Psalm42:5
Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His presence.
6 O my God, my soul is in despair within me; Therefore I remember You from _______ (wherever I am)
7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls; All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.
8 The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night, A prayer to the God of my life.
I sing, yup, I do sing. People have often asked me if I had training or whatever for my voice. Well, that depends on what you call training. When we read the psalm above, we can see a different kind of training. It doesn’t happen in a classroom, or a music studio. it doesn’t happen from the outside in. This training happens from the inside out. If you have ever struggled with depression, whether clinical or temporal, you’ll know what I mean. My depression has been temporal, it comes and goes. But there have been very long seasons of it. This was my only “voice training.” I sang my way out of the depressions I faced. I just felt horrible, emotionally; weary, worn, unable to get up. I am married to a wonderful man who has clinical depression. His struggle has been more constant and somewhat severe. Medication has helped us a bit, but what was truly transforming was discovering The strategy from this Psalm for dealing with my lows.
First, I hope in God. I don’t place my hope I circumstances, or people, or even myself. I turn to God and open my clenched emotional fists slowly, slowly releasing all the feelings to Him. This is a discipline, like exercise, and it takes effort and it hurts.
Second, “for the help of His presence,” I just get alone with God and His Word. I pour out my heart to Him. But more importantly, I listen to what He speaks back to me from His Word. Conversation with God must always be lopsided. What I mean is, way more “listening,” on our part, than “talking.” He speaks directly to our hurts. But I have only had Him do this through His Word, either calling it to my mind, or directly in the passage I happen to be in that day.
Third, I remember Him, and all the ways he has always been faithful to His Word in the past. I rehearse His victories in my life through thanksgiving. The joy that He releases inside of me is so tangible, it’s like I can touch it; He’s so real.
The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night, A prayer to the God of my life.
O, fellow believer, if you are in a dark place today, turn to Him, exercise those spiritual muscles and open up Your heart. Pour our your heart to Him and listen carefully to His Word. He deeply cares for you. His lovingkindness is so precious and it saturates our heart with His love and His kindness. Most of my depression stems from fear. He tells us that His perfect love “casts fear out.” Fill your heart with verses on His love and kindness. May He bless you this day.
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