The world we live in today tries to make us think depression is a new thing, and that it is a physical problem, a medical illness like diabetes, high blood pressure, or even a broken bone.
However, the difference is that God’s Word says nothing about how to cure diabetes or how to fix a broken bone, but it is chock full of truth about how our hearts and souls are mended at the cross, and how Jesus rescues and delivers us from darkness. So the question is, do we turn to God or to man when dealing with the exact thing in which God specializes?
In situations where the Bible speaks clearly we believe what the verse in the center of the Bible says: “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man” (Psalm 118:8). And, “If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the LORD and rely on your God” (Isaiah 50:10).
Yes, the Lord has been healing crushed spirits, and broken hearts throughout the ages, He has been lifting the spirit of heaviness and removing the spirit of despair from men and women for thousands of years, and He has been powerfully rescuing people from darkness for as long back as there have been people enveloped in the dark cloud of depression. This is God’s realm of activity, it is His specialty as “the Great Physician”, and He is still today Yahweh-Rapha, “the Lord Who heals you” (Exodus 15:26).
"Note that it is God Himself who has delivered us from darkness. The word delivered (erusato) means to rescue or snatch from darkness. A person lost in pitch black darkness is hopeless unless someone rescues him. And note: he cannot be rescued by those who are lost in the same darkness as he is. No person who is in the world of darkness has light, or else he would use the light to get out of the darkness. This is the very reason God had to rescue man. He alone is light; therefore, He alone could reach down and snatch man from the darkness."
(POSB NT Cmy) Colossians 1:13
Something that can be helpful to us who have experienced this darkness is to simply study what the Bible says about it. As you read the verses below, see if they describe your condition, and notice how God intervenes. These verses will make up the majority of the teaching today:
2 Samuel 22:29 NLT O LORD, you are my lamp. The LORD lights up my darkness.
Job 12:22 NLT “He uncovers mysteries hidden in darkness; he brings light to the deepest gloom.”
Job 23:16-17 NLT God has made me sick at heart; the Almighty has terrified me. (17) Darkness is all around me; thick, impenetrable darkness is everywhere.
Psalms 107:10-14 NLT Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom, imprisoned in iron chains of misery. (11) They rebelled against the words of God, scorning the counsel of the Most High. (12) That is why he broke them with hard labor; they fell, and no one was there to help them. (13) “LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. (14) He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom; he snapped their chains.
Isaiah 9:2 NLT The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.
Isaiah 42:16 NLT I will lead blind Israel down a new path, guiding them along an unfamiliar way. I will brighten the darkness before them and smooth out the road ahead of them. Yes, I will indeed do these things; I will not forsake them.
Isaiah 45:7 NLT I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the LORD, am the one who does these things.
Isaiah 59:9 NLT So there is no justice among us, and we know nothing about right living. We look for light but find only darkness. We look for bright skies but walk in gloom.
Micah 7:8 NLT Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
Question 3. The above verses are all from the Old Testament. Please pick out the one with which you most identify, and write it out here:
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