Depression: When Darkness Is Your Closest Friend

I was fearful as I prepped for this sermon...

Be Worshipful Psalm 88

Heman, the son of Joel, was a temple musician during the reign of David (1 Chron. 6:33, 37; 15:17; 16:41–42; 2 Chron. 35:15) and is the most likely candidate for the authorship of this psalm. Second choice is Heman, the son of Mahol, one of the wise men during the reign of King Solomon (1 Kings 4:31). The Hebrew words mahalath and leannoth mean “sickness” and “for singing” or “for humbling.” The first word probably refers to a sad melody to accompany this somber song, and the second might identify the purpose of the psalm, to bring us low before the Lord. This is the last “sons of Korah” psalm in the psalms and is perhaps the most plaintive song in the entire book. In the Hebrew text, the psalm ends with the word hoshek, “darkness,” and there is no closing note of triumph as in other psalms that begin with pain and perplexity. The psalm speaks of darkness (vv. 1, 6, 12, 18), life in the depths (vv. 3–4, 6), the immanence of death (vv. 5, 10–11), feelings of drowning (vv. 7, 16–17), loneliness (vv. 5, 8, 14, 18), and imprisonment (v. 8). Heman was a servant of God who was suffering intensely and did not understand why, yet he persisted in praying to God and did not abandon his faith. Not all of life’s scripts have happy endings, but that does not mean that the Lord has forsaken us. From Heman’s experience, as recorded in this psalm, we can discover four instructions to follow when life falls apart and our prayers seemingly are not answered.

Hello Darkness my old friend

“A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.” (NIV)

“For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah. A song to be sung to the tune “The Suffering of Affliction.” A psalm of Heman the Ezrahite.” (NLT)

Psalm 88:1–2 NIV

Lord, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you. May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.

1. By faith, call to the Lord

Psalm 88:3 NIV

I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death.

Psalm 88:4 NIV

I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like one without strength.

Psalm 88:5 NIV

I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care.

Psalm 88:6 NIV

You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.

Psalm 88:7 NIV

Your wrath lies heavily on me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.

Psalm 88:8–9 NIV

You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape; my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you.

2. Talk to God, tell Him how you feel - what you are thinking.

Psalm 88:10 NIV

Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do their spirits rise up and praise you?

Psalm 88:11 NIV

Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction?

Psalm 88:12 NIV

Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

Psalm 88:13 NIV

But I cry to you for help, Lord; in the morning my prayer comes before you.

Psalm 88:14 NIV

Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?

3. Remember, God has broad shoulders and boundless grace - present your case to Him.

Psalm 88:15 NIV

From my youth I have suffered and been close to death; I have borne your terrors and am in despair.

Psalm 88:16 NIV

Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me.

Psalm 88:17 NIV

All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me.

Psalm 88:18 NIV

You have taken from me friend and neighbor— darkness is my closest friend.

4. God’s waiting room.

Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping Left its seeds while I was sleeping And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains within the sound of silence

In restless dreams, I walked alone Narrow streets of cobblestone 'Neath the halo of a street lamp I turned my collar to the cold and damp When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light That split the night, and touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw Ten thousand people, maybe more People talking without speaking People hearing without listening People writing songs that voices never shared And no one dared disturb the sound of silence

"Fools," said I, "You do not know Silence like a cancer grows Hear my words that I might teach you Take my arms that I might reach you" But my words, like silent raindrops, fell And echoed in the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed To the neon god they made And the sign flashed out its warning In the words that it was forming And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls And whispered in the sound of silence"

5. Into God’s waiting room…Emmanuel

Matthew 1:23 NRSV

“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”

Matthew 1:24–25 NRSV

When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

They changed

Romans 8:31 NIV

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:32 NIV

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Romans 8:33 NIV

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.

Romans 8:34 NIV

Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Romans 8:35 NIV

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Romans 8:36 NIV

As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

Romans 8:37 NIV

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Romans 8:38 NIV

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,

Romans 8:39 NIV

neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.