“You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; my companions have become darkness.” – Psalm 88:18
Wow, in reading this Psalm this morning I was stuck by these words of Heman the Ezrahite, one of the Sons of Korah, who is clearly writing from a deep, dark place in his life. Have you ever found yourself in a place where you have been so downcast, maybe like Heman, you felt like the darkness was your closest friend?
Today we have a word for this, we call it depression. We say that we feel depressed or that we are suffering from depression when we feel low, when we suffer loss, and grief or disappointment. Depression often comes when we find our hopes and dreams shattered or dashed before us, and we are reeling from the brokenness that we are experiencing. It is in times like these that we often feel that we are alone and that no one else knows what it is like to be in our shoes, but then, worse than that…that nobody cares.
But the Bible tells us that we are not the first, nor will we be the last to experience times like these. In fact, we see in the Bible many of the people who are called “heroes of the faith,” people like Abraham, Moses, and David who struggled with times of great difficultly and sorrow in their lives. And what is even more noteworthy, is that our Savior Jesus Christ not only knows what it is like to experience sorrow (Isaiah 53:3 says He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not), but on the cross He experienced the ultimate sorrow and grief as all the sins of His people were put out on Him, and He was punished in their place so that their sins might be forgiven.
So for those who trust in Jesus Christ, in what was the greatest hour of darkness for Him (and in all of history); the ultimate ray of hope shines forth! Because He endured the greatest darkness of all for us, we know that He can be with us in whatever darkness we might face, even in very low point of depression. It’s at times like these we need to seek Him in prayer, to take comfort in what He tells us in His word, and to find help from others in His church who are here to come along side and help care for us in times such as these.
If you need or would like someone to talk to, our pastor and members of our church are here to listen and to help, just click on the “Contact Us” tab below or email us at info@riversidecartersville.com.
