Depression

¹ Save me, O God,

for the waters have come up to my neck.

² I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold.

I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me.

³ I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched.
My eyes fail, looking for my God. (Psalm 69 NIV)

"My spouse died yesterday after a long battle with illness. I know it's best the suffering is over, but it makes Christmas tomorrow so different...."

"My husband's been out of work for 18 months, we can't sell our house, we have two daughters in college; we don't know what to do...."

"My mom died this year. She loved Christmas - decorated her house like no one I've ever seen. Loved the music, loved the gifts, loved the grandkids...She was gone so suddenly last spring. How will my dad and the rest of the family ever make it through this first Christmas?"

"A year ago she was fine, living on her own. Now she's in an assisted living facility and can't remember who I am day to day. I miss my mom. I miss our conversations, her humor, her fullness of life. She's just not the same."

"My mom died on Christmas and my sister committed suicide because of depression. Now I'm seeing the same signs in my wife...What do I do?"

And so I pray in the words of the psalmist:

¹ My God, my God, why do you seem to abandon us?
Why are you so far away when we groan for help?
² Every day we call to you, God, but you do not answer.
Every night you hear our voices, but we find no relief.

³ Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴ Our ancestors trusted in you,
and you rescued them.
⁵ They cried out to you and were saved.
They trusted in you and were never disgraced.

¹¹ Do not stay so far from us, for trouble is near, and no one else can help us.

¹⁵ Our strength has dried up like sunbaked clay.
Our tongues stick to the roof of our mouths.
You have laid us in the dust and left us for dead.

¹⁹ O Lord, do not stay far away!
You are our strength; come quickly to our aid!
²⁰ Save us from the sword;
spare our precious lives from these dogs.

²² We will proclaim your name to our brothers and sisters.
We will praise you among your assembled people.
²³ Praise the Lord, all you who fear him!

²⁴ For he has not ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy.
He has not turned his back on them,
but has listened to their cries for help.

²⁶ The poor will eat and be satisfied.
All who seek the Lord will praise him. Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.

²⁷ The whole earth will acknowledge the Lord and return to him.
All the families of the nations will bow down before him.
²⁸ For royal power belongs to the Lord.
He rules all the nations. (Psalm 22 NLT, alt.)

God, for those hurting right now, facing the depths of the abyss, I pray that you will reveal yourself to them, deliver and protect them, encourage and uplift them, be their strength and their joy. May they know your love and grace in a profound way. Amen.