Depression and loneliness

Author Guardian

Psalm 42-44,

Lord God in Jesus mighty name and by the precious blood of Jesus we come to you

and we enter into your courts and into your Holy of Holies and we lay down before you

as living sacrifices in Jesus name amen

Depression and Loneliness

Trust in The Lord, do not be discouraged

In Whom do we trust ? in Whom do we thirst ?

We come to Psalm 42 and 43 and 44 but we look firstly at

2 Chronicles 20

Here we have Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20 being surrounded by enemies from

Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, some vast armies coming to take possession of a land

that did not belong to them.

These vast armies were marching towards the people of Judah and of Jerusalem ready

to conquer and to plunder the Lords possession

Here we have the Kings and armies of nations coming up against not just another

army or just another nation but coming up against the Lords anointed and appointed,

the Lords chosen and the Lords Armies

Here we have armies coming up against not just the people of Judah and Jerusalem

but coming up against God Himself and the armies of heaven

God had put His people in this place, God had chosen these people, it was Gods will

that they be where they were and let no man separate that which God has put together

And so Jehoshaphat prays to God and the Spirit of God falls upon Jahaziel son of

Zechariah and God speaks through Jahaziel and Jahaziel gives this message

'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not

yours, but God's. 16 Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up

by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert

of Jeruel.

17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions;

stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem.

Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the

LORD will be with you.' "

And so Jehoshaphat early the next day consulted the prophets and after seeking God

the People of Jerusalem and of Judah began to march forward and Jehoshaphat appointed

men to march at the front of the armies singing

"Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever."

The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men from Mount

Seir to destroy and annihilate them.

After they finished slaughtering the men from

Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

And when the armies of Judah and of Jerusalem came to the place of battle they found

only dead bodies

And so Jehoshaphat and His army took the plunder and there was so much plunder that

it took three days to collect it up

And after they returned to Jerusalem and they went to the Temple of The Lord, and they

worshipped God there with with harps and lutes and trumpets and praised God for the

victory

Note that at the greatest time of need they pray and worship as an army marching out to

war

Now we turn to Numbers 16

Here in Numbers 16 we have a story of rebellion, we have Korah a man followed and

admired , a man of standing, a man who had many followers, a man who was in the place that God wanted him to be in, a man who was put in the position he was in because that was where God wanted him to be

And yet Korah wanted more, Korah had the wrong kind of thirst,

in fact Korah had stirred up a rebellion against Moses

Korah was a man held in high esteem who had many followers and who stirred up over

two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly,

Korah saw himself in the place of Moses and felt that he could take that which did not belong to him

Moses was in the right place, He alone was appointed and anointed to lead at this

time and we see a similiar situation here to 2 Chronicles 20 where men rose up and

sought to take a place that was Gods and Gods alone and we see a thirst for power

This is not a God given thirst or a thirst for God , but a thirst for more a thirst of man, a thirst for power

Korah and his followers were Levites assigned by God for a specific task and here we

see them stepping out of their God given role and task and not being content with what they have they try to take control of more and that which is out of their capabilities

These men had limitations, they never were assigned to lead the people of

God

As we saw earlier with the nations and armies marching towards Gods people, we must never try to come up against someone who has been appointed by God and we must know our limitations

For only God can call a man or woman to a task and give them the ability and the

anointing to do that task and for anyone else to come up against the Lords

anointed and to try to oppose and take them from their place is a dangerous thing indeed

Having said that "sometimes someone can be called to a position by God but can be opposed by leaders as a threat to their leadership and can actually go against Gods will "

But in this case and in these instances we see that men rose up against those placed by God to take over and this was the wrong thirst, it can be a thirst for power and for fame led by ego and by pride

And so Korah leads a rebellion against Moses in Numbers 16 and Moses becomes angry,

Note :

22 But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, "O God, God of the spirits of

all mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?"

So we see next that Moses speaks of the earth opening up and swallowing and we see

that Moses knows what is about to happen and the earth opened up under the men

28 Then Moses said, "This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these

things and that it was not my idea: 29 If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the LORD has not sent me.

30 But if the LORD

brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt."

31 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart

32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all

Korah's men and all their possessions.

33 They went down alive into the grave, with

everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone

from the community.

34 At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting,

"The earth is going to swallow us too!"

35 And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the

incense.

Now consider this

Exodus 20:5 (Amplified Bible)

5You shall not bow down yourself to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a

jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me

Exodus 34:7 (King James Version)

7Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

Numbers 14:18 New International Version

'The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.'

Isaiah 14:21

Kill this man's children! Let them die because of their father's sins! They must not rise and conquer the earth, filling the world with their cities."

As consider these scriptures we come to psalms 42,43 and 44

As we look to the Psalms of the Sons of Korah

These were the sons of Korah who led the rebellion against Moses and here we see

that David had appointed these levite men to be choir leaders and Temple musicians

Here they had written Psalms or music and here we see that far from the sins of the

fathers going down through the generations we see that these men were faithful men

who were in fact writing music and these psalms and expressing through their music

feelings and emotions and prophesying and speaking out and singing the

emotions of David as he lived and breathed

These were the sons of Korah, faithful men, levites, musicians and choir leaders writing and composing the Psalms 42 through to Psalms 49 ,inspired by the Holy Spirit of God

Here these psalms are written at the very time when David is exiled from Jerusalem,

he is far from the Temple in which he loved to worship

He feels abandoned and alone, he feels forsaken and lonely , he is thirsty for his God

This is at the very time of one of the festivals that you can read about in Leviticus chapter 23.

This was the time when Gods people were to be reminded of His goodness to

them and to be reminded of their commitment to God and to trust in His guidance

and protection ....to "trust in Him "

Is'nt it strange that at this very time when David was exiled from his place of Jerusalem and was unable to worship in Gods Temple that it just happens to be a festival that the people and David are to remember all that God had done for them ?

And why was David exiled from Jerusalem at this time ?

This was at the very time when his own son absalom had led a rebellion against His

father David and had plotted to take his throne

This was at the very time when David was running and depressed and lonely and forsaken

when it seemed as if his own friends and those he trusted had come against him in revolt

His own son had sought to take the throne and led men that were loyal to David and people that david trusted to rebell and try to take leadership

Do you see where we are going here ?

We almost see the story of Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20 being sung out in Psalm 44

We see the sons of Korah who led the rebellion against Moses being used by God and

we see Gods grace and mercy on these generations of levites from the Korah clan

We see david at the very time of His own son Absalom trying to take that which did not

belong to him away from his appointed and anointed father

And we see that absalom meets his fate in 2 Samuel 18:10-14 (New International Version)

Can you imagine how David felt being exiled from His own Jerusalem the place where

God had placed him when it seemd as if even davids closest friends had betrayed him ?

When even those he trusted who were has soldiers and leaders had rebelled against Him ?

It was like he was betrayed alone, rejected and despised, as if he was "forsaken " a man of sorrows....

Was it in fact a God time for David ? was it in fact a time appointed by God ?

Was it exactly the right time ? or did it just happen to be a mistake or error that at this

time of exile that it just happened to be the time when Gods people were to remember Gods goodness ?

A festival to remember the goodness of God and a time to thank God for all that He had done ?

No indeed not, this was Gods exact timing,

We may well have times when all seems against us when we feel alone and rejected when

all can seem against us and it can be at these times when we fall back on remembering

what God has done for us

At these times we can meditate on His word and thank God for His goodness

It can be at these time when instead of feeling sorry for ourselves and sinking into the depths of gloom that we can turn the table around and remember Gods goodness to us and times gone by, at these times we count our blessings one by one

These are the times when we are in the prison of gloom when we can start to praise God and see the Jail foundations shake and the chains break free

It is when we are in the jail of gloom that we can praise God and remember His goodness to us in times gone by and trust in Him

We are reminded that as Jesus hung on the Cross he said " I thirst "

At this point he had the sins of the world upon himself, at this point the earth grew dark, as God (I believe) turned His face away as He could not look upon sin and could not look upon His own beloved Son.

For He had the sins of the world upon Him and at this time

Jesus said " Father why have you forsaken me ? "

Here we see Jesus alone amd forsaken , rejected and despised where even His own Father had turned away and he was thirsty for He longed for the love of the Father.

He was thirsty for the Father and for the communion that He had with the Father to

be restored, but at this point, that was probably the only time in eternity ,

Jesus was separated from the Father

Any wonder why Jesus was thirsty ?

Interesting that it took three days for Jehoshaphat to gather the plunder is'nt it ?

Matthew 12:40

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

When alone we can identify with Jesus ......

When loneliness creeps in , it can be a tangible thing, you can almost touch it at times

I remember years ago when I first became as Christian knowing a loneliness that was so close I could touch it, it was a thirst and a longing, it was a loneliness that could be felt while in a crowd of people

I prayed to God to take away this loneliness and it was only afterwards that I realised for the first time that loneliness has nothing to do with being alone

The reason for loneliness can sometimes be because we do not identify with the people

around us, you see you can be in a room full of people and still be lonely,

you can still feel the loneliness....

it can be a feeling that hurts deep down and yet it can have nothing to do with being alone

Many can be lonely while they walk and talk with people, many can spend years being

lonely even in a marriage

Some of the loneliest people can in fact be people who can be seen on the outside to be very popular but actually on the inside can be emtpy and searching and seeking and

not happy at all

Being married does not answer the question of loneliness as does neither being in a room full of people

Loneliness in fact is often felt when you cannot idenify with others or when you know or feel that others do not identify with you

Once you have someone by your side who identifies with you, who walks with you, who

understands you, who relates to you, who shares with you, this is the answer to

loneliness....

And we have one whom we can identify with in all things, you see His name is Jesus,

who can idenify with us and we with Him

Once we identify with Him and understand that He identifies with us then you see

the loneliness is no longer

You can be a married but be very lonely person or you can be a single very happy person

Many people can live their lifes quite happpily as single people and be quite happy with their own company

Some howveer can have much company but feel loneliness because it is nothing to do with "how many frineds you have " or " how popular you are " or " If you are married or not "

Once you know someone who understands you and relates to you and feels as you feel and someone that can share your life with you and know that that person will never leave you and you can idenify with that person and they with you then and only then can the question of loneliness be filled and that emptiness be answered

Rejection again can be a painful thing and depression can seem like a cloud that never lifts

All these things can come together at once and feed on each other

But we see here that at the time of loneliness and of depression it can be a time of festival when we can remember Gods goodness to us, this can only do one thing and that is to lift us up

Here we have the Psalms anti depressant "

Here we have the lifter that lifted David out

of this time when His own Son had rebelled and David found himself exiled from his own Jerusalem

Here we read in psalm 42

As the deer pants for streams of water,so my soul pants for you, O God.

2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.When can I go and meet with God?

3 My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long,

"Where is your God?"

4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.

5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him,

my Savior and 6 my God. My soul is downcast within me;

therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers

have swept over me.

8 By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me—

a prayer to the God of my life.

9 I say to God my Rock, "Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?"

10 My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me,

saying to me all day long, "Where is your God?"

(Now think upon Mark 14:34)

11 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

You see Jesus was thirsty...

Here in Psalm 42 we read as the sons of Korah write inspired by the Holy Spirit

As the deer thirsts for water so my soull longs after you..

Thirst in whatever shape or form is a need, it is a deep longing for something that we once knew, it is a need for that which has been taken away

Your thirst may be a thirst for God that you once knew

Your thirst can be a thirst to be restored back into relationship and for a loneliness to go

Your thirst can be a thirst for God to quench and to fill you with the Holy Spirit that you once knew

Your thirst can be for your first love

Your thirst can be for a rejection or pain be taken away

Your thirst can be for anything that you once knew to be restored

There is a thirst however that can be for something you have never experienced but you simply know that something is missing in your life !!

This is a God given thirst, A God whole that can only be filled by God

Whatever your thirst might be at this time their is one who can quensh that thirst

He is the only one who can know you better than you know yourself, He is the only one

that knows what you are going to say or think next before you do

He is the one who knows what real thirst is like as He hung on a Cross for you and for me

He is the only one who can lead us beside the waters that can quensh that thirst and restore us to the place where we are meant to be, in the place where God wanted us to be

In our appointed and annointed place chosen by God in whatever walk of life that might be

And no one else can take that place that God has chosen for us, they can try as did

the enemies of Jehoshaphat, as did Korah, and as did Absolam, but in the end God will always put the person back in the place where He wants them in

Let the time of depression and loneliness be the time of festival to remember Gods

goodness to us and to be put back in our rightful place where God wants us to be with Him ,and to trust in Him

Let the thirst for God which encompasses all the thirsts that man can know and experience be filled with God who is the all in all

Identify with Him as He identifies with you, know that He knows, and feels as you feel

What is your thirst ?

Ask God to fill that thirst so the aching of loneliness can be gone, so that rejection can be healed, so the depression can be lifted, so the need can be met,

Let God drive those enemies out so that we can worship in His Temple

Ask Him now if you have a thirst , a longing, a need

Lord we come to you as people who do have needs, who can thirst for you, who long

to draw nearer to you, or maybe have hurts and pains or loneliness or depression, sadness or grief, hurt or rejection, and we come to you Father God in Jesus name and we pray that your Holy Spirit would minister right now Lord that you who identify with us will identify with you and long to be more like you

Lord whatever our need meet that need right now in Jesus name we bring our needs to you and we speak out those needs and longings and those thirsts that you would answer and we come to you now believeing that your word is true and right and that you will answer

Pray now and bring to God those thirsts and needs and know that He listens

In Jesus name amen