One Hope: Deliverance From Despair

Everyone is searching for hope. God has put us to the test by letting things get all “2020” and most of us have struggled to find hope. In this particular case, the psalm-writer is one of the worship-leaders of Israel and he was either being chased or exiled out of his country by unjust and godless enemies. Psalm 42 records his lament. In Psalm 43, his tone has turned more positive, more hopeful, as he talks back to his soul with truth.

In the boat with us this morning are 5 anchor truths about God we need to use in order for our lives to avoid shipwreck and find safe harbor one Day.

OUTLINE:

1. God is my _______________ when I’m _______________ (43:1).

2. God is my _______________ when I’m _______________ (43:2).

3. God is my _______________ when I’m _______________ (43:3).

4. God is my _______________ when I’m _______________ (43:4).

5. God is my _______________ when I’m _______________ (43:5).

APPLICATION QUESTIONS

James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” These questions are designed to help you apply today’s message to your life. We encourage you to thoughtfully answer these questions and discuss your answers with others. For more information about joining a Grow Group that uses these questions as the basis for weekly discussion, prayer, and accountability, please call the church office at (936) 582-1977.

1. Do/did you struggle with depression or know someone who does/did? Was there an event or reason that caused it? Made it worse? What would you say the cure to depression is?

2. What are the over-simplistic solutions that Christians give to other Christians when they are feeling down? What are some of the most hurtful things that well-meaning people say and do? Is there something of substance there that can be handled with greater wisdom and love? How?

3. How does God feel when we experience some of our deepest feelings? For example, when we feel shame over something done to us in our past? When we feel guilty for something we did wrong? When we feel deep sorrow because we are going through a prolonged period of pain or suffering? When we feel anxious or worried about the second half of this year? When we feel angry toward someone who has wronged us?

4. What would you say the difference is between listening to yourself and talking back to yourself? Do you see the psalmist doing this in Psalms 42 & 43? How might it help? See also Psalm 43:5; 13:1, 2; 62:5; 116:7; 103:1, 2; Colossians 3:2; Philippians 4:8; Ephesians 4:22–24; and 2 Corinthians 10:3–5.

5. Spend some time praying through Psalm 42 and 43. Think of all the ways the psalm-writer’s life parallels yours or someone else’s you know. Turn prayers of lament into prayers of hopeful praise.

“The ultimate cause of all spiritual depression is unbelief…I say that we must talk to ourselves instead of allowing ‘ourselves’ to talk to us! Most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself…The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: ‘Hope in God’—instead of muttering in this depressed and unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do. Then having done that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: ‘I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.’”

Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones, Spiritual Depression