DIAGNOSIS NEEDED (Psalm 38)

(An ongoing series on the 48 psalms suggested as “recommended reading” for times of depression, as listed in counselor-pastor David  Seamands’ book Healing for Damaged Emotions.)
“Sick as a dog”: the expression goes back to the early 1700s, when dogs weren’t pampered pals their owners took to veterinarians. If a dog was too sick to get well on its own, nature took its course. Not so today, when pets visit vets not only for illness and wound care, but also for wellness checks and vaccinations, dental care, neutering, and more.  

The “sick as a dog” idea has even come to the floral industry, which offers a special bouquet for somebody having a “ruff” time. You’ve guessed it: a cheery yellow and white bouquet with get-well balloon.  Oh yes, the white flowers are arranged to look like a dog, and there’s a bandage on one of its “paws.”  Only $55.

In Psalm 38, David would have probably called himself “sick as a dog.”  Given the primitive state of medicine in his times, he likely was sick often. You get a glimpse of medicine in his last days, when he was so old and cold that there just weren’t enough blankets to keep him warm. His caretakers’ solution: a beautiful young woman as a real-life heating pad. He was failing so badly that there was no hanky panky (1 Kings 1:1-4).

But at the time of this psalm, earlier in his life, we’re left to guess the medical diagnosis for the foul and festering wounds he attributed to his foolishness (v.5) or being bent over and racked with pain (v. 6, NLT). Nor do we have a medical name for “my loins are full of inflammation” (v. 7), or verse 10’s panting heart, failing strength, and dimming eyes. He was so sick that friends and relatives avoided him (v. 11). He had numerous “vigorous enemies” who hated and slandered him (v. 19-20),  adding to his emotional burden.

David would have had a full medical chart, but he identified his biggest problem as sin-sickness. The psalm begins with an appeal for God’s grace:

O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath,
For your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me. (vv. 1-2)
My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. (v. 4)

I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin. (v. 18)

The Bible describes David as having a heart for God (1 Samuel 13:14), and when serious illness slowed him down, he became introspective about his relationship with his Creator.

Sickness has a way of reminding you of eternity.  Despite good medical care, I am feeling the downward pull of aging.  Serious illness seems to hit me more often and harder. Two recent illness that lasted weeks (including pneumonia) reminded me that I won’t live forever on earth.  I faced again the question: am I ready to meet the Lord?  That’s why I “get” Psalm 38.  When physical illness or the downward pull of negative people become a burden, I seek the Lord’s perspective. David’s prayer becomes mine:

…be not far from me, O My God,

Come quickly to help me, O Lord, my Savior. (v. 22)

The encouraging news is that God is not far away. He’s behind the scenes of medical treatment.  But He’s also in the shadows when illness shuts me away for a time, ready to listen to my heart.

OUT BUT NOT DOWN (Psalm 34:11-22)

(An ongoing series on the 48 psalms listed as “recommended reading” for times of depression, as listed in counselor/pastor David Seamands’ book Healing for Damaged Emotions.)

A reminder of abundant blessings....

Some churches have a “children’s sermon” time of about five minutes when the little ones gather around the pastor or an assistant for a simple Bible story or instruction. The second half of Psalm 34 seems to do that with its invitation, “Come, my children, and listen to me, and I will teach you to fear the Lord” (v. 11). Where the first part of this psalm is a testimony of trusting God in dire circumstances, the second half relates practical spiritual and relational skills. These, too, matter a lot when we’re trying to get through difficult and depressing times. Among the classes David was authorized to teach:

Tongue Control 101 (v. 13).  Avoid lies. Don’t do evil. Do good. Have a peaceable disposition.  Romans 12:18 aligns with this: “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peacefully with all men.”  I’m grateful for that middle phrase—“as much as depends on you”—as I’ve encountered people so hardened by negativity and bitterness that kindness seems to bounce off them. But God sees my efforts, and understands when I have to tell Him, “They’re your problem now, God. I’ve done the best I can and it’s damaging to me emotionally to remain in contact with them.”

Graciousness 101 (vv. 14-16). Don’t answer “meanness” (ungracious, demeaning words and behavior) with the same. Peter’s letter says “amen” to that: “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing” (1 Peter 3:9a).

Divine Dependence 101 (vv. 17-18). Ask God for help in trouble. Tell Him if you’re brokenhearted. Imagine: an instant audience with the Lord Most High! He knows already, but He’s ready to reach out to those with crushed spirits.  He has something better ahead.

Back to the verse highlighted in last week’s exploration of Psalm 34:1-10:

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Broken hearts litter the emotional landscape. There’s a breach in a relationship, and two people are hurt badly as they draw apart. The brokenness may come from abandonment, rejection, oppression, abuse, or even death. Dreams are shattered and there’s typically a physical reaction, like a heaviness that rightly is called “heartache.” Fear, loneliness, and despair arise along with reluctance to love or trust someone again.

But that’s not the end of the story. Jesus came, as Isaiah prophesied, to heal the broken- hearted (Isaiah 61:1-3, Luke 4:18). He showed us up-close the character of a God who wants us to know peace, and to give us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).

Such verses brought me hope in the late 1970s when the man I thought I’d marry decided to end our relationship. That’s when Psalm 34:18—about the Lord being close to the brokenhearted—became my healing hope.  I moved away. Each of us completed graduate degrees and settled in our careers. One sad year, I buried both my parents. As the years ticked by, I figured he had already married someone else. Then, one day eight years later, out of the blue, he called. I was now living two thousand miles away. Friends had given him my phone number. He'd never married. When he asked if he could write, I was astonished. The end of the story is that we got back together and married. And for our wedding verse, we chose this:

O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.

Did you guess? Yes, Psalm 34, verse 3.

DOWN BUT NOT OUT (Psalm 34:1-10)

Look closely: the bees are busy--as is God in the details of our lives.

(An ongoing series on the 48 psalms listed as “recommended reading” for times of depression, as listed in counselor/pastor David Seamands’ book Healing for Damaged Emotions.)
I’ve lost track of the times I’ve gone back to Psalm 34:18:The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

It provides perspective and hope when life doesn’t always go as we think it should. In this psalm David wrestles with the coulda-woulda-shouldas of his life. 

The psalm’s inscription describes his circumstances: “Of David.  When He feigned insanity before Abimilech, who drove him away, and he left.” First Samuel 21 tells how, after King Saul threatened to kill David (his already-anointed successor), David fled a nearby town whose worship center also housed the enormous sword of the Philistine giant Goliath, whom David had killed during his boyhood. He took that sword along to a Philistine town where he hoped to find refuge. Bad idea. His reputation preceded him, and his life was again at stake. Despite their bloodthirsty reputation, the Philistines did grant immunity to crazy people. So David pretended to be mentally off, scratching the doors of the gate and drooling all over his beard. The ruse worked and they shoved him out of the city.  From there he found his way to wilderness caves where he could hide.

David was the one who was brokenhearted and crushed. Yet He doesn’t blame God. Instead he praises Him:

I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.

My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. (vv. 1-2 NIV)

His ability to trust God in the worst of times may be why this psalm is among those suggested for study by those prone to a sad and hopeless outlook on life. When we’re down, we’re less likely to perceive two graces of God: His protection and His blessing.

UNSEEN PROTECTION 

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. (v. 7)

David’s experience of divine protection wasn’t unique.  Sometime later in Bible history, the prophet Elisha was a marked man for prophecies the king of Aram didn’t like. When the prophet and his servant got up one morning, their town was surrounded by the enemy. The servant reacted as I might have: “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?”  Elisha replied with prophetic coolness: “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 5:16). Then the servant’s eyes were supernaturally opened to see the hills full of angelic defenders.

That’s not just a Bible history event. Another such story came from Dr. Clyde Taylor, founder of the National Association of Evangelicals. As a young missionary in Peru, he called on a tribal chief to explain their presence in the area. Later, at dusk, he noticed a big canoe with several men whistling what he knew were signals. Sensing something amiss, he and his friends decided to stay in the jungle that night, not in a hut.  Two years later, when the chief became a Christian, he admitted to Dr. Taylor: “We intended to kill you that night.  But you were too many. On your roof were crowds of men, all in white robes.” (1)

UNLIMITED BLESSING

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. (v. 8)

Many claim this verse like a Costco tasting station. They make the rounds of the carts where helpers in white netted caps encourage shoppers to try those tooth-picked or mini-cup food samples. We do the same in sharing Christ when we say, “Try God.” But God can’t be chopped into spiritual samples. Truly knowing Him and His goodness means taking that first step of obedience to follow Him, finding out that He is indeed good. To those who know and trust Him, He offers “good things.”  Not “entitlements” or luxuries, but “good things” that rise from a trusting relationship with the One who holds our futures in loving Hands.

 Next: Psalm 34:11-22

(1) Leslie B. Flynn, Thanks: Seeing God’s Word with a Thankful Heart (Carlsbad, CA: Magnus Press, 2005), p. 143.

FORGIVE ME (Psalm 32)

(An ongoing series on the 48 psalms listed as “recommended reading” for times of depression, as listed in counselor/pastor David Seamands’ book Healing for Damaged Emotions.)

When you’re feeling down and defeated, there’s nothing like a safe place to get away from it all—a “hiding place.”  That’s the golden nugget tucked away in Psalm 32:7: 

You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. (v. 7) 

Repeated in Psalm 119:114, both use the Hebrew word sether, meaning hiding place or secret place. David had plenty of those in the wilds as he tried to keep distance between himself and King Saul.  But he couldn’t distance himself from God. In those lonely, introspective times of hiding he had lots of times to reconsider the ways of God. 

Of course, this verse takes many of us to 1975 and the release of the film “The Hiding Place,” about Corrie ten Boom and her family’s persecution for protecting Jews during World War 2.  There was literally a “hiding place” for Jews in their home, in a false wall behind Corrie’s bed, and that’s where Jews fled when officials came looking. Their illegal kindness eventually put Corrie and her family in prison and concentration camps.  Eventually, only Corrie survived to be released.  But she didn’t cower from proclaiming Jesus, traveling the world to tell her story even as old age set in.  It was my privilege to hear her in person in the late 1970s when I lived in California. 

  

This donkey lives just around the corner from us,and saunters 

over to the fence for carrots. A sign on the fence okays those

 offerings--but watch your fingers.

Whenever I return in my Bible to Psalm 32, that movie and her testimony color what I read there. But there’s more, so much more. One big focus in the psalm is confession and forgiveness.  David is searching his heart, sensing great heaviness when he thinks about his sins.  Once he levels with God about his sin, he says, “you forgave the guilt of my sin” (v. 5). The guilt. That’s the part that eats away at our spirits. In our human, fallen personalities, we like to think we have everything under control. We don’t like to see ourselves as suffering the consequences of our sins. Verse 9 says doing so is behaving like a mule which has “no understanding.”  The bridle is the only way to get them to behave. We have a tendency to justify or cover up our sin. David felt its burden until “I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity” (v. 5). 

One sin we often overlook is bitterness, of harboring a grudge against someone. Many times the original offense was negligible, but it was massaged so much that it grew into a monster, feeding our hostility toward someone. That seems to be behind David’s remark, “Blessed is the man…in whose spirit is no deceit.” Ponder that in light of how he kept running for his very life because of the insanity of King Saul.

When relationships are sticky and situations messy, we’re prone to be like sad Eeyore of Winnie the Pooh fame, whose classic reply to adversity (including the frequent unbuttoning of his tail) is “Oh, dear.” Christopher Robin, the stuffed animal’s owner, can solve the problem by sewing Eeyore’s tail button back in place. But we tend to be Eeyores, who fail to see solutions.  That’s where Psalm 32 speaks to heavy hearts that have lost hope: 

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you…the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him (vv. 8. 10).

HANDING IT OVER (Psalm 31)

This old abandoned service station in an Eastern Washington town seemed

to illustrate to me the feelings expressed in Psalm 31: down and unwanted.

An ongoing series on the 48 psalms listed as “recommended reading” for "down times" by counselor David Seamands (author of Healing for Damaged Emotions).

“Favorable outcomes…solution-based…positive results.”  Such are the catchwords of our generation. We want things that take away the pain—if not instantly, then as fast as possible.  Psalm 31 runs straight into those ideas with the truth that life isn’t always easy and sometimes it really hurts and confuses. David gets right to the point with something I’ve probably prayed in one way or the other:

In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame, deliver me in your righteousness.

The word “shame” reappears in verse 17:

Let me not be put to shame, O LORD, for I have cried out to you.

Our English word “shame” comes from the Hebrew bosh, meaning to become pale.  Good description, for it seems the blood and courage drain away when someone “shames us.” I felt similarly “depleted” when I ran into people who “shamed” me for innocent and upright actions and words.  They were so emotionally disheveled that their perceptions of people and life were distorted.

Bingo!  Did you read Saul into that (“emotionally disheveled,” “perceptions distorted”)? Welcome to history repeating itself in the ordinary threads of life.

A MENTAL/PHYSICAL MESS

So here, in Psalm 31, is a persecuted believer feeling it in his bones.  Verses 9-13 give a glimpse into his medical chart. Lots of tears, anguish, groaning, weakness, forgotten, like broken pottery, pressured by slander and other attacks. Depression manifests itself in such ways, like a creeping darkness. But the portion of Psalm 31 that lifts me most is verse 5:

Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.

Does it sound familiar? Jesus, on the cross: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”  When he had said this, he breathed his last. (Luke 23:46)

Stephen, as stones flew, killing him: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”(Acts 7:59)

Making the world “right” is not my responsibility. I’m to trust and obey.  Sometimes that’s really hard because our world’s mantras are “favorable outcomes…solution-based…positive results.”

Psalm 31 records a journey, from hurt and dismay to trust.  Because David was frank enough to recall his pain, we benefit these thousands of years later in our own spiritual battles.

But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.”My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies." (vv. 14-15)

Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. (v. 24)

TURN ON THE LIGHTS! (Psalm 27)

(A continuing series on 48 psalms recommended by pastor/counselor David Seamands for getting through depression.)

I was a young teen piano student when I was first introduced to Psalm 27, via the 1897 musical version of English songwriter Mary Frances Allitsen. The piano score I tried to learn (my small hands couldn’t reach all the chords) starts out with grandiose chords, then settles down to reverential quiet before returning to a loud, assuring recap repeating the psalm’s opening verse:

The Lord is my light and my salvation,

Whom, then, shall I fear?

Years later as I read, re-read, and tried to “own” this psalm as hope in my difficulties, I realized how little of its stalwart truths I understood.

This psalm, attributed to David, is full of hope and strength as it expresses how God’s presence leads to the inner resources to overcome fear in difficult experiences. But its most poignant verses start with the simple phrase, “One thing.” The “one thing” the author wants above all else is to stay close to God. How does one do that? David describes it the best way he can, as dwelling in the safety of God’s house, meaning His presence.  

The psalm opens with a panned shot of David's enemies coming at him.  Then quickly, even as war breaks out against him, he finds safety and peace in the presence of God. And it’s not just the sword/knife/spear-wielding wild guys. Verse 12 points to verbal abuse, something I’ve experienced at different times in my life:

They accuse me of things I’ve never done and breathe out violence against me. (New Living Translation)

Unlike flesh-and-blood battles of old, where casualties decided how long a fight would go on, we don’t always see the “end” of our invisible battles. That’s why Psalm 27 leaves us with the reminder to “turn on the lights”—to reaffirm the Lord as our light and salvation:

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

Wait for the LORD, be strong and take heart, and wait for the LORD. (v.13-14).

If you want to read this psalm in a fresh and inspiring way, go back through it as an account of the life of Jesus Christ, particularly His suffering and death. Bible teacher and author William McDonald (1917-2007) in his Believer’s Bible Commentary saw many parallels. For example, Psalm 27:2 talks of enemies stumbling and falling when they tried to attack. Even more was that true of Christ’s arrest as recorded in Luke 18:6. When the rascals Judas rounded up came to the Garden where Christ had prayed, He identified Himself. Then, “When Jesus said, ‘I am he,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.”  

Tracing the parallels to Jesus’ last hours serves as a poignant reminder that He understands and has gone before us through all the mucky and murky stuff that life can throw at us through incidents and people. That’s also the reminder of Hebrews 12:2-3:

Run with perseverance….fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.  For the joy set before him, he endured the cross…consider him who endured such opposition from sinners so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

ENCOURAGE ME! (Psalm 25)

Yellow: symbol for cheer, joy, fidelity, solidarity

(Part of a continuing series on 48 psalms that speak to “feeling down.”)

Whenever I open up my “E-mail” on the computer, I find some regular "feeds": a writers' support group, mission reports, and on-line grocery coupons. It's always a treat when I find a personal note with positive content. The other day someone E-mailed me encouragement for something I’d written. It meant so much to read that! It was like yellow joy splashing on my day.

Yellow—what an uplifting color, suggesting fidelity and solidarity. Years ago there was a popular song about a girl with a yellow ribbon in her hair to symbolize her bonds to a soldier boyfriend. In the 1980s, tying yellow ribbons on trees caught on as a way to support and welcome soldiers of war in the Middle East.  The song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” sold three million records in three weeks at that time.

In reading over Psalm 25, I saw both traits expressed: God’s fidelity to us, and ours to Him, plus His solid presence for whatever trials we encounter. Bible teachers say 72 of the Bible’s 150 psalms speak about enemies. This is one of them. Whenever I read its opening verse, a tune comes to mind—that popularized by the Maranatha! Singers out of Calvary Chapel in Southern California in the 1970s. 

Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul (2x)

O my God, I trust in Thee,

Let me not be ashamed, 

Let not my enemies triumph over me.

I didn’t know until researching this psalm that it is an acrostic, using letters of the Hebrew alphabet. It’s not perfect, but author David spent some time finding just the right Hebrew words to start each line.  In reading that, I thought of nights when I wake with the needs of someone on my heart. Rather than toss and turn in frustration, I’ve learned to go through the English alphabet, speaking in my heart the A-B-C-etc. names and attributes of God. 

David covers a lot of ground in this psalm.  He says:

SHOW ME!   TEACH ME! (vv. 1-5). He wants a refresher course in God’s will and attributes. When life’s troubles grind in on us, it’s helpful to be reminded of who God is.

PURGE ME! (vv. 6-7).  David knows he’s not perfect.  Some sins of his “youth” must have haunted him (v.7) and he wanted those forgiven.

HUMBLE ME! (vv. 8-14).  “The humble he guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way” (NKJV). David knew that spiritual arrogance interfered with an authentic view of God. I’ve known people who throw around pet Bible verses, often out of context, to put on a “religious front.” But God knows their hearts, and usually others who are spiritually attuned can figure out they’re phony.

SAVE ME! (vv. 14-15).  David knew how vulnerable he was—except for God:

My eyes are ever toward the LORD,

For He shall pluck my feet out of the net.

I have about five blueberry bushes that I cover with a net during berry ripening season. I’m not too keen on feeding the local robins and quail with the morsels I like to sprinkle in my morning oatmeal. Sometimes I’ll discover a bird that found its way under the net to snack, but can’t find its way out. I’ve had to reach under and pry out to send them safely away.  And then I try to tuck in the entry point they found.  Like my local birds got in trouble with the “net,” we’re vulnerable to the hatred and vitriol of our enemies, whatever form that may take (v. 19).

NO SHAME!  (vv. 22). I’ve experienced being “shamed” by false accusations.  It really hurts, and it reminded me that Satan is at work in trying to make me question my relationship with God.  David seemed to feel the same way as he finished the psalm and returned to the phrase he began with: “Let me not be ashamed.” 

He ends with the yellow ribbon: “Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you” (v. 21).

And here’s the antidote to feeling down: Follow after God, and wait for Him. He doesn’t always choose the timetable or method we think He should, but His ways and timing are always the best for us--from eternity’s perspective.