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TRANS FORMAT ION
7
Christians are not immune to emotional struggles and depres-
sion. The Bible addresses the reality of these emotions and how
we can deal with them in redemptive ways. The Psalms, Paul,
and Jesus provide us with illustrative and instructive examples
and wise counsel.
A
round 7.6% of the U.S. population experi-
ences moderate to severe depression in
any given year (Pratt & Brody, 2014), and
approximately 17% of all adults experience
unipolar depression at some time in their
lives. The Bible addresses the reality of the emotional
struggles humans face in life as a consequence of the fall,
sin, evil, and the curse. Job experienced affliction to the
point of despair: “My spirit is broken, my days are cut
short, the grave awaits me” (Job 17:1, NIV). David, after
his sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12), cried out to God:
“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always be-
fore me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done
what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge” (Ps. 51: 3-4, NIV). Elijah,
after his victory over the prophets of Baal, flees in despair
from the wrath of Jezebel, and asks to die (1 Kings 19).
In each of these events, we see a specific cause for the
subsequent emotional responses that we might recognize
today as situational depression. In contrast to chemical
depression, which has a biological or genetic cause where
the body chemistry does not function properly, situation-
al depression has psychological or cognitive and social
or environmental components that consume a person.
Even Paul experienced severe situational depression, as he
recounted to the Corinthian church:
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers,
about the hardships we suffered in the province of
Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our
ability to endure, so that we despaired (
exaporeo
—ut-
terly at a loss) even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we
felt the sentence of death. (2 Corinthians 1:8-9)
Jesus spoke of coming trials and warned, “Be careful,
or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation,
drunkenness and the anxieties (
merimna
—worries, con-
cerns) of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly
like a trap” (Luke 21:34).
DEPRESSION, LAMENTATION, AND HOPE
The psalmists understood the nature of emotional suf-
fering as they cried out to God. Their laments provide
an insight into the experience of depression and possible
responses (Christenson, 2007). In Psalm 102, the psalm-
ist expresses his distress to God.
For my days vanish like smoke;
my bones burn like glowing embers.
My heart is blighted and withered like grass;
I forget to eat my food.
In my distress I groan aloud
and am reduced to skin and bones. (Ps. 102: 3-5, NIV)
Hope is found in keeping your focus on God and holding to his prom-
ises.
For the LORD will rebuild Zion
and appear in his glory.
He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;
he will not despise their plea. (Ps. 102:16-17)
David expressed similar sentiments in his lament to God:
Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress;
my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
my soul and body with grief.
My life is consumed by anguish
and my years by groaning;
my strength fails because of my affliction
and my bones grow weak.
Because of all my enemies,
I am the utter contempt of my neighbors
and an object of dread to my closest friends—
those who see me on the street flee from me.
I am forgotten as though I were dead;
I have become like broken pottery. (Ps. 31:9-12, NIV)
David also found refuge and hope in God:
In you, LORD, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in your righteousness. . . .
Into your hands I commit my spirit;
deliver me, LORD, my faithful God.
I hate those who cling to worthless idols;
as for me, I trust in the LORD.
I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
for you saw my affliction
and knew the anguish of my soul.
You have not given me into the hands of the enemy
but have set my feet in a spacious place. . . .
How abundant are the good things
that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you bestow in the sight of all,
on those who take refuge in you. . . .
Praise be to the LORD,
for he showed me the wonders of his love
when I was in a city under siege.
In my alarm I said,
“I am cut off from your sight!”
Yet you heard my cry for mercy
when I called to you for help.
Love the LORD, all his faithful people!
The LORD preserves those who are true to him,
but the proud he pays back in full.
Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the LORD. (Ps. 31:1, 5-8, 19, 21-24,
NIV)
by Ian F. Jones, Ph.D., Ph.D.