Tag: depression

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Scum and Villainy Cantina

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

(Philippians 4:4-7) ESV

We (that’s me and the Holy Spirit) recently had a Twitter exchange with someone who resented God for their very existence. We got nowhere trying to encourage them to be thankful.

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A Logical Antidote to Guilt

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

(Romans 3:21-23) ESV

Scientific advancement has reached the point where we really can know the answers to some of the questions that people have wondered about for millennia.

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Destruction

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

(2 Thessalonians 2:3-4) NKJV

If souls are eternal and continue to exist regardless of our choices during life, or if our body is alive or dead; and the phrase soul-destroying means “continuing in a sad or depressed state,” is this meaning in the Bible?

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Soul Destroying

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

(Matthew 10:28) NKJV

“Soul destroying” is commonly used to mean “causing a person to feel very unhappy or depressed.” For example: the soul-destroying confinement of city life. This means that the soul is continuing in its unhappy state. It’s never taken to mean that the soul stops existing.

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Heart Condition

The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

(Jeremiah 17:9) NKJV

Heart condition may be substantially more complicated than whether we smoke, our cholesterol levels, or any of the related medical factors which are involved. It would appear that the condition of our heart is directly related to condition of our relationship with God.

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Only Half a Life?

worried girl in summer dress on train platform

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

(John 10:10) NKJV

Ernest Rutherford realized that Darwin’s theory of evolution needed a sound experimental foundation. Unfortunately, evolution as conceived by Darwin is wishful thinking, and so a contrived foundation was the best that Rutherford could do.

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Be discouraged: יָר֔וּץ – ratsats

Be discouraged: יָר֔וּץ – ratsats

  • fut.
    1. to break, bruise, crush
    2. trop. to treat with violence, to oppress
    3. intrans. to be broken, Ec. 12:6
  • Niph. to be broken, bruised.
  • Po. to oppress, Ju. 10:8
  • Hiph. to break in pieces, Ju. 9:53
  • Hithpo. to struggle together, Ge. 25.22
    • masc. a fragment, piece, Ps. 68:31
    • fem. oppression, Je. 22:17

Davidson Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon page DCXCI

Discouragement is one of the concepts used in the Bible to describe the emotional condition we call depression.

Read more…

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Why Art Thou Cast Down?

Open Door Baptist Church

  1. {To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah.} As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
  2. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
  3. My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
  4. When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.
  5. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
  6. O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.
  7. Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
  8. Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.
  9. I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
  10. As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?
  11. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. ( Psalms 42:1-11 )

We have talked before about depression.

If the Bible is a source of wisdom and knowledge which covers all life situations, then where does it talk about depression?

We found that it is described in the Bible in a couple of ways:

  1. A spirit of heaviness ( Isaiah 61:3 )
  2. Discouragement ( Isaiah 42:4 )

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. ( Isaiah 61:3 )

A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. ( Isaiah 42:3-4 )

Here we may be seeing it again described as feeling cast down. Today we would call this being downcast.

  1. (of a person’s eyes) looking downward.”her modestly downcast eyes”
  2. (of a person) feeling despondent. synonyms: despondent, disheartened, discouraged, dispirited, downhearted, low-spirited, in low spirits, hopeless, cast down, crestfallen, down, low, disconsolate, in despair, despairing, wretched, oppressed;

Disquieted isn’t in this list but it certainly is appropriate.

Being downcast means we are looking downward feeling discouraged. Depression can affect the outward appearance:

And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. ( Genesis 4:1-7 )

Is it possible that Cain was depressed? Abel’s offering was better than Cain’s. Animal husbandry doesn’t happen overnight, it takes generations of breeding to produce the type of offering that God was satisfied with. What if Cain watched Abel raising his livestock for years and knew the whole time that he really wasn’t putting in the effort like Abel was?

We know when we aren’t working hard enough or applying ourselves. Then we get depressed and unmotivated and it is hard to break out of it. We may get warnings at work or poor evaluations and we have to buck up. We know what will happen if we don’t:

For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. ( Hebrews 10:26-27 )

So how do we snap out of depression and get back on track?

Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. ( Psalms 43:1-5 )

We have to praise the Lord. This is the third time we have been able to find depression in the Bible and again we find that the cure is to praise the Lord!

  1. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise himfor the help of his countenance. ( Psalms 42:5 )
  2. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. ( Psalms 42:11 )
  3. to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; ( Isaiah 61:3 )
  4. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. ( Psalms 43:5 )

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Upon Your Bed

{To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm of David.} Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah. But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him. Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD. There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

(Psalms 4:1-8) KJV

Christmas is over. Once again the anticipation and excitement, planning and preparation, that builds in intensity from Thanksgiving and which bursts upon us in a flurry of excitement is over. The year is winding down

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