The Great King David Struggled with Depression too

Great post. Aren't we lucky to have a Lord that will be a refuge for us even at our lowest points?

Lord thank you. Great post my friend. His blood was the payment for ALL sin.

The bible knows the desolations that befall us and has an answer for us as well. Seeking His face in our predicaments.

Another psalm of David.

Psalms 34
I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
I will glory in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.


I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.


Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.


The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.


The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.


The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.


Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
The Lord will rescue his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

This is deeply true, though forgive me, but I would argue that summoning a married woman to your palace so that you can sleep with her, then having her rightful husband killed when you learn she's pregnant counts as more than a mistake. That's a pretty big sin. Arguably covetousness, adultery, rape, lying, and murder all at once.

I think David came to understand that, and bore his future pains with more grace, knowing that his pain was a ripple effect from a terrible choice.

Yes, there's something to be learned from David about perseverance, and much like Gracia Singh said, the perseverance of someone who had fallen and committed a great sin nobody would just wink at. A human being humbled, clinging on to their God, recognizing their state and their own despair but clinging on to God through it all anyway. He didn't give up on God, and praised Him so often. When a broken heart praises God, that's something so powerful that I don't even know how to describe it. Every time I see something like that, even on this site, I cannot help but to get encouraged in a way that would be impossible by other means, if we're thinking of human behavior. Perhaps these broken people praising God think of their praise as something faint, something as broken as their hearts, but it's far more powerful and beautiful than that. To someone witnessing something like that, it might be like an explosion of hope and a great movement of the Spirit.

It's not exactly the same, but sometimes I think about Elijah as well. It's the same in the way that we can get great comfort from the story, but it's not the same because Elijah actually gave up. After a great victory, there came a defeat, and Elijah ran away and wished for death. God fed him and let him sleep. Sometimes we just need to rest, we need to get stronger, we can't endure everything at all times. And I absolutely love what happened after that, I think of it in many ways. Elijah searched for God from a great wind, then from a earthquake, then from a fire. Instead, God came with a gentle whisper in the darkness of the cave. Sometimes God just whispers gently, even if our eyes and ears are fixed on something bigger. There's also something to be learned about humility and perspective. Elijah thought he was the only one left. A defeated man saying "I am the only one left, all is lost". But God said there were seven thousand more. God had seven thousand times the amount of victories Elijah thought He had.

Sorry about the wall of text again. I go off the rails whenever I get the chance.

Tempura said:

Sorry about the wall of text again. I go off the rails whenever I get the chance.

Click to expand...

No, Temps, that was beautiful. Thank you.