May 16, 2022 - Psalms 108-113
I find myself reflecting on yesterday’s sermon from Psalm 30 – “Joy in the Morning” – in which I mentioned Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones and his perspective on what he called “spiritual depression.” Lloyd-Jones focuses on someone who is little aware of God’s promises and faithfulness. Such a person is unable, especially in very dark moments, to trust and rest in God because he or she is unfamiliar with the promises of God found in his Word. This unfamiliarity stems, largely, from a lack of time in the Scriptures. There is a solution!
The psalmist writes, “Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them” (111:1-2). None of this is to say that the believer will never struggle through dark times of little faith. It is not to say that the believer is immune to depression. But it is to say that, when we study God’s great works as revealed in the Scriptures, we delight in them, and we find our faith in him strengthened and renewed day by day. A word for today? Stay in the Word! There God has given us wonderful promises and encouragements.
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
is laid for your faith in God's excellent Word!
What more can be said than to you God hath said,
to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled? -- George Keith & R. Keen (1787)