Mortifying Depression

Well, our study is Feelings and Faith by Brian Borgman, Cultivating Godly Emotions in the Christian Life.! And after spending several weeks on the foundations of human emotions as we find them in Scripture, our book turned to the section on mortifying ungodly emotions or putting to death ungodly emotions.

We've looked at sinful anger, unforgiveness and bitterness. Last week, anxiety, worry and fear. And this week, depression.

That's the last that we'll look at in this section on mortifying ungodly emotions. Not that these are the only ungodly emotions that we have or struggle with, but these are some of the main ones.

And then in two weeks, we'll move on to the next section of the book that talks about cultivating godly emotions. There are some emotions that need to be killed and there are some that need to be cultivated.

And we'll turn to the positive emotions and see them in the Lord Jesus and then see how it is that we cultivate those in our life. But for this morning then, what a topic for the joy of the resurrection morning.

Depression. Depression. And yet I trust the Lord will use it to direct us to Christ and the joy of the resurrection. Some may be surprised to find depression under the section of mortifying, sinful, ungodly emotions.

I want to begin with Borgman's own carefully selected words. He says, As a pastor, I take depression very seriously. We lost a young woman in our congregation to suicide during a prolonged depression.

More than once, I've been in the hospital emergency room due to failed suicide attempts of depressed persons. Only a worthless physician doubts the pain, darkness, helplessness, and hopelessness of those who suffer from depression.

It is a dangerous physician who throws a few Bible verses at those who are depressed and tells them just to have more faith. As I approach this final chapter on mortifying, ungodly emotions, I want to deal with depression as sensitively and biblically as I can.

Depression is complex. The medical and physiological issues are complex. The emotional and spiritual issues are complex. We will focus on some basics and hopefully I will provide some biblical principles to deal with some facets of depression.

He's not going to answer all of our questions this morning in this one chapter. But to begin with, he takes us to depression as described in the Bible.

Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 28. Some of you will right away recognize that this is found in that portion where God's covenant of Israel had both blessings if they obeyed and curses if they disobeyed.

And that's where we're at here in Deuteronomy 28. God is laying out the blessings for obedience and then he turns to the curses for disobedience.

And anyone who suffered with depression can identify with many if not all of these descriptions of depression that are found here. And if you've never felt this depression, then thank God for that.

Look at verses 65 through 67. This is what will happen to you, he says to Israel, if you turn from me and break my covenant.

Verse 65. Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart.

You will live in constant suspense filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. In the morning you will say, if only it were evening.

And in the evening you will say, if only it were morning. Because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see. A despairing heart.

A lack of hope. No reason to live. A desire at night time for the morning. And when morning comes, a desire for evening. Jeremiah 13, 16.

Jeremiah announces this curse to the disobedient nation. They had forsaken God and broken his covenant. So these curses would come upon them. And this is how he proclaims it to them in Jeremiah 13, 16.

You hope for light. But he will turn it to thick darkness and change it to deep gloom. Ed Welch, in his book on depression, refers to depression as a stubborn darkness that refuses to lift.

A stubborn darkness that just settles over the soul. Continual night time of the soul. Now, turn to Psalm 42.

The book of Psalms deals with the whole range of human experience. David and the other few psalmists open up their hearts in this book of devotions to God.

And we get to see human emotion in its many various expressions. And so we're not surprised to find psalms dealing with depression.

Psalm 42, verses 5 and 11 and chapter 43 and verse 5 all say the same thing. Three times the psalmist uses this mournful refrain.

Found in verse 5 of 42. Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

A downcast soul disturbed within him. It's the language of despair, of depression. It's a man fighting for hope, a reason to live on.

And many of the psalms of lament are filled with this state of mind and emotion. Look to Psalm 77 and verses 7 through 9.

Again, try to feel, try to sense and enter into the emotion of Asaph here as he's crying out to the Lord. Will the Lord reject forever?

Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful?

Has he in anger withheld his compassion? So darkness closes in and haunts the depressed soul and makes all kinds of suggestions, horrible thoughts about God.

What are some of the horrible thoughts about God that come to this depressed soul? What are they? He's been rejected.

Will you reject forever? What else? He's forgotten. Forsaken.

No unfailing love for me. Never again will I taste his favor. Hope deferred makes the heart sick.

The proverb says. A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Now when you read about drying up the bones, it's talking about it affects your physical condition.

So a depressed, crushed spirit without hope dries up the bones. It affects you physically. And they all have to do with this depressed condition.

Depressed condition. What was the problem with the two depressed disciples on the way to Emmaus? In Luke chapter 24. Their faces were downcast.

Why? What's got them down? Okay. Their hope was gone. Remember, we had hoped that this was the one who was going to redeem Israel.

Past tense. We had hoped. But when he died and was buried, our hopes were dashed. And that's why we're down and depressed. Hope.

To live without hope, Welch says, is to live without a future. Without hope, you feel like the walking dead. Now can you think of other persons in the Bible that we meet up with who were depressed?

Think about Genesis to Revelation. Depressed people you've met in the Bible. Mark. Mark. When? When? Okay.

Remember that? He's so depressed. He sits down under the broom tree and prays to die. Alright. Who else? Jonah. Jonah. And why is he depressed?

Because he wanted to see the people destroyed. He's depressed because his preaching was so successful that all of Nineveh repented and thereby warded off the judgment that he had proclaimed was coming.

And so he's, take me out of here, Lord. I'm done. I don't want to stick around and see your blessing on these people. He's depressed. He's... No reason to live.

Anyone else? Okay. Paul was to the place where he didn't think that he was going to live any further. In despair.

But not total despair, as he says in Corinth. Perplexed, but not in despair. But he didn't think he would go on living. Despaired even of life.

Come on. There's a whole book named after one of these guys. Okay. Why was she depressed? Alright. God had shut up her womb.

She was depressed. She wouldn't even eat. Judas. For having betrayed innocent blood. Enough to take his life?

Amber? Job. Yeah. We see Job depressed, don't we? Not at the first. But as the trial lingered on and on.

He's depressed. We find faith in Job, but sometimes it's just a flickering light, isn't it? You can barely even see it. Who else?

Someone over here. There. There. There. Well, there's certainly a sorrow there.

I don't know that I would call it depression there, but there are other, when he goes into Gethsemane, and he speaks of his heart being, what is the language he uses?

He's sore, oppressed, and afflicted, and it's very close to, if not the sinful. When we're talking about mortifying sinful emotion, he didn't have the sinful elements of our depression that our depression often takes.

But certainly there was a sadness that came upon the Son of God. Yes. Jeremiah, Lamentations. Jeremiah, Lamentations. Okay. Jeremiah, Lamentations.

He says, God has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light. He's made me walk in darkness. He even poetically chides his mother for having given birth to him.

And then he curses the day he was born. Yes, it's a familiar theme. We do see it in Scripture, don't we? Borgman goes on then to give signs of depression.

I think we've seen many of them. I'm not going to take the time to go further, but he talks about everything from that emotional pain to emotional numbness where you don't feel anything.

You're just totally indifferent to anything. And the both can be found together in the depressed person. And so he says, depression doesn't look exactly the same in every person.

There's different degrees of it, but it should be taken seriously. And those who've never experienced it can become frustrating, wondering why the depressed person can't just snap out of it.

Now, he turns us then to the sources of depression. Where does this come from? The Bible teaches us that we are body-soul creatures.

We have a body, but we are more than body. We have a soul, but we are more than soul. We're soul-body creatures. And Jesus distinguishes between those two.

Don't fear those who can kill the body. After that, can do no more. But fear him who can cast both soul and body into hell. So, these two are distinguished, but they're found together in our humanity.

What makes us human? Now, which of these two, soul or body, is the cause of depression? Depression. Well, the two are so intimately intertwined that they can affect each other.

Physical problems can lead to soulish problems, spiritual problems, prolonged illness, childbirth, surgery, hormonal changes, changes in diet, fatigue.

It can all be factors that lead us into depression. Not necessarily so, but can be situations that would set us up for a depression and tremendous spiritual difficulties.

I think that we're probably familiar with that. But also, the opposite is true. That spiritual problems can also lead to depression and even physical problems.

Look at Psalm 32. And we see another one of these psalms in which we meet up with a very depressed David.

He's writing of it in the past tense. He's no longer depressed. He's singing the praises of God in this psalm. But he's remembering how he was. Verse 3 of Psalm 32.

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away. There's the physical effects. Through my groaning all day long. For day and night, your hand was heavy upon me.

My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.

And you forgave the guilt of my sin. Now, what was the root cause of David's depression that was affecting him physically so that his strength was sapped?

His sin. And as long as he kept it in and did not confess it, he was depressed. But he says, when I confess, then your hand was lifted.

And you forgave the guilt of my sin. And my depression fled. So, unconfessed sin and its attending guilt are a common cause of depression.

Chapter 38. It's another Psalm that speaks to this reality. And again, it's David.

And he says, So there's physical elements to his depression.

Verse 4. My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. Now we're into the soulish parts of his depression. A burden too heavy to bear.

My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly. I'm bowed down, brought very low. All day long I go about mourning.

My back is filled with searing pain. There's no health in my body. I am feeble and utterly crushed. I groan in anguish of heart. All my longings lie open before you, O Lord.

My sighing is not hidden from you. My heart pounds. My strength fails me. Even the light has gone from my eyes. So there's the darkness.

And it's again all because of his sin that he was cherishing and not confessing. Borgman says, We cannot discount the depressive power of guilt that comes from sin.

As a 13-year-old boy raised in a Catholic home, I was eaten up with guilt because of my sin. I went to confession and did my penance, but nothing brought relief. I hated the morning because I had to face the day.

And I hated the night because it meant being alone with myself, my thoughts, and God. God saved me through faith in Christ and delivered me from my guilt and consequential depression.

My pastoral observation is that people who suffer from depression frequently, not always, have sin-related issues that have not been resolved through confession and repentance.

So, the Bible sets that before us. What are the sources of depression? It can be sin and guilt.

Other factors of the soul may contribute to depression. Grief over the loss of a loved one. Over the losing of a job. A major life change.

That grief can easily turn into a dark depression. Stress over a job, over a marriage, over children, over finances can lead to depression.

And I trust that we see that we've got these setups for depression all around us. Is there not a lot of grief and stress in our world? It doesn't mean they have to depress us, but they make the situation ripe for depression.

Satan makes much of these periods in our life, stress and grief, to try to kick us when we're down. Making all-out assaults on our faith, even as with Job.

And he brings us to and casts doubts upon the goodness and upon the love of God, as we've seen in Asaph, Psalm 77. So, there's the devilish contribution to depression.

It's easy for depressed people to fall into a downward spiral of thinking and acting. Sometimes the very coping mechanisms whereby people cope with their depression only lead them further down into it.

Some run to drug and alcohol abuse. Some to overeating. Or to anger. Or to overwork. Or to neglect work and responsibilities.

And these things just speed up the downward spiral as they add to the problem and bring further guilt and deepen the pit in the sense of hopelessness.

So, the housewife perhaps is depressed and so she doesn't feel like doing any housework. And so, that's her way of coping is just to withdraw and to do nothing.

While the pile of dishes and laundry get higher and higher. What does it do to the depression? Makes her further depressed. Further hopeless. The pile is so high, I'll never get out from under it. And so, the very coping mechanisms can actually take a person deeper into the depression.

Well, how do we deal with it? I wanted to get here as fast as we could. And here we are now at dealing with depression. And Borgman's wise counsel begins with the fact, since we are both soul body creatures, we need to deal with it on both of those fronts.

So, first of all, he says, don't forget your body. Don't just immediately assume, well, I've got some sin. I've got to just scrape my innards until I find that sin that's got me depressed. Don't start there.

Think, first of all, about your body. You're not a disembodied spirit. God gave you a body. And it's intricately connected to your soul.

And how you treat the body can affect how your soul feels. So, he says, be sure to take care of the temple that God's given you, your body. A right balance of exercise, rest, and sleep, and a good diet, and avoiding destructive substances.

Borgman reminds us of 1 Timothy 4.8, that physical training is of some value. And he says, here is one place where it has some value.

He talks about diet. Our fast food culture is turning our bodies into toxic waste dumps, making us unhealthy. And in many ways, what you eat is what you become.

And there's this influence upon the body. And the body drags down the soul, and it can become a grief slide into depression. You need to get sufficient rest.

We think of Elijah's, I think Mark mentioned Elijah's depression. And the case can be made that the high energy, exciting, what must have been adrenaline rush of the challenge on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18.

And then running for his life seemed to contribute to his depression in chapter 19. You know how you are when you've been through a ringer emotionally, and adrenaline pumping, and excitement.

And then there's an after effect, isn't there? And it does appear that part of Elijah's depression was contributed to by his fatigue.

After a day's journey into the desert, he comes to the broom tree and sits down under it and prays that he might die. I've had enough, Lord, take my life. I know better than my ancestors. It's interesting.

What's the first thing God does to Elijah? He feeds him and puts him to sleep. Isn't that interesting?

Before he tries to sort out all of his fuzzy thinking and his wrong thoughts, he first just feeds him and puts him to sleep. He realizes his servant is a body, soul creature.

And only after proper nourishment and rest does God sort out his faulty thinking. So Borgman encourages us, if we're depressed, to see a competent medical doctor.

And he says we need discernment here because there are many in the medical field that treat depression by simply prescribing a psychotropic drug. And that may actually be just dulling the symptoms without dealing with the root cause.

And often that's all the depressed person wants is just a pill to fix their feelings. But there are tests that can be taken to check for some of the physical deficiencies that are known to cause depression.

He mentions hyperthyroidism, mineral and vitamin deficiencies. This is not a medical course, but he's just telling us God made us with a body.

And if that body is not firing correctly and there's ill health in the body, it could be a part that is a contributing part of the depression.

So check it out. Read up. If you take medications, study them thoroughly. Don't just go to a non-Christian doctor who may just throw drugs at everything that comes into his office.

Realize we live in a day where science is the savior of mankind and drugs are the answer. Well, be very careful. Don't just take that step unthinkingly.

Get involved in the process. But then he moves on. Don't forget your soul. Whatever you do in treating depression physically, secondly, don't forget your soul.

Some depression is more physically related. Some depression is more spiritually related. A lot of depression is both physically and spiritually combined.

Maybe one was the starting cause and then the other joined ranks and now you've got to deal with both. But in dealing with depressed Elijah, though God first ministered to his physical needs, he didn't stop there.

He got him good and rested and fed and then he says, now, now, Elijah, we've got to we've got to have a talk. You're not thinking right. He went on to deal with his soul.

And he counseled him and he dealt with spiritual issues. His I'm the only one left syndrome. God met that head on. I've got seven thousand who haven't bowed the knee to Baal. He reminded him who he was, his power, his greatness.

You've forgotten this. He brings these important truths home to Elijah, his servant. So deal with the body, deal with the soul. Now, the body or the Bible does not claim to be a medical book for the body.

But it does claim to deal with ailments of the soul, doesn't it? That's its domain. That's its that's what it majors in dealing with the soul.

So there are four crucial biblical principles in dealing with depression that will conclude with. Biblical principles in dealing with depression. Number one, deal with any known sin.

Maybe there are certain sins we failed to deal with. And the depression is part of the father's displeasure and discipline in our lives. He withdraws a sense of his presence.

He withdraws a sense of assurance that it's all is well between me and my God. And that heaviness upon us, as we find in the Psalms, is possibly due to some controversy with God, some idol of the heart that we've not been willing to let go of.

So that's a biblical principle. Deal with any known sin. We're familiar with William Cooper's depression, the great hymn writer and friend of John Newton.

And it does appear that there were physical elements to his depression. But there were also spiritual elements to it.

As he himself tells us in the words to this hymn. Oh, for a closer walk with God. A calm and heavenly frame. A light to shine upon the road that leads me to the Lamb.

Where is the blessedness I knew when first I saw the Lord? Where is the soul-refreshing view of Jesus and his word? What peaceful hours I then enjoyed.

How sweet their memory still. But now I find an aching void the world can never fill. Return, oh heavenly dove. Return, sweet messenger of rest.

I hate the sin that made thee mourn and drove thee from my breasts. The dearest idol I have known, whatever that idol be.

Help me to take it from thy throne and worship only thee. So shall my walk be close with God. Calm and serene my frame. So pure light shall mark the road that leads me to the Lamb.

And we find that the idol that had become so dear to him was a person in his life. That had taken the place, too important a place in his life.

And was leading him into depression because of problems in that relationship. So deal with any known sin.

And so he gives us that testament to the fact that sometimes that is the primary cause of our depression. It was that way with David. Psalm 32, Psalm 51, Psalm 38.

And he found relief in confession and repentance. The second biblical lesson about dealing with depression.

Take every thought captive with truth. This is a recurring theme in this book, isn't it? Depression is cruel. And whatever the root cause, it can make us vulnerable to believing lies.

Lies that we must combat with truth. Remember, that's one of the chief lessons if we walk away with anything from this class.

Is that we fight wrong feelings with right thinking. We fight against wrong emotions and feelings with right thinking.

And so it is as we find in the scriptures. As God deals with Elijah. As he deals with Job. As he deals with his servants.

He brings the truth to scatter the lies that have been contributing to the depression. Never underestimate the power of God's word to revive and heal and restore hope.

Amen. If there's guilt, cross-centered truth and gospel promises are needed. What else can take away the depression from a guilty conscience?

But the blood of Jesus. That cleanses us from all sin and guilt. That's a truth that needs to be proclaimed to the one who has sin and guilt as the cause of depression.

Is it a troubled heart with anxiety, stress pouring down upon it? Then the character and promises of God. Those truths that we saw last week in this class need to be brought in.

The word is a healing balm for the depressed. And we need to preach the truth to others and to ourselves. David's depressed.

And God sends Nathan with a word from God to bring him out of it. Now it was a sharp word. And sometimes the words that we need to speak to the depressed person when there's sin involved.

Needs to be just as sharp as Nathan's words. You're the man, David. And God used that to convince him of his sin. To bring him to repentance. And to restore soundness of mind.

Heart. And relationship with Christ. With God. So. We find that's what the psalmist is doing in Psalm 42.

When he speaks to himself. Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disquieted within me? Put your hope in God. Put your hope in God. He's not talking to anybody but himself.

For I will yet praise him. My Savior. My God. So you see what he's doing? He's talking about. I have a Savior. I have a God. And so I need to put my hope in him.

Listen to what Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones had to say about talking to ourselves. Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?

You must take yourself in hand. You have to address yourself. You have to preach to yourself. You have to question yourself. Then you must go on to remind yourself of God.

Who God is. What God is. And what God has done. And what God has pledged himself to do. So that's the second thing.

We not only confess any known sin. But secondly we take every thought captive by the truth. We bring the truth in to scatter the darkness. And thirdly we do the right thing.

We can change our feelings by doing the right thing. It's Borgman says it's not easy but it's biblical. And he cites Cain in Genesis 4. Remember Cain's face was downcast.

Cain is in a depressed condition. And it's showing on his hang dog appearance. And so the Lord comes to him and says if you do what is right. You will.

Will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right. Sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you but you must master it. Cain was to do the right thing.

And so in depression. Sometimes the biggest help is just doing the next thing. Fight off your self pity. And do what you're supposed to do. We talked about the way depression can paralyze actions.

And that paralysis needs to be fought against. It may mean that the thing that you need to do is just clean the kitchen. If that's part of the depression scene on your home front. Then clean the kitchen.

It may mean having your devotions. When you don't feel like it. And often we feel better for having done the right thing. Rather than spiraling down with even more reasons to be depressed.

More reasons to be guilty. And also doing not just the right thing for ourselves. But doing for others. Very often God has used that to set someone free.

Just to forget about yourself long enough to go serve some other needy person. A healthy thing for depressed people. And lastly. Prayer and fellowship.

Number four. Prayer and fellowship with a close and trusted friend. Can be a helpful means of grace. A friend who will remind us of the truth. Truths that we desperately need to be gripped with.

Who will speak the truth in love to us. Using the sword of the spirit. The word of God. Will help us fight for faith. That depression seeks to kill. Now that friend may be living.

Or it may be a dead friend. It may be the author of a good book. And Borgman tells us of several. It may be someone who's written a book. On depression. And is unpacking and applying biblical truths for depressed people.

Like Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones' spiritual depression. Its causes. And its cures. I believe we have it in the library. If we don't see me. Ed Welch.

Depression. A Stubborn Darkness. An excellent book. John Piper. When the darkness will not lift. We can get these books for you. So. Having someone.

A trusted friend. Or an author. Bringing truth to bear. A tremendous help. And I close with. Borgman's. Own testimony. To the power of the truth.

Of God's word. Years ago. He says. I used to teach theology courses. At a local Bible school. After class one evening. A young man approached me. And asked for an appointment. He was a tall.

Good looking. Athletic. Academically gifted. Young man. Who had grown up. In a Christian home. Now engaged to be married. He worked as a CPA. And taught high level. Tennis lessons. And he had aspirations.

For the ministry. We sat down. And for the next hour. I listened to his. Heart wrenching story. Of debilitating depression. Darkness. Uncertainty. Anger.

Fear. Shame. Inner turmoil. And chaos. Overwhelmed him. He had suffered from this. Depression for years. He had sought. Professional help. He was scared.

Nothing seemed to help. And he was about to get married. How could he bring a new wife. Into his murky world of depression. He did not know what to do.

I still remember my own eyes. Welling up with tears. As he communicated. An emotional pain. That I was personally. Unfamiliar with. My first reaction was. I am way out of my depth here.

This guy needs more than I can give him. The problem was. That he had already been to the professionals. He wanted my help. I asked him some questions. About his own conversion.

And walk with the Lord. There was nothing suspect. In his profession of faith. Everything seemed to be in place. Told him quite honestly. That all I had to offer him. Was the word. Prayer. And fellowship.

Friendship. As we came to the end. I said. You know. The book report. Due next month for class. I want you to read a book. That isn't in the syllabus. I want you to read. Martin Lloyd-Jones.

His spiritual depression. After you read it. Come back to my study. And we can talk about it. He thanked me. We prayed. And he left. After each class. He would say. I'm enjoying the book.

I'd say. I'm praying for you. He finished the book. And came back. With tears. He explained. Point by point. How God used the truth. In the book. To confront. Wrong thinking.

Weak theology. And low views of God. He was confident. God was doing something. After the semester. We met again. It was nearly 12 weeks. After our first appointment.

And again. He reiterated the impact. The book had on him. It was truth. He needed to hear. It was truth. He needed to own. In the process. God brought him. Out of the depression.

And gave him. An emotional stability. That lasts to this day. Almost eight years later. He's a husband. A father. And a seminary student. Who is thriving. As he walks. With God.

In truth. We fight. Wrong feelings. With right thinking. Well. Let's bless the Lord. For his truth. The Lord raises up.

Those who are bowed down. Let's seek him. And find in him. All that we need. Let's pray together. Our father. This has been. A study of a subject.

That has many question marks. Over it. And we confess. That we don't even. Understand ourselves. And don't always. Even understand. Why we feel. So depressed. Or in despair.

We thank you. That you understand us. Through and through. We thank you. That there is enough. In you. To cause us. To rejoice. In the Lord always. And so would you come.

And minister to any. Who are in this state. Would you. Make us friends. Who would speak truth. Into each other's lives. To encourage. And to build up. And to tear down.

Wrong thoughts. Of God. And to build up. Right feelings. And thoughts. Of him. So do that. This day. As we rejoice. Together. In the truth. Of the resurrection.

May you use it. To send us all. On our way. Rejoicing. Even in the Lord Jesus. Who lives for us. We pray in his name. Amen. Amen. Amen.