I haven’t often been around here the past several weeks. There’s no lack of worthy topics, and I haven’t abandoned the sports desk located somewhere below decks of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. No, my absence’s reason has more to do with a lengthy bout with the depression monster.
Depression is the great liar. It tells you there is no hope when in fact, there is hope. It insists there is no escaping its clutches when at least some relief measures are available through cognitive thinking, faith, and when depression’s causes have physical roots, the appropriate medicines. Depression enjoys nothing more than dangling in front of your face the thoughts and actions you know are necessary to fight back, mocking you as it does its utmost to render you unable to lay hold of those very things. It is a hideous beast, sapping life energy and your very soul if it could.
To those who do not know depression, please be silent on the matter. Your assertions of “it’s all in your head” and “you’re just weak — get over it” are worthless. Only those who have been, or are still going through, the fire can speak with authority to those still engulfed in flames.
To those fighting depression, please keep fighting. There will be moments of feeling total abandonment by God and man. These, too, are lies. Reach out to others who know your pain. Embrace the fellowship of ragtag soldiers helping carry each other through this life and into our eternal Home promised by Jesus.
The new Cephas Hour is presented in this spirit, extending a hand to the brokenhearted and broken. Artists are Crystoria, Daniel Amos, Derri Daugherty, Shelly Moore, Bringing Home, Rachel Wilhelm, Phil Keaggy, Third Day , 77s, The Choir, Bob Bennett, Mustard Seed Faith, and Oden Fong.
The show is available on demand at its website (https://cephashour.com/2023/07/01/cephas-hour-episode-102-release-date-july-1-2023/). It is also available via the following podcast services:
o Amazon
o Apple
o Audacy
o Google
o iHeart
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Hope it helps. Thanks.
Although it lacks the fame of its predecessor Psalm 23, Psalm 30, also written by King David, has multiple moments well worth noting. For example, its first three verses.
I will exalt you, Lord,for you lifted me out of the depthsand did not let my enemies gloat over me.
Lord my God, I called to you for help,and you healed me.
You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead;you spared me from going down to the pit.
Sounds like my prayer after surviving the average day at work.
Flippancy aside, these verses beautifully capture the prayer many of us utter. There are times when we feel like others, for whatever reason, seek our demise so they can gloat over our shattered, albeit still living remains. Sometimes it is spiritual oppression. At other times it is tied to a relationship or an emotional response. There are other times it involves something material. Regardless of which element is at play, we will face opposition if we live our lives for Christ. We are well advised to heed what Jesus said:
Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
This doesn’t mean when we’re being a jerk and getting called out on it, we’re facing spiritual oppression. It does mean there will be times when the sardonic truism that no good deed goes unpunished will directly apply to our life. It also means there is no wrong time to cry out to God about what’s happening.
Getting back into Psalm 30, we find this phrase:
Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people;praise his holy name.
For his anger lasts only a moment,but his favor lasts a lifetime;weeping may stay for the night,but rejoicing comes in the morning.
There are two ways one can look at this phrase. One is how lamenting due to what we might have done to bring about the Lord’s chastisement in our lives will not remain forever a fixation. We have all messed up and felt God’s rebuke for stepping out of line. Note that this incorporates sin’s consequences, not sin’s penalty, which was paid for by Christ’s blood shed on the cross. However, the aftereffects of when we take a wrong turn usually remain.
The other provided interpretation is considering the human condition; the mixture of magic and loss permeating all our lives. As time progresses, we find ourselves saying goodbye far more often than hello. Charlie Brown once said, “Goodbyes hurt my throat … I need more hellos.” We all do. Yet even during grief, there is in time comfort and reconciliation. Our time on this planet is brief. Eternity awaits. And while a believer does not welcome death, a believer neither fears its clutches.
Psalm 30 concludes:
When I felt secure, I said,”I will never be shaken.”
Lord, when you favored me,you made my royal mountain stand firm;but when you hid your face,I was dismayed.
To you, Lord, I called;to the Lord I cried for mercy:
“What is gained if I am silenced,if I go down to the pit?Will the dust praise you?Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me;Lord, be my help.”
You turned my wailing into dancing;you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.Lord my God, I will praise you forever.
At first glance, it seems like David is being a bit egotistical. “Hey, Lord — without me, who will hear about You?” If this is the case, King David can safely lay claim to being the father of all televangelists.
This is not the case. David’s cry to God is one of reality acknowledgment. His premature demise, be it literal or as a messenger of the Lord, would gain nothing. Of course, David knew God knew this. But what is prayer’s purpose if there is no honest, open communication on our part, thus opening ourselves to the same from God?
When we feel our greatest despair and deepest worthlessness, remembering we are not worthless may be difficult, if not impossible. It is, however, true. We are worth something. Jesus paid for our eternal life at a terrible price.
Trials are never enjoyable experiences. Rare indeed is the level of faith needed to rejoice in suffering, knowing, as the apostle Paul wrote, that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. But these things remain true.
Hang on. Fight as best you can. Cry out to Jesus. He won’t hit you over the head with a stick. He will take you into His arms and hold you with His nail-pierced hands. He may seem a million miles away. But He’s not. There will be joy, and there will be a morning.