8. Guarding Against Depression

Posted on Posted in Sermon Notes, Prayer Meeting, Sermon Audio 2015, December 2015 Tagged with , , , ,

Hymns: 154 It Came Upon the Midnight Clear 156 Good Christian Men, Rejoice   147 Away In a Manger

Life of Elijah

(Light In the Midst of Gross Darkness)

– Guarding Against Depression

 

1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. 3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. 5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. 6 And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. 7 And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. 8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. 9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? 10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. 11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? 14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. 15 And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. 17 And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. 18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. 19 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. 20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee? 21 And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.

 

OUTLINE

  • Source and Sign of Depression (v1-4, 10)
  • Successful Treatment For Depression (v5-21)
    1. Keeping Close to God
      1. Rest and Refreshing
      2. Comfort and Instruction

 

INTRODUCTION

The word “depression” describes feelings of severe despondency and dejection, when “self-doubt creeps in and that swiftly turns to depression”. Other words that describe melancholy, misery, sadness, unhappiness, sorrow, woe, gloom, gloominess, dejection, downheartedness, despondency,dispiritedness, heavyheartedness, discouragement, despair, desolation, moodiness, hopelessness.

 The Mayo Clinic defined thus, “Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Also called major depressive disorder or clinical depression, it affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. You may have trouble doing normal day-to-day activities, and sometimes you may feel as if life isn’t worth living. More than just a bout of the blues, depression isn’t a weakness and you can’t simply “snap out” of it. Depression may require long-term treatment. But don’t get discouraged. Most people with depression feel better with medication, psychological counseling or both.”

The Christian writer Jane Hunt saw the cure for depression as “walking from darkness into the dawn”. She commented interestingly, “Have the dark clouds of depression poured their tears upon your soul? Are you emotionally stuck… muddled in your mind… mired in your emotions? Do you feel isolated and alone… afraid that no one understands? If so, you are not alone. People from all walks of life have languished under the black clouds of depression.”

 She further observed, “Can anything bring back the white clouds of contentment? King David—no stranger to depression—discovered the answer. He learned how to exchange the darkness of despair for the light of hope. Again and again, when his soul was downcast, he intentionally changed his focus—he continually riveted his focus on the faithfulness of his Saviour… his Redeemer… his God. Three times, in three different verses, David asked himself the same question and three times he followed with the same answer.”

Psalm 42:5-6 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. 6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar. Psalm 42:11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. Psalm 43:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

What then is depression? The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: 9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

Our Lord Jesus said in Luke 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting (giddiness due to excessive alcohol consumption), and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

 Can Christians suffer from depression? Yes from the pressures of life from the cares of life.

 Jane gave this interesting illustration, “If you place a heavy iron on a heart-shaped pillow filled with foam rubber, the buoyant pillow will become pressed down—”depressed.” But the next day, if you remove the iron, the pillow will pop back up to its original form. However, if you wait six months to remove the iron, the pillow will not return to its original shape. Instead, the pillow will remain flat and depressed. A pillow, which can sustain temporary pressure, is not designed to hold its shape for a long time under heavy pressure.”

She continues, “The same is true for the human heart. When “pressed down” due to normal pressure from normal situations (Situational depression), your heart is designed by God to rebound once the pressure is removed. However, if you live under the weight of heavy pressure for long periods of time, your heart can enter into a “state” of depression. Realize, Jesus cares about your heart and knows that you are especially vulnerable when you are heavy-hearted. That is why He gives this word of caution…

  • Depression literally means a condition of being “pressed down” to a lower position (as in a footprint).
  • Depression can refer to a state of decline and reduced activity (as in an “economic depression”).
  • Depression can describe an emotional heaviness that weighs down the heart. The apostle Paul used the Greek word bareo, which means “pressed or weighed down,” to describe the immense emotional pressure and severe hardships that he and Timothy suffered at the hands of those who opposed Christ.

Our character Elijah you recalled experienced great spiritual victory when he challenged the Baal prophets in Mount Carmel and won a resounding victory when God sent fire from heaven to show proof that He indeed is the living and true God of heaven vindicating His prophet, Elijah, who stood for His Name (1 Kings 18:1-39).

And thereafter, we saw how God answered Elijah’s prayer to send the rain to nourish the land of Israel after 3 ½ years of severe drought with human casualties and the livestock and land devastated (1 Kings 18:40-46).

Here we see him suffering from discouragement, in despondency and depression.[1] He was overwhelmed!

 

Two thoughts:

  • Source and Sign of Depression (v1-4, 10)
  • Successful Treatment For Depression (v5-21)
    1. Keeping Close to God
      1. Rest and Refreshing
      2. Comfort and Instruction

 

(1) Source and Sign of Depression (v1-4, 10)

1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. 3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.

When Elijah heard the threat of Jezebel, he simply became so overwhelmed with the threat, he became so fearful that he ran for his life. He did not consult the Lord but he simply ran away. Beersheba was the southernmost tip of the Promised Land. He reached there and he was feeling still very afraid, he left his servant and went alone into the wilderness by another full day’s journey.

4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

He fell in exhaustion under the shade of a solitary tree, alone, overwhelmed. He was despaired even of his very life. He did not want to live anymore.

Is there cause for such thought? Did he not see that he had just defeated the Baal prophets and how could he be foolish to even surmise that God is not able now to take care of him?

Did he not see and realize that God has been in control helping him by His Almighty power since he was called to confront Ahab? Can he not trust God now to take care of him?

You realize that from a spiritual peak he fell to a spiritual depression. Did he forget how God had delivered him at Camel? How could he forget?

As we analyze his situation, you realize that Elijah had been in the state of tension and pressure for a long time. For 3 ½ years since he first challenged Ahab. And he had been running as a fugitive as a public enemy. He faced dire situations. Although God delivered him each time, he must have felt a sense of physical exhaustion and was emotionally spent.[2]

Indeed, he was under constant pressure for some time and he simply buckled under the pressure this time and fell into a state of depression.

4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. 5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. 6 And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. 7 And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. 8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. 9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? 10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

Elijah was wallowing in self-pity. He was in a state of self-deceit showing a “victim mentality”. He was overwhelmed with physical, mental, emotional, exhaustion. Spiritually, he was unable to see God for who He is.

 

(2) Successful Treatment For Depression (v5-21)

  1. Keeping Close to God
    1. Rest and Refreshing
    2. Comfort and Instruction

 

5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. 6 And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. 7 And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. 8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. 9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?

How did God refresh his servant? Notice how the Lord provided for him food and provided him time for rest and refreshing. The Lord did not chide him but nourished him strengthening him. It must have reminded him of how he was nourished at the brook Cherith and by the widow!

And the Lord asked him what was the cause of his depression?

10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

He told the Lord of his desperate situation. The Lord took him out of the cave and showed him the wind, the earthquake and the fire. God showed to Elijah His power and shake him out of his self-pity.

Then God showed him how He still has work for Elijah. The Lord told Elijah that he was not alone in the battle.

18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? 14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. 15 And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. 17 And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. 18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. 19 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. 20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee? 21 And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.

God provided for Elijah a companion in Elishah who would minister to his needs. Elishah became his friend and co-worker in the vineyard. The Lord refreshed Elijah for service again.

 

CONCLUSION

Depression can befall the Christian when he takes his eyes off the Lord instead of trusting God, become overwhelmed. May the Lord help us to be strengthened and be strong to walk with Him. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Charles Swindoll, Elijah – A Man of Heroism and Humility, Thomas Nelson, 2000, 111.

[2] Ibid., 115.