"And David was greatly distressed...all the people was grieved...but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God."
Some of us born with predominately melancholy temperaments are admittedly more prone to discouragement than others. Yet this plague of the spirit touches any and all, to some degree. From the richest to the poorest, from the most intelligent to the most ignorant, from the secure to the insecure, each had his or her bouts of experiencing this dark night of the soul. If darling David, a man after God's own heart, a man of great position and wealth, had problems with it, then none of us can expect to be exempted from its disheartening presence in our lives from time to time.
There will be intervals in our earthly journey when all those around us, as in David's case, are in the valley of despair themselves, and cannot be looked to for any type of lifting up of our drooping heads. What is one to do at such trying times? I like the remedy Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones prescribes. He tells us in his book Spiritual Depression, there are times when we must simply take ourselves by the nape of the neck, shake ourselves, and give ourselves a good talking to. As my Granny used to say, "You need a good talkin' to!"
He gives David as an example at such times."Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance," (Psalms 42:5,11; 43:5). It's never hopeless if we have, "The God of all hope!" Therefore, as David, we can praise Him by faith during those times when the sun goes dark, being assured He is hidden behind the cloud. Clouds do not last, but pass in time, and the bright shining of the sun always returns.
Thank God, in heaven, every day will be a cloudless day!
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