Depression

 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

Psalm 42:11 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.42.11.ESV

As my old pastor would say, talking to yourself isn't a sign of madness. Not talking to yourself is a sign of madness! This verse illustrates his point.

If we're depressed like the Psalmist was, we need to talk ourselves out of it. If we don't dialogue with ourselves, we're not going to get out of the pit of depression so easily. Instead of being governed by our feelings, we should question them.

The Psalmist questioned his depression and gave himself a positive alternative: to hope in God. Ultimately, hope in anything other than God is likely to disappoint. God will never let us down however, even if it sometimes might feel like it.

Even if we don't feel like praising God at a certain point, we can encourage ourselves that we will again praise Him. God is worthy of our praise whether we feel like it or not. He is, after all, the only source of eternal salvation, in Christ crucified on our behalf.

'God our salvation, help us to praise You even when we don't feel like it, and to put our hope in You. For the honour of Christ we pray, amen'

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