DEPRESSED

Psalm 42 – 43

“Why am I so depressed? Why this turmoil within me? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God.” (Psalm 42:5, 11, 43:5, HCSB).

After declining for nearly two decades, the suicide rate among Americans ages 10 to 24 jumped 56 percent between 2007 and 2017, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And for the first time the gender gap in suicide has narrowed: Though the numbers of suicides are greater in males, the rates of suicide for female youths increased by 12.7 percent each year, compared with 7.1 percent for male youths.At the same time, the rate of teen depression shot up 63 percent, an alarming but not surprising trend given the link between suicide and depression: In 2017, 13 percent of teens reported at least one episode of depression in the past year, compared with 8 percent of teens in 2007, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.[1]

These numbers ought to startle us. And yet, depression is not anything new. David, a king of Israel well over 2,000 years ago expressed himself in these two prayers that still resonate. The prayers were written at the head of the Jordan River, somewhere on Mt Hermon in northern Israel. In David’s era it was a wilderness. Note that David, having been raised and trained to be a shepherd was used to being alone. Yet this alone-ness is different. Instead of caring for sheep David is alone and remembering times when he was able to join his family, his community, for worship.

But don’t get lost in the depression. Remember, God is still active, God is still at work. God has not given up, God has not abandoned us, neither can God abandon us.

In my own experience, I know what it is to sense God’s absence, like David to be overwhelmed with circumstances totally beyond my control. I know what it is to feel isolated, alone, and overwhelmed. Yet, “Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God.” (Psalm 42:5, HCSB).

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/06/opinion/suicide-young-people.html?searchResultPosition=11, accessed on 1/27/20.