Psalm 75:3

When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars.
When the earth goes topsy-turvy and nobody knows which end is up, I nail it all down, I put everything in place again.

In depression my world is topsy-turvy and I don’t know which end is up.  It’s very important for me to identify who the “I” is in this verse.  God is talking.  God steadies earth’s pillars.  God puts everything in place again.  This is important because I could read this and seriously think I am talking.  Remember the expectations that I don’t live up to?  Here they are:  I expect myself to do what only God can do.  Ridiculous?  That word doesn’t begin to cover it.  In the light of day, I see my strengths and limitations.  I can do what God enables me to do, to his glory.  I don’t need to take the blame for all that is wrong or the glory for all that is right.

Lord, in my need for glory I also run into blame.  Teach me to use my strengths and weaknesses to your glory.   Amen.

Psalm 74:16

Thine is the day, thine also the night; you have established the luminaries and the sun.
You own the day, you own the night; you put stars and sun in place.

I fall short of my expectations.  When my expectations see the light of day, they seem ridiculous.  That’s why it’s so important that they see the light of day.  It is in the light of day that I am able to look at things closely and accurately.  I can see my physical  surroundings and examine what’s in my mind and heart.  So what is the night for?  The night is for rest.  Night time, in the dark, is not the time to examine my mind and heart.   As someone who has squandered many a night’s rest on self-examination, I can confidently say that it is never productive.  Bring your thoughts into the light and use the darkness to rest. 

Lord, you created a time for action and a time for rest.  Guide me in using both to your glory.  Amen.

Psalm 73:4

For they have no pangs; their bodies are sound and sleek.
[The people] who have nothing to worry about, not a care in the whole wide world.

I imagine there are people with no problems.  These people do everything right, and therefore they have no problems.  I have problems, so I must do everything wrong.  This kind of thinking contributes to depression.  Everybody has problems, everybody makes mistakes, everybody has weaknesses.  And I have avoided and solved problems,  I have done things right, and I have strengths.  I have even had times when I looked like someone with no pangs!  Learning how to look at myself accurately is part of the healing.  Giving up the notion of perfect people with perfect lives is part of the healing, too.

Lord, you created me and you call your creation good.  Protect my thoughts from the lies of depression.  Guide my thoughts to keep them accurate and true.    Amen.

Psalm 72:18

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed God, Israel's God, the one and only wonder-working God!

I’m looking for an answer, a cure.  It’s hard for me to even trust the medication to do wondrous things when it’s the third prescription I’ve tried.  When this is over, I will be thankful for pills and doctors and therapists and friends and family.  I have prayed to God and groaned to God.  Today, let me tell God to do wondrous things.  Let my heart and my mind and my depression be open to the wondrous things which only God can do. 

Lord, you alone do wondrous things.  Amen.

Psalm 71:5

For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
You keep me going when times are tough- my bedrock, God, since my childhood.


I was baptized as a baby.  As a child I attended church, Sunday school, and parochial school.  The Holy Spirit was at work in me for years before I grew old enough to question the teachings of my faith.  In depression it can feel like God isn’t my hope.  Depression makes it easy to doubt if God exists.  That is what took me to the Psalms.  I knew the questions and doubt would be here along with the hope and the trust.  As a child I knew God was real and cared about me.  This Psalm gives me the chance to look back to that faith, to call back that faith to sustain me as an adult.  God has always kept me going when times were tough.  He will keep me going now.

Lord, I believed in you honestly and truly as a child.  Comfort me with those memories, and help me use them to hang on to my faith in this depression.  Amen.

Psalm 70:1

Be pleased, O God, to deliver me!  O Lord, make haste to help me!
God!  Please hurry to my rescue!  God, come quickly to my side!

Time.  Out of all the lessons of depression, waiting is the most frustrating to learn.  This verse tells me three things.  First, I can remind God of my suffering and tell him to hurry.  Second, I can expect him to help.  Third, it will please him to help me.  In other words, I am not an annoyance or a bother.  My prayer is exactly right.  
God wants me to cry out to him. 
God is helping me. 
God wants to help me. 
   
Lord, I think of all or nothing, depressed or well.  Help me to appreciate the ways you help each day, and each step out of this depression.  Amen.

Psalm 69:32

Let the oppressed see [my thanksgiving] and be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
The poor in spirit see and are glad - Oh, you God-seekers, take heart!

Depression feels endless, but it is not.  Look at people who have been healed.  If you don’t know anyone personally, ask your doctor or counselor for reassurance.  Watch commercials for depression medications, and notice how happy the people are by the end.  I know that sounds ridiculous, but so much of the pain of depression is thinking that life will be like this forever.  It won’t be.  There is a way out.  Tell God you will thank and praise him for your healing.  Remind him that others will see your praise, and it will help them to trust God, too.  Give thanks today for any evidence of healing in your life, no matter how subtle. 

Lord, I look forward to praising you for my healing.  I trust that healing will come and know that it can only come from you.  Keep me faithful.   Amen.