A Song of the Depressed Man, Disquieted (NKJ) Disturbed (NI V)
This Psalm starts out so well but quickly descends into one of David's most depressing Laments. He is defeated not just on the outside by his enemies, but worse yet on the inside. His inner house is defeated, discouraged, disquieted and disturbed. Let's call it what it was…David was depressed.
I take hope in the Psalm. I am not alone when I face depression. The great preacher, Charles Spurgeon, struggled lifelong with severe bouts of depression that often left him bed-ridden for long periods. He was mightily used of God, and was a powerful preacher often rising from his bed of affliction and returning to it after delivering the word of the Lord.
Spurgeon and David had some things in common; they loved God with all their hearts -
As we plainly see in verse one, "As the deer pants for the waterbrook so pants my heart after you, O God."
Yet, loving God passionately was the very fulcrum Satan, the enemy, used to defeat them. Loving God so deeply led them to become super-sensitive to their shortcomings, inadequacies and failures. Though often on the outside they appeared successful, even victorious, on the inside where only they and the Lord saw, their secret thoughts, passions and attitudinal failures left them depressed.
They felt themselves inadequate failures before the God they served. Satan planted in
Their thought impressions that were not God's thoughts toward them. Their false guilt
Was not of the Holy Spirit.
Let us remember when we are assaulted by thoughts and feelings of inadequacies that
most often there ARE NOT the whispers of the Spirit, but sound-alike whispers of the
accuser of the brethren.
New King James Bible, Bible Gateway Index
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