I’ve been going through a bout of depression lately. Or, as Kierkegaard would more accurately describe it, bouts of melancholy. The 19th-century philosopher described such a state well:

“I do not care for anything. I do not care to ride, for the exercise is too violent. I do not care to walk, walking is too strenuous. I do not care to lie down, for I should either have to remain lying, and I do not care to do that, or I should have to get up again, and I do not care to do that either. Summa summarum: I do not care at all.”

When we lay aide all of the hocus-pocus and mumbo-jumbo of modern psychology and psychotherapy, and refuse to read such nonsense back into the Scriptures, pilgrims following the Jesus Way can still see and appreciate that there’s nothing unusual about experiencing intense periods of grief, loneliness, hopelessness, and despair. Reading through the Word of God provides an abundance of examples of past saints going through their own periods of melancholy.

One of those examples is Psalm 38. King David, described as a “man after God’s own heart,” wrote that he was “troubled” and “bowed down greatly.” He “mourned all the day long,” crying out due to the “turmoil” of his heart.

I can identify with David’s dejected and disheartened state. I doubt I’m alone.

Life doesn’t always turn out the way we think it will. The ideals and dreams that we have don’t always materialize as we thought they would. Disappointments, failures, and rejections seem to be the rule; satisfaction, success, and acceptance rare exceptions. Giving up seems easy. Overcoming appears impossible.

I see no way out of these states of melancholy other than seeking God and the Kingdom of our beloved Savior.

Self-deception can, and does, trick us into thinking we’re alright. Alcohol and drugs can, and do, hide our despair for a short time and make us forget it. Games and sports can, and do, distract us from our misery for a spell.

But only Jesus the Messiah, the Great Physician, can truly heal us from the feelings of sorrow that often rule us. Only He can deal with the root of the problem – that being our sinful state, the fallen world we live in, and our unrealistic expectations of how this vapor of a life is supposed to function.

Only Jesus provides His people with the perspective needed to overcome the grief, loneliness, hopelessness, and despair. Eternal perspective.

Jesus’ solution, His cure, for the melancholy and the depression and the emptiness is simple, yet profound.

We’re commanded to look to Him, not to other people. We’re told to look to Heaven, not this world. We’re to Feast on the Bread of Life, not the manna that’s here today but gone tomorrow. We’re to drink from the Living Water, not the putrid liquids that leave us longing for more.

So let’s commit ourselves to really seeking God during our low times of melancholy. Casting ourselves before the King. Crying out to Him – literally.

My hope for myself and for those of you sharing my experience, are expressed again by the words of King David:

“O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.

O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to His holy Name…

Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning…

O Lord, be my helper. You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!”