Walking With God Through Despondency

If you have your Bible, then please turn to 1 Kings 19.

I title this message: “Walking With God Through Despondency.”

The definition for despondency is someone who is feeling and/or showing extreme discouragement, dejection and depression.

So, brothers and sisters, it would be appropriate for me to begin by asking you these questions:

Are you going through despondency?

Have you been battling with discouragement in your life?

Are you suffering with depression and cannot seem to find a way out?

In our text today, we will learn about a prophet named Elijah.

He was probably one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament.

He performed miracles on several occasions.

He was a man who prayed and stopped the rain for 3.5 years.

You may know that him as a man who did not experience physical death, but that he was taken up to heaven by a whirlwind.

But, being the greatest does not mean he was perfect.

Even the greatest Christians among us have moments of weaknesses.

I’m no different from you.

Elijah is also no different from you.

James 5:17 says that “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.”

He was a human being.

Perhaps, that can be a sign of encouragement to you.

1 Kings 19 shows his low point in life and how God deals with him.

The reason why I used the word, despondency, is because there isn’t an easy way of describing the emotional state of Elijah in this story.

My prayer for you from this message is to encourage you to walk with God through despondency as we examine the life of Elijah.

That is my main point for this morning’s message: “walking with God through despondency.”

With that said, may the LORD write His eternal word in your hearts as we unfold this text.

Exposition

There are three lessons we can draw from this text:

Lesson #1: Elijah was a human being just like us.

1 Kings 19:1–3 ESV

1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

Verse 1 introduces us the characters and the context of what led up to this chapter.

We have Ahab. He was the king of Israel during this time.

Around 930 BC, the country of Israel was divided into two kingdoms: The Northern Kingdom was Israel and the Southern Kingdom was Judah.

Because there were two kingdoms, each of the kingdom had its own king.

So, Ahab was the king of the Northern Kingdom.

He was described as the worse king so far in the history of Israel.

And he was married to this woman called Jezebel.

Now, Jezebel was a worshiper of Baal, which is an idol.

Ahab built idols to please wife, Jezebel.

Ahab did more to provoke the LORD to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

Therefore, Ahab and Jezebel were evil rulers of the Northern Kingdom at this time.

We are told about what Elijah did and how he killed all the prophets with a sword.

You would need to read the previous chapter because it is one of the most famous stories in Elijah’s ministry.

But let me summarize it for you. 1 Kings 18:20-40 is about Elijah confronting and battling against 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah at Mount Carmel.

The whole scene is illustrated like a western film where two cowboys duel each other through shootouts at high noon.

For the story, it was only Elijah going against the false prophets, so he was outnumbered.

So, you have team Elijah and team prophets.

The rule of this battle was that each side would have a bull, and they are lay the bull on the wood, but they were not allowed to put fire on the bull.

Instead, Elijah tells the false prophets to call upon their god to see if their god would answer by fire.

And Elijah would also call upon the name of the LORD.

The false prophets failed to call upon their gods, and Elijah was very successful and victorious.

Elijah called out to the LORD, and God came down in fire and consumed the offering.

The false prophets saw what happened, and Elijah slaughtered them as a form of capital punishment.

Deuteronomy 18:20 has a law whereby a false prophet was to be executed.

The rest of chapter 18 tells us about God sending rain again after 3.5 years.

And Ahab witnessed what happened at Mount Carmel and he went back to Jezreel where Jezebel was.

Now, think about what just happened.

Elijah experienced a great victory at Mount Carmel.

Because of that, he followed Ahab and expects a great revival in the nation of Israel.

Ahab tells his wife Jezebel everything that happened, especially the event at Mount Carmel.

Elijah would have expected Jezebel to be shocked when she heard the news.

Elijah would have expected Jezebel to repent of her idolatry, worship the LORD, and lead the kingdom of Israel back to God.

Jezebel, however, responds by sending a messenger to Elijah and threatening to kill him.

She even curses herself if she doesn’t do so by the next day.

This would not have been a surprised because Queen Jezebel was evil.

She’s known for killing and persecuting the prophets of God.

After hearing the message, how does Elijah respond?

Is he as courageous and brave when he confronted the false prophets?

Did he say, “bring it on, Jezebel! I have the real God by my side!”

But the text tells us that he was afraid and ran for his life.

The phrase, “he was afraid,” in Hebrew means “he SAW that.”

Biblical scholars in the Hebrew language disputed over translation of that phrase.

Does it mean “he was afraid” or “he saw that?”

Whatever translation you use, Elijah could have been afraid AND broken by Jezebel’s response not because he’s being threatened by her, but because the event at Mount Carmel did not bring about the transformation or result that Elijah expected.

It did not change Ahab and Jezebel’s heart.

It did not produce the desired result that Elijah hoped for.

So, he ran away.

Dale Ralph Davis, the OT scholar at Reformed Theological Seminary, said this: “Elijah SAW that in spite of the Carmel Apologetic nothing was going to change in Israel.”

Elijah was greatly disappointed by what the nation of Israel has come to.

Therefore, we learn that Elijah was fearful and Elijah experienced a great disappointment.

So, we see that Elijah ran to Beersheba from Jezreel.

That is about 160 KM.

Jezreel was in the Northern kingdom of Israel and Beersheba was the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

That’s like running from UBC to the city of Hope.

I suspect that he kept running until he arrived there because his life was on the line.

So, he arrives at Beersheba and that’s where the next part of Elijah’s story picks up. Let’s READ verses 4-8.

1 Kings 19:4–8 ESV

4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” 8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

Elijah arrives in Beersheba, but he also takes another day to journey into the wilderness/desert.

He arrives to the area and lays down under a broom tree.

This is where Elijah gets very expressive.

He wants to die.

Instead of committing suicide, he wants God to take his life.

Instead of giving Jezebel the victory to put him to death, he wants God to finish him off.

He wants to die because he has had enough.

He did whatever he could to bring revival to the nation of Israel, and now he views the situation as hopeless.

So, Elijah felt like a failure.

He did not live up to his ancestors expectation.

Failure can be the cause of despondency.

Now, to us, it may surprise us to see that Elijah would have this kind of thought. But, he’s not the first one nor the last one to make that sentimental comment.

In Numbers 11:14–15, Moses said the same thing to God when he was leading the Israelites through the wilderness: “[14] I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. [15] If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.”

The prophet Jonah was angry at God because God forgave the sins of Nineveh while he wanted to see Nineveh get destroyed.

Here’s what Jonah 4:1-3 says, “[1] But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. [2] And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. [3] Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Now, let us not be too quick to judge Elijah because he is a human being who can be despondent.

Afterwards, he lays down and sleeps under a broom tree.

This is another lesson we learn about Elijah: Elijah was fatigued.

After running about 160 KM, he must have been very exhausted.

The healthy thing for him to do is to go to sleep.

And this is something we do not often make the connection.

Fatigue is another cause for despondency.

We can easily fall into despondency when we fail to get enough sleep.

According to the health line, “fatigue may also fuel depression.”

Ask yourself: Am I feeling depressed?

Am I feeling discouraged?

And now ask yourself:

Am I getting enough rest?

Am I getting a healthy hours of sleep?

In verses 5-8, we see an event where the angel of the LORD goes and feeds Elijah.

The prophet must have been hungry after running for a long time and resting for a while.

By the providence of God, He provides for Elijah.

The point of the angel feeding Elijah is to nourish him with food and to refresh him with water.

God knows Elijah’s needs very well.

We learn that Elijah needed nourishment and refreshment.

Interestingly enough, Elijah never asked for these things.

In fact, God gave him quite the contrary of what he wished for in verse 4.

Instead of starving Elijah to death, God provided for him to sustain and preserve him, not just once, but twice, through the angel.

As humans, we have weaknesses and we are fragile.

Despite that, God still cares and provides for His people.

Indeed, God never leaves you nor forsakes you.

We see God’s grace and kindness towards Elijah despite his situation.

And this is the second point that I want to make: We Worship A God Just Like Elijah’s.

From this passage, we learn that God provides physically and spiritually.

God knows what we need, and He provides them for us.

Think about the food that we eat daily. They are indeed blessings from God.

Think about what we are doing right now. We are listening to the Word of God. That is also a blessing from God.

Remember, as you go out this week, think about how much God has given to you.

Think about how much God has already blessed you. That’s the God we worship.

J Hampton Keathley III makes an important remark about taking care of your body and soul: “Elijah needed some special instruction from the Lord, but again, he first needed physical strength through nourishment. He was in no condition to listen or take in the Word of God. Twice he is told to eat and drink, and twice he is allowed to sleep. Again we are reminded that as human beings, we were designed to function in all aspects of our being--body, soul, and spirit.”

If we fail to take care of ourselves, then we will experience burnout.

Just after Elijah wakes up the second time, the angel tells him to eat because the journey is too great for Elijah.

Somehow, the food that he ate gave him strength as he travelled to Mount Horeb for 40 days and 40 nights.

To travel from Beersheba to Mount Horeb would have been about 400 KM.

Usually, it takes 14 days, but I think Elijah took his sweet time.

Mount Horeb is an alternative name for Mount Sinai.

Back in Exodus, Mount Sinai would be the place where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.

In some sense, although not exactly, Elijah was reliving the Mount Sinai moment and the Wilderness moment.

Moses was on Mount Sinai with God for 40 days and 40 nights, and he didn’t eat and drink.

When travelling to the promised Land in the wilderness, Israel was sustained by manna for 40 years.

Similarly, Elijah would be sustained by the food for 40 days and 40 nights.

So, he arrives at Mount Horeb and went into a cave. Let’s continue READING verses 9-18.

1 Kings 19:9–18 ESV

9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 15 And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. 17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

We see that Elijah went into a cave and stayed there.

I have been into a cave before, and let me tell you that it is DARK.

You cannot see a thing unless you use some form of illumination.

And, we don’t see Elijah carrying a torch.

And usually, if it’s very dark, NO ONE CAN FIND YOU, except for bats and rats.

We don’t necessarily know why Elijah went into the cave because the rest of Scripture does not explicitly tell us.

What follows afterwards is God speaking to Elijah. He asked him this question, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Some commentators say that the tone of God’s question may be a sound of “rebuke” for his behavior and word.

Some commentators say that the tone of God’s question may be an “invitation.”

I think that God’s question should be considered as an “invitation” rather than rebuke because we have already seen God’s grace and kindness towards Elijah in the previous passage and we will later see God speaking gently with him.

Menken comments that this was “a question of tender kindness, to relieve the full, burdened heart of the prophet, that he, to whom the great privilege of being able to complain of his sorrow had so long been denied, might be moved to reveal his desire, to pour out his whole heart before the Lord.”

And we see a lot of that in the book of Psalms. Some of the Psalms are book of lament, whereby the psalmist would pour their emotions to God about their current circumstances. Hence, God invites Elijah to pour out his heart.

So, we learn that God invites us to talk to Him. Let’s READ verse 10 again.

1 Kings 19:10 ESV

10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

When Elijah said the last part, “and I, even I only, am left,” some commentators say that Elijah is whining here.

They may criticize him for being egocentric, as if he’s saying, “Oh look. Poor me. I’m alone here.”

Some may criticize him for forgetting about his conversation with Obadiah back in 1 Kings 18, whereby Obadiah hid about 100 prophets in a cave during the persecution of God’s people.

But, I think there is an alternative way of seeing this situation.

If you read this verse carefully, then you would notice that Elijah HAS a righteous jealousy for the glory of God.

He is jealous because the people of Israel have forsaken the covenant of God.

The kingdom of Israel has committed spiritual adultery.

They worshipped others gods instead of YHWH.

Elijah is upset and despondent for God’s glory.

Much of the focus is on God and His glory.

He says Your covenant, Your altars, and Your prophets.

Then, what are to do about the part where he says “he is alone” when in fact that may not be true.

Don’t we all sometimes do the same thing?

In our despondency, we may exaggerate and imagine that our situation is worse than it really is.

Yes, it is true that objectively speaking, Elijah is not alone, but he is expressing what is true in his heart even though in reality, it is not true.

Let’s not be too quick to criticize him.

He does feel alone.

He does feel like he’s the only one left.

Let me remind you! He was the only one for God at Mount Carmel!

We can learn in this verse that Elijah was alone. Or he felt lonely.

In verse 18, God comforts (and perhaps reminds) Elijah that in reality, he is not alone because God kept 7000 people who do not worship Baal.

In verses 11-12, God responds by doing something with three elements: wind, earthquake, and fire.

They might be weird verses to modern readers like us, but Elijah would have understood that this would have been the act of God.

God uses natural phenomenon by the power of His strength.

I won’t get into the little details because we’ll be here forever.

The point here is that the LORD passed by.

In other words, God is revealing Himself to Elijah, but God does not manifest Himself in the wind, fire, and earthquake.

Regarding the fire, for instance, in the previous chapter 1 Kings 18:38, God did manifest Himself in a spectacular way in the form of fire.

In contrast, the focus here is on God’s quiet revelation.

Unlike the big parade or a huge event at Mount Carmel, God reveals Himself to Elijah through the sound of a low whisper.

He is not to be found in the spectacular elements of the storm outside the cave.

Paul House, in his commentary, says that “Regardless of the meaning of the natural wonders, however, it is God’s word alone that will heal the prophet in this moment of crisis.”

And Elijah responds to that whisper by wrapping his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

But, where was Elijah when there was the wind, earthquake, and fire?

Apparently, he’s still in the cave!

Some would say that he saw the three elements and then he went back into the cave, only to hear God’s voice, but that argument is indefensible because the natural reading of the text does not suggest that.

There is in fact a suggestion in the text that Elijah does not particularly wish to understand what God is saying through the elements because he is despondent that not even natural phenomenon is going to shake him.

Just like Jezebel was not moved or shaken by what happened at Mount Carmel, so was Elijah not moved or shaken by the fire, wind, and earthquake.

The point is that the word of God moves us to action and He sovereignly does so in quietness.

Two lessons we can learn is that God works in quietness and gentleness AND God speaks to us ultimately through His Word.

So now, God asks Elijah again, “what are you doing, here?”

And Elijah gives God the same response like in verse 10.

Of course, it seems like he did not notice what God was doing before because he was still in the cave.

So, what are we to do with Elijah.

I think he was just being “human.”

When we are experiencing despondency, we may not seem to care about anything, and we may choose not to understand.

We say the same thing again because we want to be heard.

So, how does God respond to Elijah?

Does God say, “I have enough with you, Elijah.

I’m done with you.”

No, instead of rebuking Elijah, God agrees with him.

Again, Dale Ralph Davis says that “[God] does not condemn Elijah but confirms his diagnosis!”

God will bring judgement as He says in verses 15-17.

The last lesson we can learn from the second point is this: God will fulfill His purposes.

How?

God will respond by telling Elijah that he has work to do.

God is going to use Elijah to go on a mission, which is to anoint 2 kings and 1 prophet.

Despite his despondency, Elijah needs to fix his eyes upon God and the mission that He has given him.

He should not get stuck in his depression and discouragement.

There is always work to be done.

What does this passage mean then?

It means that God will ultimately judge the wickedness of Ahab, Jezebel, and the worshipers of Baal for their idolatry and injustice and oppression by using Elijah to anoint people to accomplish God’s purposes.

You can read the future story of 1 and 2 Kings to find that out.

Does God need Elijah to do this? Obviously not.

God is sovereign and He does whatever He pleases.

He can do it Himself.

But, He invites and calls him to be involved with what He is doing, and He does so with tenderness and loving kindness.

Application

This morning, if you are despondent, then this message is for you.

If you’re not despondent, then God can use you to care for those who are.

I am 100% sure that all of us go through moments of discouragement, dejection, and depression.

Unfortunately, we live in a fallen world filled with sin.

People will disappoint us.

Your boss will get upset with you.

Your co-workers won’t cooperate.

And...unfortunately, Christians can sin against each other.

Despondency is inevitable and it is a normal part of life.

Disappointment often comes when our expectations are not met.

But, as Christians, we should never be surprised by the suffering we experience.

Being a Christian does not mean we would be immune to despondency.

The Famous Baptist Preacher, Charles Spurgeon, suffered depression for most of his life.

We cannot control how people would treat us, but by God’s grace, we can respond differently.

[SLIDE 29] This is the final point: We can walk with God through despondency. I will quickly breeze through the lessons because they’re implied in the message.

First, we can walk with God through despondency by remembering God’s blessings. Think about how much God has provided for you in the past and the present.

Second, we can walk with God through despondency by remembering to rest.

Third, we can walk with God through despondency by remembering our mission.

God is not done with you yet.

Yes, despondency hurts and it sometimes paralyzes us mentally and emotionally.

Although God is gentle and tender in dealing with us, He did not call us to get stuck in the Great Depression, but He called us to fulfill the Great Commission.

Fourth, we can walk with God through despondency by remembering that we are not alone.

God gave us the church, the fellowship and the gathering of God’s people.

All of us have different stories to tell, and we can be edified and encouraged to know that we don’t need to walk in despondency alone.

Finally, I want to make this important point: Remembering Our Savior.

What makes the gospel so good of a news is that God came down into the world and dwelt among us.

God the Son put on human flesh and lived a perfect and sinless life.

Jesus Christ was perfectly innocent, and yet He suffered.

Jesus Christ is also known the Suffering Servant.

He was called the Man Of Sorrow and He was acquainted with grief.

Judas betrayed Him, Peter denied Him three times, and the disciples abandoned Him.

When Christ was on the cross, He was forsaken by God the Father.

He went through all that to die for our sins and rise again for our salvation.

Tim Keller said, “Jesus lost all his glory so that we could be clothed in it. He was shut out so we could get access. He was bound, nailed, so that we could be free. He was cast out so we could approach. And Jesus took away the only kind of suffering that can really destroy you: that is being cast away from God. He took that so that now all suffering that comes into your life will only make you great.”

The author of Hebrew says this, “[15] For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

As we gather together for communion before us, let us remember Jesus, our sympathetic high priest.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Take time this to reflect or even to unload your burdens to Him.

Let us have a moment of silence before I pray.