Daily Devotion: The Spiritual Warfare of Depression

Bible Reading: Psalm 77

Key Verse: Verse 3 - “I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.”

Key Words: my spirit was overwhelmed

Psalm 77:22, “In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.” Mark the words: “my soul refused to be comforted.”

The events that led to the psalmist David writing this 77th Psalm is uncertain. It could have been written after the death of one of his sons: Amnon, Absalom, or even his baby boy birthed by Bathsheba. The event of this writing could be while David was being pursued by Saul; but, in all likelihood, the psalm was written during the time of Absalom’s and Ahithophel’s rebellion against David. Whatever the occasion for the writing of the psalm, it’s easy to tell that David is battling with depression.

• His soul is in turmoil (verse 2).
• He had a complaining spirit (verse 3).
• Evidently, he had sinned against God (verses 3 and 7).
• He can’t sleep or speak (verse 4).
• David calls his depression an infirmity (verse 10). (Infirmity means an illness caused by grieving.)

But the good news is that David overcame his depression. Verses 11 through 20 tell us how this was accomplished.

• He focused on God’s goodness (verses 10b through 12a).
• He talked about God’s goodness (verses 12b, 14 through 20).
• He went to “church” (verse 13).

There are three things I tell people who are going through the spiritual warfare of depression. First of all, spend time each day, particularly first thing in the morning and the last thing at night, in God’s Word. Secondly, invest your life in others, particularly the elderly or those who are ill. Last of all, run to the house of God, not from the house of God; and may God grant you victory over your depression.

What to do:
✞ Being down in spirit only becomes a real problem when we don’t want to get “up.”

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