Under the Broom Tree: Hope for the Day You Want to Quit

Introduction: Naming It Out Loud

Some of you woke up this morning and the first thought in your head was not a prayer. It was, "I don't want to do this again today."

Some of you have sat in a parked car in a driveway and could not make yourself go inside. Some of you have thought, in a quiet moment you have never told anyone about, that the people you love might be better off without you.

If that is you, hear this before anything else: you are not disqualified, you are not weak in faith, and you have not scared God off. You are in the company of prophets.

Scripture contains a man who called down fire from heaven and defeated four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal in a single afternoon. One day later he sat down in the dirt and asked God to kill him. His name is Elijah. What God does next is the most tender thing in the Old Testament.

I. God Does Not Rebuke the Honest Cry

ESV, 1 Kings 19:3-4 - 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. 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."

TLV, 1 Kings 19:4 - But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom bush. He prayed that he might die. "It's too much!" he said. "Now, ADONAI, take my life! For I'm no better than my fathers."

Notice three things about this man.

First, he isolated himself. He left his servant behind. Depression almost always tells you to go somewhere alone, and it is almost always lying when it says that.

Second, he was physically depleted. He had run for his life. He hadn't eaten. He hadn't slept. Never underestimate how much of what feels like spiritual failure is a body that has not rested.

Third, he prayed it. "Take my life." He said it to God. The TLV catches the raw human sound of it: "It's too much!" Not a theological statement. A groan.

Here is what God does not do. God does not say, "Elijah, how dare you." God does not say, "After all I've done for you." Heaven does not flinch at your honesty.

ESV, Psalm 42:3 - My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

That was written by a worship leader, a son of Korah, a man whose job was leading God’s people in praise. God put it in the songbook on purpose, so that the day you cannot sing you would still have words.

II. Before God Says Anything, He Feeds Him

ESV, 1 Kings 19:5-7 - And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, "Arise and eat." 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. 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."

TLV, 1 Kings 19:7 - Then the angel of ADONAI came again a second time, touched him and said. "Get up and eat, because the journey is too much for you."

Elijah said, "It's too much." God said, "You're right. The journey is too much for you." God agreed with his assessment. God simply refused to agree with his conclusion.

Now look at the order of operations. Before a sermon. Before a rebuke. Before a single word of correction, God sends sleep, and food, and touch. An angel of God bakes bread for a suicidal man and lets him go back to sleep. Twice.

Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is eat a meal, go to bed, and get up tomorrow. And if that is God's posture toward the depressed, it had better be ours. We are not permitted to hand a hurting person a Bible verse and walk away when what they need is a meal, a ride to a doctor, and someone who will sit with them.

TLV, Psalm 34:19 (ESV 34:18) - ADONAI is close to the brokenhearted, and saves those crushed in spirit.

Not near the people who pull it together. Near the brokenhearted. He is closest at your lowest.

III. A Whisper, Not a Verdict

ESV, 1 Kings 19:11-12 - 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. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.

TLV, 1 Kings 19:12 - After the earthquake a fire, but ADONAI was not in the fire. After the fire there was a soft whisper of a voice.

Wind. Earthquake. Fire. Everything loud, and God was in none of it. Then a low whisper. A soft whisper of a voice.

Depression has a volume problem. The loud voice - you're a failure, you're a burden, everyone would be relieved - that voice is a hurricane. It is an earthquake. It is fire. And it is not God.

God's voice is the quiet one. And notice what the whisper said. Not condemnation. The same gentle question again: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" An invitation to say it all a second time.

The loudest voice in your head is not the truest voice in your life.

IV. “I Alone Am Left” - And Why That Was Not True

ESV, 1 Kings 19:10 - "...and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away."

TLV, 1 Kings 19:10 - "...and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it!"

"I'm the only one." That is depression's signature move. It convinces you that your situation is unique, that no one else has been here, that no one would understand, and that no one is coming.

God's response is not a pep talk. It is a fact.

ESV, 1 Kings 19:18 - 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.

TLV, 1 Kings 19:18 - Yet I have preserved seven thousand in Israel whose knees have not bowed to Baal and whose mouth has not kissed him.

Elijah said one. God said seven thousand. He was off by six thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine.

The number in your head is wrong too. You are not the only one. There are people in this room who have sat under the same broom tree. The isolation is real, but the loneliness is a lie, and the way you break it is by telling one safe person the truth this week.

And notice what else God does. Go. Anoint Hazael. Anoint Jehu. Anoint Elisha. God gives him a task and God gives him a friend. Purpose and companionship. That is God's prescription, and it has not changed.

V. Preach to Your Own Soul

ESV, Psalm 42:5 - Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation

TLV, Psalm 42:6 (ESV 42:5) - Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why are you murmuring within me? Hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, for the salvation of His presence.

The psalmist does something remarkable. He stops listening to himself and starts talking to himself.

He does not say "I feel hopeful." He says "Hope in God." It is a command he issues to himself. And he has to issue it three separate times, twice in Psalm 42 and again in Psalm 43:5, because it did not take the first time.

That is not weak faith. That is what faith looks like on a hard day. You say the true thing out loud again, and again, and again, until something in you catches.

ESV, Lamentations 3:21-23 - But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

TLV, Lamentations 3:22-23 - Because of the mercies of ADONAI we will not be consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning! Great is Your faithfulness.

Look at the hinge: "But this I call to mind." Hope was a decision to remember before it was ever a feeling. And catch the TLV: because of the mercies of ADONAI we will not be consumed. The thing that is trying to swallow you does not get to.

"New every morning" is not a greeting card. Mercy is issued daily, which means you do not have to find enough strength today for next month. You only have to receive today's mercy today.

VI. Not Crushed

ESV, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 - We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

TLV, 2 Corinthians 4:16 - Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day.

Read that honestly. Paul does not say "not afflicted." He says afflicted, but not crushed. He does not say "never confused." He says perplexed, but not driven to despair. He does not say "never knocked down." He says struck down, but not destroyed.

There is a floor under you. You may go all the way down to it. You will not go through it. And notice: renewed day by day. Same as the mercies. God works at the pace of one day.

Conclusion: The One Who Sat Under a Tree for You

There is another moment in Scripture where a man goes to a garden at night, falls on the ground, and says the sorrow inside him is enough to kill him. “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.” That was Jesus. That was Yeshua. He knows. Not theoretically. He knows.

TLV, Hebrews 4:15-16 - For we do not have a kohen gadol who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all the same ways - yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near to the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need.

And He did not stay under that tree. He went to a different tree, and He carried the full weight of every dark night any of us will ever have, and He came out the other side of the grave, so that darkness would never again have the last word over anyone in Him.

ESV, Psalm 139:11-12 - If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night," even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

ESV, Romans 8:38-39 - For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Nothing. Not your worst night. Not your darkest thought. Not the thing you have never told anyone. Nothing.

The Invitation

Three things. Do one of them today.

One. Eat and rest. Take God's first prescription seriously. Sleep. Eat. See a doctor. There is no shame in medication or in a counselor. That is bread from an angel too.

Two. Break the isolation. Tell one person before you leave this building. A pastor, an elder, a friend. Elijah said "I alone am left" and he was wrong by six thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine. So are you.

Three. Preach to your soul. Say it out loud, even if you feel nothing: "Hope in God. I will yet praise Him." Say it tomorrow. Say it the day after.

And if you are in danger right now, do not go home alone. Come find me, or one of our leaders. We will sit with you. That is what we are here for.

Let's pray.

Pastoral Care and Crisis Resources

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. Free, confidential, 24/7/365. English and Spanish, with interpretation in 240+ languages. Veterans press 1 after dialing. ASL videophone service available. If there is immediate danger to life, call 911.

Helping someone: Ask directly - "Are you thinking about hurting yourself?" Asking does not plant the idea, it opens a door. Do not leave them alone, and help reduce access to means. Listen more than you talk. Do not rush to fix, minimize, or correct their theology in the moment. Elijah got sleep and bread before he got a sermon. Stay connected afterward: follow up in three days, then a week, then a month. Connect rather than just refer - walk with them to the appointment, make the call together.

For the church: Depression and suicidal ideation are not evidence of weak faith or unconfessed sin. Treating them that way drives people into deeper hiding. Medical and counseling care are gifts of common grace, fully compatible with prayer and Scripture.

Delivery notes: Slow down through the introduction; let the silence sit. Never say “commit suicide” - say “died by suicide” or “took their life.” Do not describe methods from the pulpit. Give 988 verbally and on screen and in the bulletin. Have care team members identified and available at the front and back after the service. Translation note: the TLV follows Hebrew verse numbering in the Psalms, so it runs one ahead of the ESV in Psalms 34 and 42.