Preach Your Way Out

Depression is the common malady of contemporary society. Even for Christians.

God is not unfair. First-century believers suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous physical persecution (study Foxe's Book of Martyrs). Many bled and died because of their faith, as did believers in Bible times. Read Heb 11:36-40.

God is just. So today we suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous psychological issues. The emotional and the mental are our arenas of affliction. We face gladiators that are really "sadiators," and the lions of lying thoughts. Satan inserts ideas. We don't take them captive but embrace them. Before you know it, instead of sending them back where they came from, they come out of our mouth as our own. "Spinning" things to our own advantage, grieving the Spirit by using corrupt communication, bitter, angry because of our bitterness, wrathful because of our anger. Clamor and evil speaking spewing forth maliciously, we become gladiators against each other, wielding the sword of the tongue, defending ourselves with the shield of selfishness and insecurity (read Eph 4).

The best way I have found to handle being tee-nitchey is to preach my way out. For you, the remedy might come in any number of like medicines. Study your way out. Read your way out. Pray your way out.

You missed it, so let me explain. This was the idea behind the Psalms of Degrees (Pss 120-134). These were songs of ascent. Pilgrims would sing them to encourage themselves on the journey up to the temple for worship. They sang themselves out.

Since you don't believe me, you need to study the topography of ancient Mt. Zion. The temple was the most resplendent thing in the world. The gold would gleam, and the sun would reflect off the white marble. It was not just a light, but a beacon set on a hill.

Did I say hill? It was not that Mt. Moriah was all that high; it was that the valleys which surrounded it were so low. Even after thousands of years, all of Herod's temple work, and modern improvements, it is a pretty rough place to ascend on foot. Back in the day, it took quite an effort to get there. To remind them that the effort was worth it, pilgrims would give God some "layaway praise," putting their imagination for proper purposes (i.e. thinking about what it was like in the presence of God before they actually got there).

This is the cure for mental malady. It works for anger, depression, PMS. Try a dose of Pss 120-134. Don't take every four hours—take as often as necessary. Study and pray your way out so you can preach your way out. Get a vision across the valley.