HOW TO PRAY WHEN YOU ARE DEPRESSED
Psalm 143:4-12 “Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate. I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah. Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me. Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name's sake: for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble. And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant.”
David is a man after God’s own heart. He was a man of praise. He wrote most of the Psalms. He is the “sweet singer of Israel.” He played instruments, he wrote songs, and he sung. God gives His people a song. A lot of us cannot express it with a wonderful voice, but it can be as meaningful to those who are not talented as those who are. It is good to sing for the benefit of another, it is better to sing unto the Lord. He is the best audience. And the best singer “can’t hold him a tune!” When our praises are to Him it ceases to be a performance in which one expects compliments.
David is singing in this Psalm. But it is not a song of victory. He is singing the blues, a song the tune to which a lot of song critics would not appreciate. But it makes no difference to God whether they like it or not. God does not ask the experts for advise when it comes to His music. (And some expose their ignorance by saying they know exactly what God likes in the way of music) Let’s notice first of all,
DAVID’S CONFESSION OF DEPRESSION
He says in verse 4, “Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.” The way to start to get right is to admit that you are not there. Then the Lord cleanses you of not being there.
The words “my spirit is overwhelmed within me” are a confession of depression. The word “overwhelmed” translates “ataph” and means, “to be feeble, be faint, grow weak.” Gills comment on this is, “Covered over with grief, borne down with sorrow, ready to sink and fail.” David confesses that his spirit is in this condition. Have you ever heard the comment, “He has such a great spirit about him?” Well, David confesses that his spirit is very low.
Then he says, “my heart within me is desolate.” The word “desolate” translates “shamem” and means, “to cause oneself desolation, cause oneself ruin.” David complains about his enemy. Gill says that the reference here is to either Saul or Absalom. He confesses that he is not handling what his enemy is doing to him very well.
When I read the Psalms in a situation like this, I replace Saul or Absalom with Satan and the demons under his control. We are in spiritual warfare. This approach for me helps to make a good application of the Psalms. Satan is allowed to fight against the saints. God has given all we need to overcome him. But there are times that we do not handle the circumstances of life very well. Our spirit is overwhelmed within us and our hearts are caused to be desolate because of the way we are reacting to the problem. The best way to handle depression, and this does describe depression, is to confess it is there and that we are not handling it very well. The next thing we read is,
DAVID STRETCHES OUT HIS HANDS TO GOD
Verse 6 says, “I stretch forth my hands unto thee.” The words “I stretch forth” translates “paras” and means, “to spread out, to scatter.” The word scatter may mean that David is saying that he is not just holding out his hands but waving them. In other words,
