of the situation. You must recognize the problem and fight it. You’ve got to make up your mind that you are not going to let the circumstances of life defeat you. You will defeat them. Fight! Fight! Fight! Never give in. The choice is yours. Make up your mind. Say it in your heart, “I am going to conquer this. I will not let this get the best of me.”
How are we as Christians to cope with the discouragements of life? As we learn what he did to overcome discouragement, we find help for ourselves. Out of his experience we come to learn valuable truths about how to handle discouragement and disappointment in our own life. Here is how he coped with discouragement.
1. Remember God’s works in the past.
The first thing the psalmist did—and we need to do—is to remember God’s works in the past, “I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings” (verses 11-12). Memory is one of man’s noblest assets, but it must be used with selectivity and with discipline. What he had been remembering in his sleepless and troubled nights had not helped him. These memories had, in fact, led him into deeper difficulty. Now he declares that he will remember the great deeds of the Lord and the miraculous wonders from old times. Recalling the wonders of God in the past days brings hope for the present.
One of the things that will help us deal with depression is to look into the book and recall what God has done in and through his people of Israel. When we remember God’s deeds in the past in the Bible, it can strengthen our faith.
Sometimes people say to me, “I wish I had more faith. I wish I could increase my faith.” My advice to them is that they start reading the Bible. Paul says, “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). If you want to have more faith, then get into the Bible more. If you are discouraged, may I ask you, how much time do you spend in the Bible? Recalling the wonders of God in the past brings hope for the present.
But we must not stop at remembering God’s works in the Bible. We should also recall what he has done in our own experience. All of us have a spiritual history that we need to keep fresh in our minds. In his story The Haunted Man, Dickens has the chemist pray, “Lord, keep my memory green.” Have you so soon forgotten the time when you received the Savior? Have you forgotten the joy, assurance, and security that came as a result of your decision? Have you so soon forgotten the deliverance that God has wrought in your life? What about the time when your child was sick? Your business was almost flat, your home was almost broken, you were almost in a car accident, you heard a sermon just when you needed it—and God met all your needs? Remember what God has done in the past and it will help you in the future.
Don’t let your memory of God’s mighty deeds in scripture and in your own life wither and fade. Recalling what God has done in the past brings hope for the future.
2. Keep an attitude of gratitude.
The second thing that will help us handle disappointment is to keep an attitude of gratitude. The psalmist stopped looking down at his problems and looked up to God. He stopped pouting and complaining and started praising. As the psalmist focused on what God had done in the past he broke out into a song of praise. The memory of the past inspires praise of God. He declares, “Who is so great a God as our God? Thou art the God that doest wonders” (verses 13-14). Out of despair he looked not at his miserable circumstances but at God and it brightened his outlook. In his gloom he looked up to God and cheered up. Even in despair he kept an attitude of gratitude and praise.
Keeping this attitude of gratitude can be redemptive to anyone. Our thoughts govern our moods, therefore if we think right we will feel right. Our feelings can overpower our intellect and cause a distorted view of any situation. Unless a person recognizes the problem and admits his need for help, he cannot hope for victory. We must maintain an attitude of gratitude.
We must focus more on God than on our circumstances. We must remember to praise God in the midst of our trials. It is easy to rejoice in times of prosperity, but we must learn to thank God when all is going to pot. God wants us to rejoice in him and not in our circumstances. God is just as real in our defeats as in our victories. He is just as close in our sicknesses as in our times of health. God is just as near in times of sorrow as in times of joy.
A young bride from the East Coast followed her husband to an army camp on the edge of the Mojave Desert in California. The only housing available was a rundown shack near an Indian village. The heat was unbearable in the daytime; it was 115 degrees in the shade! A hot wind blew all of the time, and dust covered everything. The young wife’s days were long and boring, and her only neighbors were Indians, none of whom spoke English. She was miserable and complained continually.
When her husband was sent off for two weeks of maneuvers, his bride became so despondent that she wrote her mother to say that she was coming home. She couldn’t take it anymore. The mother’s response was a quotation from Frederick Langridge: “Two men look out through the same bars; One sees the mud, and one the stars.”
The wife decided to accept the situation and looked for the stars. First she made friends with the Indians. She learned to speak their language and she learned to make their crafts. She began to notice the beautiful sunrise and sunsets of the desert. Then she began to study the desert and discover its beauty. She learned about its past and its plants. She became an expert on the area and later wrote a book about it.
What changed? Not the Indians. Not the desert. She had. By accepting the situation that had caused frustration, she transformed her circumstances.
The same thing can happen with us. Our thoughts govern our moods, so if we can think right we will feel right. Most depression arises from erroneous thinking and we have within us the power to control these thoughts that keep us in needless gloom. We do not have to be hijacked by our attitudes. We are not helpless victims of our emotions.
3. Learn to lean on God in faith.
As the psalmist reflects on God’s works he remembers how God has led his people in the past. When Israel came to the Red Sea, everything looked hopeless. The Egyptian army was pursuing them, and an impossible sea was before them. Then all of a sudden when it looked like all hope was gone, God stepped out, the waters backed up in sheer fright, and Israel walked through on dry land.
Then the psalmist makes a most astonishing statement. He says that though God has led his people through sea and storm, “thy footsteps are not known” (verse 19). The psalmist is saying God leads even when we can’t see his footprints, feel his hand on our shoulder, or hear his whisper in our ear. How did he lead the Israelites? Through his servants Moses and Aaron. The truth here is that God’s leading is often invisible. His footsteps are often unseen. But they are there nonetheless. He continues to lead his children.
In times of discouragement we need to learn to lean on God in faith. May the Lord deliver us from the tendency to always want to have a feeling. We need to learn to pray, “Lord, I don’t feel like you are here, but I thank you that you are anyhow.” I often get discouraged because I feel that God is not with me. If I can believe that he is with me even when I cannot feel him, it strengthens me.
I want to read to you a hymn that C. A. Young wrote in 1903:
In shady green pastures, so rich and so sweet,
God leads His dear children along;
Where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet,
God leads His dear children along.
(Chorus)
Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright,
God leads His dear children along;
Sometimes in the valley in the darkest of night,
God leads His dear children along.
(Chorus)
Though sorrows befall us, and Satan oppose,
God leads His dear children along;
Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes.
God leads His dear children along.
(Chorus)
Away from the mire, and away from the clay,
God leads His dear children along;
Away up in glory, eternity’s day,
God leads His dear children along.
(Chorus)
Chorus: Some through the waters, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood.
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.
The shepherd’s symbol in Psalm 23 reminds us of a Christ who cares for us, provides for us, and leads us. He is the good shepherd who gave his life for us. We need to affirm our faith in Christ. We need to believe in him and pray to him every day. We need to focus on the good that he does for us. This becomes our strength and joy.