I don’t know if David had a problem with depression the way we think about it today . . . but you don’t have to read very far in the psalms before noticing that David knew what it was to battle despair. I did a “double reading” this morning . . . Psalm 42 and 43 . . . and three times in those two psalms David records this dialogue he has with himself . . .

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.
                                                                      (Psalm 42:5, 11; 43:5 ESV)

A cast down soul . . . even if you can’t quite describe it, who can’t identify with it? The inner man is bowed down . . . not in reverence of worship but in submission to worry. There is a weight on the chest . . . a weight pressing on the outside but which is sourced in the depths of the inside. The oppressiveness of being cast down permeates all aspects of the being . . . thinking is clouded . . . breathing labored . . . sighing accelerated . . . eyes dimmed. And, most often there a longing . . . a longing for a better time . . . a longing for a different situation. The disquieted soul is bombarded with “if only’s” . . . the troubled heart with “why me’s.” And the “why’s” of a cast down soul can sometimes be so illusive . . . don’t know how come . . . just know it is.

I’m not really a “Bible formula” guy . . . but in this thrice repeated, Holy Spirit inspired, conversation between David and his soul there is, at the very least, a principle worth noting for those times when we find ourselves in the mire of despondency and despair. Simple to say . . . certainly harder to do . . . but, no doubt, effective for those who, by God’s grace and power, try. Hope in God.

Hope in God . . . believe that joy will come again and the song of praise will be restored to the lips . . . look to Him, and Him alone, as the Source of salvation . . . of MY salvation . . . know that He is MY God.

What is hope but waiting with assurance? As such, David’s soul would pant for God as a deer pants for flowing streams . . . his soul would thirst for the living God . . . his anticipation was that of being in the very presence of God (Ps. 42:1). Not so much about, “What do I do?” as about, “Where shall I go? . . . To Whom shall I turn?” Hope in God.

And faith is the substance of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1). David believed the promises of God . . . as such, he would seek to take refuge in the God of the promise. At the end of the day (and the beginning . . . and in the middle), God was his salvation . . . the Father of Lights was his strength . . . the Creator of all things was the rock of sustaining grace. David’s part was to continue to trust . . . to determine to rest in the assurance of hope . . . and to relentlessly pursue Him who has declared to never leave, nor forsake, His own.

Send out Your light and Your truth;
      let them lead me;
  let them bring me to Your holy hill
      and to Your dwelling!
Then I will go to the altar of God,
      to God my exceeding joy,
  and I will praise You with the lyre,
      O God, my God.    (Psalm 43:3-4 ESV)

The disquieted soul is served poorly by my efforts to climb out of the pit. But to take firm hold of the lifeline of light and truth . . . to look to the Scriputres as my guide . . . to hear His voice through his God-breathed Word by the intercessory work of the Spirit . . . that’s what will lead me to His holy hill . . . that’s what will usher me into His abiding presence . . . that’s what will again prime the pump of praise and worship.

Be still my soul . . . the Lord is on thy side . . .

Hope in God. Amen?