Psalm 42. I want to bring a real message to God's real people and meet us where oftentimes
we really are. I wanna bring a real message
to God's real people and meet us where very, very often we
find ourselves. I pray this will be a help to
us tonight. I really do. But I pray that
this will be a help for a moment when we may truly need it. A
moment when we truly, truly need this. Psalm 42, verse 11 says, "'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.'"
David is asking himself a question. He is pondering some things within
himself all through this Psalm. And I realized something in reading
this, this time, that I have never realized before. This sincerely
helped me. I'm telling you, this has really,
really helped me. This taught me something. I learned
something this week. It showed me where a believer's
encouragement comes from. in a moment when he or she can't
seem to find any. David desperately wanted encouragement. All right? He desperately wanted
encouragement. But he never physically received
any in this psalm. I'm gonna say that again, and
let's ask the Lord to help us enter into this. That's God's
dog. He'll shut him up when he's good
and ready. David wanted encouragement, but
he never received any in this psalm. Okay? Now this is what I noticed reading
this. He wanted his soul to be uplifted. That's what he wanted. But it
didn't happen. Verse 11 is virtually the exact
same verse as verse 5. David said the things that he
said in the first four verses, and then he said in verse five,
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. Why art thou cast down? That's
what he wants to know. Why are you cast down? Verse
six, he said, oh my God, my soul is cast down within me. He said, right now, it's just
so. As I speak to you, David is saying,
as I cry out to you, as I'm begging this of you, Oh my God, he said. I wish it wasn't so, but it is,
and I just can't help it. I just am. And then he said the
things that he said from verse six to verse 10. And then in verse 11, he said,
why art thou cast down? Oh my soul, why are you still
cast down? When you look up in the concordance,
the words cast down, it means depressed. That's what the word
means. David said, why are you depressed,
oh my soul? And then he said, why are you
still depressed? Why are you depressed and why
are you still depressed? Do you ever get depressed? You ever get depressed? I know
you do just like I do. The goal of this, I do want to
point out that the goal of this is not to make everybody depressed
come the end of this. That's not the goal at all. I've
titled this message, True Hope for Depression. True Hope for
Depression. I'm not trying to bring anybody
into a depression. I want to show us some true help
for those moments when we are in a depression and we cannot
seem to get out. In those moments, people remind
us of truths. that we know. They'll see us
hurting, they'll see us in these ways, in these moments, and they
will remind us of truths that we know. And we will remind ourselves
of truths that we know. We will say these things to ourselves,
but we can't seem to get that lifting of the soul that we're
looking for. And we can't put our finger on
exactly why. Somebody say, well, what's wrong? Just tell me what
it is. And you just can't exactly say why. We're just there. You know those moments. You have
been there. We are there. Well, this is where
David was. And for this particular Psalm,
that's where David stayed. This is so, so I'm telling you,
this has helped me so much, but this is where David was.
And for this Psalm, this is where David stayed. What I want to
see is if the Lord will show us from this Psalm, where our
encouragement can come from, even in those moments when we
can't seem to find any. If you look at verse one, it
says, as the heart panteth after the
water brooks, that's a deer. As the heart panteth after the
water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth
for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear
before God? My tears have been my meat day
and night while they continually saying to me, where is thy God? My tears that just keep pouring.
My tears are saying to me, where is your God? He said, Lord, I
want to see you. I want to hear your voice in
your word. I want to. I want to know and
I want to feel your presence. Verse four, he said, when I remember
these things, I pour out my soul in me. For I had gone with the
multitude. I went with them to the house
of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude
that kept holy day. He said, I did those things. So verse five, he said, why art
thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in
me? Cast down means depressed. Disquieted
means loud, disquieted. It's crying out, crying out. It means to moan. It means to
growl. to be turbulent inside. Verse
5, he said, 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. 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. Deep calleth unto deep at the
noise of thy water spouts. All thy waves and thy billows
are gone over me. He said, my depths make me cry
out for your depths. The depths of my despair makes
me cry out for the depths of your mercy and your grace and
your help. Deep is crying out to deep. Verse eight. Yet the Lord will command his
loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall
be with me in my prayer unto the God of my life. Yeah, I'm
still gonna pray to him. Verse nine, I will say unto God,
my rock, why hast thou forgotten me? I'll say to God, my rock,
I know he's my rock. I'll say to him, why have you
forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of
the enemy? As with a sword in my bones,
mine enemies reproach me while they say daily unto me, where
is thy God? He said, I know all these things.
I know about the fiery darts of the adversary. I know he does
that to us. I know he does that. I understand all these things,
but in verse 11, he said, I can't help it. I'm still cast down
and disquieted. Why art thou? Why am I? Why am I? Now this right here,
is where a believer's encouragement can and will come from, even
in the moments when the encouragement is not there, meaning not felt,
not experienced. This is where a believer's encouragement
can come from, and this is where it will come from, even in the
moments when that believer just flat thinks it's not there. He
just doesn't feel it. He doesn't know it. David said
in this, what he said was, I'm still in this condition. But he said, this is what I have.
I'm still in this condition. I have not yet attained what
I'm longing for. I've not yet been lifted out
of my sinful, sorrowful depression. But he said, this is what I have.
This is what I have. The end of verse 11, he said,
hope thou in God. Now listen to this. For I shall
yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God. David said, I may have a fallen
countenance right now, A fallen countenance that I just
cannot seem to pull myself out of, even though nothing that
I do, nothing that I say to myself seems to be lifting me up out
of this fallen countenance. He said, I know, I know that
my God is not going to leave me here. He said, I'm here. I'm here. I'm in it. But he said, I know
my God is not gonna leave me here. Even though I cannot seem
to be the health of my own countenance, no matter how hard I try, I know
that He will be the health of my countenance. I know that He
will be. I know that He will do that for
me. And in His good time, He is going to lift me up. I
know that in His good time, He's gonna lift me up. I know that
He's gonna set me on a rock. I know that He's gonna put a
song in my mouth, and I'm going to praise Him. I may not have it in this very
moment right now, but He has put hope in me. that he will do that for me.
And I'm going to praise him. He has put hope in me. Verse six says, oh my God, my
soul is cast down within me. Therefore will I remember thee. Verse eight says, the Lord will
command his loving kindness in the daytime. And in the night
his song shall be with me in my prayer unto the God of my
life." He will. He shall. He said, I may not
be entering into the experience of it right now at this moment.
I may not be entering into it right now. What he's saying is
weeping may endure for a night. Weeping may endure tonight. It
may. But he said, I know joy is coming
in the morning. I know it is. He will not leave
me here. My God shall deliver me. I'm in it. But I know he will
deliver me. That is the hope that God has
given to all of his people. That is the hope and that was
the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ while he was laying in the grave
of hell for his people. That was the hope of Christ,
enduring separation. Separation, feeling, knowing,
experiencing, separation from God for His people. Enduring
what the sin of His people brought on Him. Can we not hear, just
listen to this, can we not hear the words of Christ crying out
from His cast down, disquieted grave that was owed to us? Just
listen to this. Listen to our Redeemer, our Savior,
the words of our Substitute crying out from His lonely, He tread
the winepress alone, alone. Listen to Him as He cries out
from His lonely depression of His own soul. This is what He
said, I am so sorrowful I could die from this. Sorrowful even
unto death. Look at verse one. Listen to
Christ saying this. As he lays there in the grave
for us, he says, as the heart panteth after the water brooks,
so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for
God, for the living God, as I lay here in my death. My soul thirsts for the living
God. When shall I come and appear
before God? My tears have been my meat day
and night while they continually say unto me, where is thy God? When I remember these things,
I pour out my soul in me. For I had gone with the multitude. I went with them to the house
of God with the voice of joy and praise, with the multitude
that kept holy day. 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. Can we hear
our Lord Jesus Christ really saying to His own soul as He's
lying there in the grave, lying there in God's judgment, He is
not going to leave you here. He is not going to suffer His
Holy One to see corruption. Here I am. Here I am. I'm in it. But He is not going to leave
me here. He's not going to suffer me to see corruption and leave
me here. Verse 6, He said, Oh 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
Mizer. Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts. All thy waves and thy billows
are gone over me. Our Lord cried, I am the man
who has seen affliction. I'm in it. I'm in it. Every wave and billow of your
wrath and punishment has rolled over me, and I'm in it. Verse
eight says, yet the Lord will command his loving kindness in
the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and
my prayer unto the God of my life. I will say unto God, my
rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? Did he say, why hast thou
forsaken me? Why go I mourning because of
the oppression of the enemy? As with a sword in my bones,
mine enemies reproach me while they say daily unto me, where
is thy God? For three days he had to lay
there in utter indescribable depression. saying to himself, verse 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. Even if we find ourselves in
a condition that the Lord is not yet pleased to pull us out
of it. even if we're in it and we're
in it and we're in it. We have been given the hope of
knowing He will. He will. It's coming. While you're in that moment,
while you're just in that moment, you sit there holding on to the
hope, it's coming. I'm not in it, but it's coming.
It's coming. He won't leave me here. Just
wait patiently. It's coming. Just hang on. Wait
patiently. It's coming. It's coming. True hope for our continual depression,
our common continual depression, true hope is in our hope. True hope comes in our hope. Our expected anticipation, that's
what the word hope means. It is expected anticipation. Even if we're in a moment where
we have not received the promises, we still can see them afar off. And we can be persuaded of them,
even if we're just, we can embrace them. Even in that moment of our sad
countenance, we can expect and we can anticipate the help of
His countenance. It's coming. It's coming. We can be encouraged by knowing
it's coming. I would love to tell every brother
and sister who is just down and out and hurting and sorrowful
and scared, it's coming. Even if it comes, it's coming. Hang in there, it's coming. Wait
on the Lord. Just wait on the Lord. He'll
strengthen your heart. It's coming. Turn with me to Romans chapter
eight. Romans 8 verse 22, it says, For we know that the
whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves
also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit. Even we ourselves
groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to know the
redemption of our body. We're still in it. We're still waiting. We're still
groaning. Verse 24, For we are saved by
hope. But hope that is seen is not
hope. For what a man seeth, why doth
he yet hope for? But if we hope, for that we see
not, then do we with patience wait for it. That's what hope
is. It is a patient waiting for it. That's what hope is. Expecting
it to come. It's coming. I don't see it right
now, but it's coming. It's coming. Because of the promise
of the one who is the health of our countenance and our God,
we expect his help to come. because of who it is that promised. We expect His help to come. He will help us. He said, don't
fear you worm, I will help you. And He will. He will, it's coming. We can find our comfort. We can
find our encouragement in waiting for it. Just wait for it. He's coming. Look with me at
second Corinthians four. Second Corinthians four verse
six, it says, For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Now watch verse seven. He said,
but we have this treasure in earthen vessels. that the excellency
of the power may be of God and not of us. We have been given
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. We've been
given the light, the light bulb has come on. We've been given
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. Jesus Christ
crucified. Salvation is of the Lord. All
right, we have been given the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God, but we're just earthen vessels. This light and
this knowledge has just been put into earthen vessels and
we're fragile. We're just weak pots of clay. That's all we are. And we're
very prone to cracks. And sometimes we get broken.
And that just proves to us that the power is not of us. It's
of God. our helper, our healer, our health,
our happiness. He is our helper. He is our healer. He is our health. He is our happiness. He is our happiness. Verse eight
right here says, now watch the word are. We are troubled. Not we sometimes are or will
be or we are. We are troubled on every side. yet not distressed. We are perplexed,
but not in despair. We are persecuted, but not forsaken. We are cast down, we are, but
not destroyed. And why is that? It's because
verse 10 says, we are always bearing about in the body the
dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might
be made manifest in our body. All we have to do is get a hold
of the cast down suffering, depression that our Lord endured to save
our souls. That's all we have to do. Just
get a hold of that and we're good. That's all we have to do. and we're good, hope comes to
us. We may still be in our condition,
but hope comes to us. Expected anticipation. I may
still be bearing the load, bearing the burden, bearing the whatever
it is, but hope comes. Verse 14 says, knowing that he which raised up the Lord
Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us
with you. He shall. Proof is that he raised
him up. He'll raise us up. He will. It's
coming. Verse 15 says, For all things
are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might, through
the thanksgiving of many, redound to the glory of God, for which
cause we faint not. But though our outward man perish,"
Oh, this outward old man is just perishing, dying, falling. I would have fainted. except
God renewed that inward man, that new creation in Christ that
He's put in me. That inward man is renewed day
by day, day by day. How? Looking unto Him. Verse
17 says, for our light affliction, which is but for a moment. I
know we're in it, but it's but for a moment. It is working for
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look
not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not
seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things
which are not seen are eternal. The things that bring us down
are the temporal things, and the things that lift us up are
the eternal things. Depression is real. A sad heart can be very real
for us at times, but deliverance from our sadness through the
health of our God's countenance. Oh, if he would just look at
us, if he would just show his face to us and we could, in our
utter depression, lowliness, just say, I see you. Deliverance from that depression
is very real too. It is very, very real. And if we will keep looking to
Him, this is what I would say to anybody in a moment right
now, and you can't find your way out, look to Him, start looking
to Him, keep looking to Him. I'm trying, but I'm still down
here. Just keep looking to Him, keep
looking to Him, keep looking to Him. He will shine the countenance
of His face on you. He will. He said that He was
nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and he saves such as be
of a contrite spirit. Just keep hoping in him. Keep
hoping in him. You shall yet praise him for
the health of his countenance. You shall yet. This is the absolute
truth right here. This is the absolute truth. Feelings
come, feelings go, and feelings are deceiving. Our warrant is
the Word of God. Not else is worth believing. Though all our hearts should
feel condemned for lack of some sweet token, there is one greater
than our hearts whose word cannot be broken. Let's trust in God's
unchanging word till soul and body sever. For though all things
shall pass away, his word shall stand forever. Why art thou cast
down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God. Just hope thou
in God. I shall yet praise him. I shall. I shall yet praise him who is
the health of my countenance and my God." Just keep looking
to him. Keep waiting. Keep looking. Paul
said, looking for that blessed hope. and the glorious appearing
of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Whether that's
in that final eternal day or whether that's in five minutes
to help me right now, the appearing of the great God and my Savior,
Jesus Christ. All right, let's all stand together.