Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRO

Depression shows on the face.

Studies show that depression takes a toll on the entire body, but can be seen very easily on the face.

Both because people tend to be more unkept, but also, because depression manifests as fatigue.

There’s a saying, ‘the only thing more exhausting than being depressed is pretending you’re not.’

This kind of exhaustion or fatigue is always apparent in the face.

That’s why, when depression sets in the eyes dull, the skin dries out, dark circles appear under the eyes, the edges of the mouth turn downward, the forehead loses its elasticity.

The Psalmist knows this and it shows best in the King James.

In verse 5, the Psalmist proclaims, ‘I shall yet praise [the Lord] for the help of His countenance.’

Countenance is a figurative usage of the Hebrew word for face.

When we say that the Lord has turned His countenance to us, we mean that he has seen us, that His face has been turned to us.

So, the Psalmist uses the literal form in verse 11 when he says, ‘I shall yet praise [the Lord] who is the health of my face.’

So, what is depression?

What drains the life out of the soul in such a way that it can be so clearly seen in the face?

WHAT IS IT?

…what is depression?

What drains the life out of the soul in such a way that it can be clearly seen in the face?

Virtually everyone has experienced a ‘down’ day, often for no apparent reason.

You might say you woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

You might say you are just a little out of sorts or that you are in a funk today.

Polite references like these are commonplace for Americans.

Yet as familiar as we may be with ‘the blues,’ the depths of severe depression remain mysterious.

Virtually everyone has experienced a ‘down’ day, often for no apparent reason.

You might say you woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

You might say you are just a little out of sorts or that you are in a funk today.

Polite references like these are commonplace for Americans.

Yet as familiar as we may be with ‘the blues,’ the depths of severe depression remain mysterious.

Depression is embodied emotional suffering.

It is not simply a state of mind or a negative view of life, but something that affects the entire self.

Severe episodes of depression include negative thoughts about friends, family, and yourself.

It comes with emotional pain, physical problems, lethargy, difficulty getting your thoughts together, and virtually no interest in things happening around you.

Depression is a hopeless condition.

[B] [HOPEFUL] [CHILD PHOTO] But, when a depressed person is relieved from their affliction, their health returns like an innocent child; their eyes brighten, their skin regains its pigment and tightens around their eyes and forehead.

They look younger, more vibrant, more resilient.

Even more youthful.

But, when a depressed person is relieved from their affliction, their health returns, their face appears like an innocent child; their eyes brighten, their skin regains its pigment and tightens around their eyes and forehead.

They look younger, more vibrant, more resilient.

Even more youthful.

The Psalmist tells us that though he suffers from depression and goes about his days as a mourner, he is hopeful because he knows that the Great Healer will restore his face…and with it, his emotional and spiritual vitality.

[PAUSE]

So, where does depression comes from?

I guess the question goes something like this: If I have been called into relationship with God through Jesus Christ, if I have been forgiven for all my sins past, present, and future, if God wants me to experience peace and joy, if He has called me into His presence, then why do I continue to struggle with depression?

There are a number of reasons and I’ll hit a few.

The first is personal temperament.

It’s simply the way God created me to be.

Some people would say, no, everyone has to decide if they are going to give in to depression or not.

But, that is simply not the way depression works.

It’s a disorder that is effected by your body chemistry.

Sure, anyone could suffer from depression if they were put in the right circumstances.

But, some people are predisposed to it in a way that makes it virtually unavoidable.

Your personal temperament makes a great difference in your experience of the Christian life.

There are people who are particularly prone to depression.

That does not mean that they are any worse off than others.

It’s simply the way God made them.

I’m not saying we should submit to our depression simply because ‘God made me this way’—that’s an excuse alcoholics often use; I’m just saying there are underlying reasons.

And certainly that would also be true for those who suffer because of the second reason, which is their physical condition—either due to poor health or injury.

We are made up of mind, body, and spirit.

These parts affect each other and are so connected that—as an example—oftentimes it is difficult to know whether we have a headache because we’ve exhausted our mental capacities or because we’re dehydrated.

The most spiritual Christians among us are well aware that they are more prone to spiritual attack when they are physically weak.

So our physical condition can be a direct cause of depression as well.

A third reason for depression is reaction—this is one of the most common for us today.

We may react to a great blessing, or an unusual or exciting experience but, we become depressed as a reaction to something negative that happens in our lives.

This was the case for the Psalmist.

If you see the heading in your Bible, this Psalm was a song written, ‘For the Music Director.

A Contemplative Maskil of the sons of Korah.’

The sons of Korah were like the band leaders of the day.

They led the music for the Israelites who came to worship God at the temple in Jerusalem.

As we will see in a moment, the Music Director for the temple was displaced from the temple for some reason.

It’s likely this was written shortly after the exile, when Israel was taken into captivity in Babylon.

We don’t really know, but it’s clear he was unable to go to the temple and worship.

His reaction to the displacement is depression.

He says, ‘My tears have been my food day and night.’

The people around him mock him and mock God, ‘they always say to me, “Where is your God?”’

So he laments, ‘When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me.’

Have you ever felt like this? Have you ever felt like you were being poured out, emptied of your spirit and emotions?

That’s where the Psalmist is.

He has no apparent control over his expression.

His face—his countenance—has fallen and he is left empty.

He remembers how, he ‘would travel with the throng of people,’ how he ‘proceeded with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and thanks, with a multitude making a pilgrimage.’

He had a great and honorable responsibility at the temple and he loved living a life of worship to God and service at the temple, but it was all taken away from him.

The Psalmist wanted nothing more than to meet with God and he is trapped by his depression.

He laments, ‘As the deer pants after the water brooks, so my soul pants after You, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When will I come and appear before God?’

The Psalmist wanted nothing more than to meet with God and he was trapped by his depression.

He lamented, ‘As the deer pants after the water brooks, so my soul pants after You, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When will I come and appear before God?’

He longs to return to the temple and appear before God, but he can’t, and it is sucking the life out of him.

[PAUSE]

A fourth reason for depression is the devil.

Now the devil very well may be the empowerment behind depression due to temperament, physical condition, or reaction.

I just don’t want you to be unaware of the devil’s scheme.

He is the adversary and the deceiver.

He seeks to condemn you before God and the world.

And so the devil takes your depression and goes to the world with a very simple message.

He points to the depressed Christian and says to the world, [SLOW/EMPHATIC] ‘Really?

You want to be like this?’

The devil uses depressed Christians to turn people away from God.

And a fifth reason for depression, God Himself.