Scripture Reference: Psalm 42
The Delight of the Psalmist
“Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.” Now drink in verse 8. “The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me—A prayer to the God of my life.” In verse 11 he sings, “Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.”
The psalmist was willing to rest his case with God, to lay it at His feet. Those troubles only led him to God. Do your troubles, discouragement, and depression lead you to God? Do they cause you to fall on your knees and come to God? In the darkest hours He is able to reveal His best to you and to me. We are to delight in God. Our faith and hope are undergirded with strong convictions. In verse 6 he wrote, “I will remember You from the land of the Jordan.” He recalled when he went into the house of God. He reminisced about what God had done in his life in the past. If you look into the past and merely see yourself, then you will begin to contrast those circumstances you’ve been through, and your depression will worsen. But if you look in the past and remember what God has done for and in you, then God will use that to help you delight in Him.
The answer to depression is hope, and our hope is not in ourselves but in God. He speaks of delighting not only in the hope of God but also in the help of God. Each time the psalmist mentioned hope, he also spoke of the Lord’s help. “For I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.” In verse 11 he spoke of God “the help of my countenance.” The thought here is that God’s face is never marked with disappointment. God is never discouraged.
The psalmist frankly laid the issue before the Lord Himself. The moment he admitted that he had an unfulfilled desire, he began to delight in the Lord, and was on the way to recovery. God’s song would be with him, and his prayer would be unto God in the night as he wrote in verse 8. If you wait for the daylight it may never come. In the dungeon of depression, in the night, may God’s song be in your heart, and may your prayer be unto Him.
How will you face your depression? Endure it? Escape it? Or learn from it? William Cowper wrote numerous poems and hymn lyrics. Many folks do not understand that William Cowper was constantly besieged by depression, and many times even endeavored to commit suicide. Yet, Cowper wrote these words:
God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mind Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs, And works His sovereign will.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take:
The clouds you so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.
His purpose will ripen fast, unfolding every hour.
The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter, And He will make it plain.
Despair. He knew it, but he also knew that in the midst of the night, God was there.
What is your desire? Is it for God? Whether you know it or not, it is. Whether you admit it or not, the longing, the frustration, the emptiness, the searching of your heart is for God, He created us to have that longing deep within. Despair may overwhelm you at times. Troubles and trials may overwhelm you, but if you will delight yourself in the Lord in the night, in that darkness, God will bless you in the midst of the experiences when Satan intends to tear you down.
The best holiday gift you can have/give: Clinging to Jesus as a cure for depression and despair, not in all of our schemes and all of our strength, but in thirsty and panting desire to have Jesus supreme in our hearts!
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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