Psalm 143: What David sings when he is depressed

Psalm 143 New International Version (NIV)

¹ Lord, hear my prayer,
listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
come to my relief.
² Do not bring your servant into judgment,
for no one living is righteous before you.
³ The enemy pursues me,
he crushes me to the ground;
he makes me dwell in the darkness
like those long dead.
⁴ So my spirit grows faint within me;
my heart within me is dismayed.
⁵ I remember the days of long ago;
I meditate on all your works
and consider what your hands have done.
⁶ I spread out my hands to you;
I thirst for you like a parched land.^[a]

⁷ Answer me quickly, Lord;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me
or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
⁸ Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I entrust my life.
⁹ Rescue me from my enemies, Lord,
for I hide myself in you.
¹⁰ Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.

¹¹ For your name’s sake, Lord, preserve my life;
in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.
¹² In your unfailing love, silence my enemies;
destroy all my foes,

for I am your servant.

David is demonstrating how to sing to God when experiencing emptiness, depression of spirit and loss of hope.

Have you felt it?  Loss of HOPE?  It is the feeling you can have when your marriage is not working.  YOu have prayed and the situation continues to tear you apart.  You are at the end of your rope and have run out of faith.

What does David show us?

1.  Honesty is one key.  David is absolutely vulnerable and open before YHWH.  He pours it all out.

2.  Directness is a second key.  David clearly directs his plea to the God he knows.  I think of David as learning to love and commune with God when a shepherd.  He sings to YHWH in his lonely years in the fields.

Note on David.  Not only was he alone in the fields he was neglected too.  He is his father's youngest and least esteemed son.  We know this because he was last on the list and almost forgotten when Samuel came to his father to anoint a king.

3.  David has emotional intelligence.  He understands and is touch with himself and he understands and relates to YHWH as a person.  We can imagine that God's Spirit was present as David sang praises and laments.  We can imagine that YHWH is the One who stepped in to fill the hole in his heart and to sooth the pain there.  There must have been pain caused by his father not acknowledging David.

.   David gives a vivid description of depression - for that is what he is feeling here.  And with great discernment he recognizes that depression is a condition of his own inner man - his human spirit.

   How well and accurately he describes his condition: "So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed."  If we do not understand heart and spirit that is our loss.  David knew what he was talking about and used the appropriate biblical-psychological terms for his condition.

We might call this a prayer.  David experienced it as a plea for his life.  Listen as the man after God's own heart speaks the language that God understands.

George Hartwell M.Sc. Christian counsellor provides Christian counselling ( counseling / therapy ) through 90 minute in person sessions at his office in Mississauga.  As a professional Christian Marriage counsellor George provides Christian marriage counselling counseling for couples in Oakville, Mississauga, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.