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So you're there in Proverbs chapter 12, I want you to look down at verse 25 Verse 25 and it says in verse 25 heaviness in the heart of man maketh its stoop But a good word maketh it glad and I want to preach it on a subject not exactly a pleasant subject but on depression depression now The Bible doesn't use the word depression, but it uses the term heaviness Okay, so you'll see that a lot in the New Testament and the Old Testament on heaviness And so I want to preach on this subject because this is a real thing. This is a real thing that happens you know with people it's something I dealt with when I was younger and in college and And you may not even know some people that have dealt with depression And here's one that our church. I'm sure has dealt with is postpartum depression after having a child there's a lot of stuff going on with hormones and just different things that are going on in the body that women after they have a child will a lot of times be extremely depressed and And we got to be cognizant of that and the thing is it's kind of like that sermon I preached on You know Leviticus 12 where we're talking about like the recovery After a delivery of a child and how we need to be understanding of that Well, there's another aspect of that that's more more of a Mental state when it comes to the hormones and everything else that's going on with that and I think as Christians Sometimes we look at depression and we and we dismiss it We just say well, you know, you just need to be reading your Bible more and that'll fix it And I mean that's kind of the short answer, you know, like, you know get you know Get filled with the spirit and you'll take care of it but I want to go into some verses on what it says and Give some avenues as far as how I dealt with it or how We should deal or how you know how we should talk to people that are depressed and different things like that. Okay, and so But that being in mind, you know that heaviness is kind of another way of saying depression because you kind of think what does depression mean? you're depressing something down and Heaviness is something that would if something's heavy. It's it's pushing it down, right? It's kind of like, you know being grave You know, you're kind of heavier you're you're grounded or it's it's not light. Okay Go to Proverbs chapter 14 Proverbs chapter 14 in verse 13 I was actually gonna have this read but I read we had Proverbs 14 read last week. So There's just a lot of good stuff in Proverbs 14 And When I think of depression I think of I think of when you're in a pit And every time you try to climb out of it You keep falling back into it like you kind of have a little bit of light and you fall back in a little bit of light and then you fall back in and you know just kind of a physical way of picturing something that's happening emotionally and Those proverbs have 14 verse 13 It says even in laughter the heart is sorrowful in the end of that mirth is heaviness It's almost like, you know, you can have a good time you can and you can be happy But then all of a sudden you just go right back into being depressed. Okay being in heaviness and so Just something to think about with this as far as You know you you may not know who's going through this type of stuff and this isn't always something that is even a Like you're not right with God or you're not reading your Bible like it enough There are some cases where it is a chemical imbalance when you're dealing with postpartum and that's a lot of what it is it's like just chemicals and you know, like your hormones are going all over the place and Obviously, that's something that's kind of resetting itself It's trying to get back to where it was before you were pregnant all these different things, right? But even in the realm of just without being pregnant there are cases I believe where Medicine is applicable. Okay, I don't believe it's the majority I believe it's kind of the minority where there's actually a chemical imbalance I think a lot of people just want a pill that's gonna fix their problems But I do believe there's actually people that do have chemical imbalances They have things that if you know, if that stuff was set right then it would be better Okay, I'm not doctor. Okay, so don't take my medical advice right now when it comes to that type of stuff, but all that to say is that The Bible does talk about this and I just want to get into that go to Psalm 69 Psalm 69 Psalm 69 now David wrote a lot of Psalms where he was upset, you know, he was you know, it seemed like everything was against him and Just a lot of stuff and a lot of that stuff is prophetic, right? But David also had a lot of enemies You know, Saul was always trying to kill him like all this stuff and you know Yeah, and all that will live godly in Christ. Jesus shall suffer persecution so notice what it says here in Psalm 69 and This is prophetic of Jesus to meaning that you'll see in in verse 21, but verse 20 knows what it says Reproach have broken my heart and I am full of heaviness and I look for some to take pity But there was none and for comforters, but I found none There they gave me also gall for my meat and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink And you know when it comes to depression or even anger I was kind of talking about the baby know when I preached a sermon on like being slow to anger a lot of times with anger the reason that Like I have problems sometimes I have problems with it is because it seems like everything's going wrong Right. It's just like that one of those days, right? it's just like everything's going wrong and then you just get to the point you're just like just ready to just Break something because every little thing is going wrong. And then that's where you lose your temper The same thing with when it comes to depression it just seems like everything's going wrong and no one cares and The one thing that I want to get across when it comes to people that have depression especially, you know I feel like in in the Christian realm sometimes it's just like well just be happy you're saved Right and ultimately, yes, right we have salvation we have the joy of salvation in our heart we should be happy But I don't believe that's how we should approach People that are dealing with a lot of heaviness dealing with a lot of depression. It's just kind of blowing it off. Okay Because look what David, you know Basically saying I look for some that take pity and there was none for comforters, but I found none. Okay See sometimes we just need to kind of come where they're at. Okay, and not just be like hey, why aren't you happy? You should be happy. I'm happy. Why aren't you happy and just go in into it that way We need to basically be broken hard with them listen and just try to see where they're coming from Okay, and in a lot of times depression is not logical okay now when I dealt with it You know a lot of times, you know, this is a personal thing. It had to do with relationships. It had to do with like Being depressed because you know, I didn't have a girlfriend, you know, I wasn't married Okay, and that can depress you you know that because this is the thing that you're thinking of but the you know, the world is passing me by and I'm not married all these people are married all these people have kids All this stuff's going on and it's just like the world is passing me by right and it's you know It's just like nothing's going my way all this stuff and you get into this pit of despair not to quote one of the greatest movies ever but But you know what? I mean is it's the idea of you know, and this is real Okay, when you're dealing with wanting to have a significant other But I just you know, I dealt with that type of stuff where I was just like Just never thought that I would find someone to marry. I never would find and never have kids You know, it's just never was gonna happen. I'm too extreme. No one's gonna like that and And and so you get into these these things or you have a relationship with somebody it doesn't work out And Then you just wasted all that time and then it didn't work out and you can get into that type of depression Okay, I'm just giving you a real case scenario as far as that goes and and and listen Those that are teenagers. This is a real thing When you're a teenager girls boys This can be real okay, and I think as parents were just like you're 16 you're 17 who cares right? but it is a real thing and you got to be thinking about this as far as the fact of dealing with depression dealing with heaviness or because Listen, when you're a teenager hormones are all over the place, right and you're just trying to grow up You're trying to figure out, you know What kind of personality you have all this stuff girls? All you care about is what the guys think boys All you care about is what the girls think at least that was my perspective I was never a guy that thought the girls had cooties. I was in first grade Thinking girls were adorable Okay, that was me. I was I wasn't the guy that was punching the girls in the face I was the guy that was picking the dandelion and giving it to the girl like I always Love girls, so that being said that was a big I mean, you know when so you're going through middle school You're going through all that stuff. It's all about having a girlfriend and you know what when you were in middle school That's what you that was life, right? That was like everything and so you can get into depression though And I listen I was a late bloomer. Okay, I was I was the smallest kid in my class Until like my junior year in high school. That's why I joined the wrestling team in freshman year No one wants to mess with a wrestler So, you know then but all I say is that most time girls didn't want to date me because I was like the little kid I was like that the friend that no one wanted to date looking back I'm like glad right but then I became a junior in high school and I was like the ugly duckling it turns to a swan That's illustration but But All I say is that listen I dealt with some deep depression when I was in high school You get into college and I dealt with some of that too because of just bad relationships toxic relationships with Girls, and I'm glad I never I didn't end up marrying Stuff like that, you know looking back It's actually kind of hard for me to look back and be like man how bad was that because I've forgotten about it Never thought it would But I have because Now I have a beautiful wife three beautiful children You know a great church family like all this stuff and it's like you look back and you're like, what was that? But you tend to forget about it. Okay, but all that say good you're in Psalm 69 The thing that I want you to remember is that hey when someone's in depression they want someone and listen I want to say this too When it says pity in the Bible a lot of times that means empathy, okay It's not like pity like you feel sorry for them. Okay. It's like empathy like you care. Okay, and so When it comes to people that are depressed or in that the biggest thing they need to know is that hey There's people that care about them and that you know, they're not just alone in it And if there's anything about this sermon, I want you to know that if you ever dealt with depression, you're not alone Because you can look around be like, ah, they don't deal with that they never dealt with that You never know what a lot of people have dealt with and just never told anybody about it And I'm telling you a little bit I'm not gonna go deep into the closet of like my past on depression but Those are the type of things. I just want to get into now go to Proverbs chapter 25 Proverbs chapter 25 But you've been there right? You've at least been to the point where you're in a really bad mood and Someone just this jovial person walks in the room and you just want to hit him in the face Because you're not in the mood for that. Okay, and It's just one of those things that actually the Bible talks about this believe it or not About like if someone's like in Heaviness and depression you don't want to just jump in there doing cartwheels and saying let's do a dance here Because it's just not the right approach. Okay notice in Proverbs chapter 25 verse 20 It says as he that taketh away a garment in cold weather and as vinegar upon nighters So is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart? Notice that illustration imagine it's wintertime and you just take someone's coat away from them That's what it feels like when you sing songs to someone that's of a heavy heart, okay? And I listen I'm just saying I've been there where I was just like really depressed I was really in heaviness and and one of my friends was just like trying to be like light-hearted And listen he was he was trying to do it to be nice and try to lift me up, but I it just made me angry You know because it's almost what what it looks like When someone does that is that they don't care they don't think that what you're feeling at that point is actually serious Does that make sense? And it it feels like apathy and not empathy Okay again You can say well, but you know that that person is trying to help listen You're not thinking completely logically a lot of times in those cases And it's a lot about emotions and what you're thinking and so so the Bible says that You know even in laughter our heart is sorrowful the Bible says that hey, you know When someone's of a heavy heart you don't want to just sing songs to them and just be like this jovial person around them sometimes You just need to be a listener. You just need to be there for them, okay? that's what I'm really getting to is that you just want to be there for them and Sometimes they just need someone to talk to they see someone to And we've all been there just even with topics right you're just like I just needed to just say that out loud I just need to say it out loud to somebody that's listening to me It's not even that I need an answer right it's just I just need to say it Just someone listen to me say it, and then it just helps a lot of times, okay? why do you think people go to you know a Psychiatrist and they sit on that couch, and what are they doing? They're just talking I'm not recommending anybody go to a psychiatrist, but I'm saying is that what are they doing? They're just kind of speaking it out loud. It's like in their mind It's in their heart, but they're speaking it out loud, and we as Christians need to be a little more concern or I guess Empathetic to that okay and Go to Go to Roman chapter 12 Roman chapter 12 So The first thing to realize is that depression is a real thing okay people deal with it all the time Some people deal with it a lot. It's a lot harder on people than other people okay? And you may come up to me like I've never been depressed I've never had to deal at with that well. God bless you that you never had to deal with it but some of us have some worse than others and It is a real thing okay the Bible talks about it talks about people being in heaviness and People being in heaviness, and they don't feel like anybody cares right and I was we were looking up. I was looking up statistics on suicide and Suicide is the number 10 Spot for why people die in America 10 Among those that are I think it was of from 10 years old to 34 or 35 years old it's number two on Causes of death number two and It's been skyrocketing You know and I think it was number six from like 30 something to 60 something and so it's a it's up there with with suicide and all that stuff and Listen it's a real thing we need to be thinking about it And you say well, you know they just need to get saved and they and listen That's the starting point for sure right get saved you know the fact that the Holy Ghost is indwelling you and all that but That's not just gonna fix everything because you could just say well they have a drinking problem. They have a smoking problem. Just get saved Is that gonna solve that? Obviously getting saved solves the spiritual problem But a lot of this stuff is a physical fleshly problem Okay, and it's something that we have to work through and everything else now roman chapter 12 go to roman chapter 12 and verse 15 This ties into to Proverbs chapter 25 notice in verse 15 It says rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep be of the same mind one to one toward another Mind not high things but condescended men of low estate be not wise in your own conceits so Have you ever heard people say like you go to you go to a funeral? And listen, I'm not against you know people that say, you know, like the funeral this is like They'll call it a graduation service or something like that You know, I've been to churches that will call it that okay Because the person's saved and they're in heaven, okay But Do not For one second think that you should not mourn for somebody that you've lost whether they're lost or saved, right? if the person's saved it says sorrow not as Others which have no hope it's not saying don't sorrow at all It's just saying don't sorrow in a manner that you don't have hope because you know, you're gonna see him again But the idea is that you need to weep and you need to mourn There is a time to do that and if you don't do that it is going to be detrimental Because you end up doing it when you don't want to do it And you know, and there's times where I've lost people in my life and you're almost numb to it. I remember losing Wes Thompson Good night. How long ago has that been? That was 2008, wasn't it? So that was like 12 years ago and he drowned out at Blue Hole and You know what that hurt And it was just like a nightmare that you weren't waking up from And I was like two weeks later someone that I went to high school with Died and then I went to his funeral and I literally didn't feel anything. I Was just completely numb because I'd already like grieved so much from Wes That when it came to that, I was just like I don't even know how to react to this And then it like hit me later, you know And that same thing happened with my Aunt Janet when my Aunt Janet died Not too long ago And it like happened and you're just like and she was saved praise God She got saved right before she died like like a month or so. I got the Finally after years of trying to argue with her and all this stuff. She finally got saved and Anyway, it wasn't until like the funeral when I got up to say something about it that it hit me And you know what I knew she was saved but it doesn't change the fact that it's sad When I looked at the picture of my dad His twin brother his his dad So it's my grandpa my dad my dad's twin brother My uncle Jimmy and my Aunt Janet and there's only two left My dad my uncle Jimmy and they're all the rest of them are gone and you just look at that picture. He's like It just hits you so There's a time to weep there's a time the morning We need to remember that and not to just push that off and be like what we're saying We need to be happy all the time. We're not Joel Osteen You know just as much as you're not supposed to love all the time. You're not supposed to be happy all the time Okay, and I know this is a heavy sermon No pun intended But we need to realize that this stuff exists so that we know how to deal with it Okay, now in Romans chapter 12, it says to weep with them that weep in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 Again, it says in Clemens chapter 3 in verse 1 to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven and in verse 4 it says a time to weep and a time to Laugh a time to mourn and a time to dance and when someone is in depression It's not a time to just get up and start dancing and to rejoice around them. Okay? Now I'm not saying that you can't speak uplifting Lee to them and try to you know Get them to you know, come around the thing, but it's different to just like be overboard and just be like Just over jovial with a person and trying to get just snap them out of it Okay, because it's gonna seem like you don't care. Okay, even though you do right, you know, ultimately you're just like I want this person to be happy and I want them to get out of this but ultimately what you need to do Is you need to come down to where they're at Try to understand where they're coming from okay, and Even if it's not logical you'd be like, you know what? That's that sucks You know, yes And you know what if you've ever experienced it then it's a little easier to come down to that level because you've been there and There's been times where I was so depressed You know and then I would just snap out of and be like what in the world was that about? You know, why was I so like upset? Why was I so depressed? Why was I so like just doom and gloom and Then then I'm just like out of it And It's not logical. Okay, but it's something that you need to think about now I'm gonna be getting into the point of like how I dealt with it. How do I deal with it? How did I deal with it back then? But I want to get into some characters in the Bible characters or people in the Bible Job is one that knew about depression. Okay knew about heaviness and someone that rightfully Dealt, you know had a reason to be depressed go to job chapter 9 job chapter 9 So some of these subjects obviously when I preach on they're not this is probably a good reason why I didn't preach this in the morning You know Sunday morning But these are things that need to be talked about anger needs to be talked about Depression needs to be talked about You know things that aren't exactly the things that you just wish to hear about or you want to you're just like man I just want to listen to that sermon again, but at the same time it needs to be talked about as far as these things exist How do we deal with it? Job chapter 9 verse 27 says if I say I will forget my complaint I will leave off my heaviness and comfort myself. I am afraid of all my sorrows I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent now job lost seven children Seven children now, I'm sure they were like Toddlers, okay, because they were like in a house doing things together without their parents. Okay, so But I don't care if they're teenagers 20s, whatever if you lost all your children in one day You can imagine what that would do to you You lost all your your wealth. You lost everything. Okay, and So obviously he's in heaviness isn't I mean he rents his mantle and he was just laying there and you know on This face in the dust of the earth, right? I mean he was down and out How did his friends deal with it? You read job, right Where's his three friends good friends to him? Did they deal with that situation? Well, or did they come up to him and say you must have did something wrong You must be in sin And notice what job says in 17 job chapter 17 verse 7 You know one thing I usually don't ever tell somebody even if I think it is That this is probably happening to you because you're not right with God Even if I'm thinking it Okay, I Try not to say that to somebody because honestly you could only probably know that anyway if you're getting chasin of the Lord But I just think a job every time I think that you know where someone like something's happening to me like well if you were in church if you were doing this if you were doing that then maybe this wouldn't be happening to you and I don't want to be one of those friends. That was the job because what if someone's going through a trial? What if this it's not what you think it is, okay In verse 7 so Job 17 verse 7 says mine I also is dim by reason of sorrow and all my members are as a shadow His eye is Dimmed by reason of sorrow meaning he just can't even see right can't see because me imagine like you're just crying so much and that you your face is in the dust of your and You're just like I can't even see in front of me right now. Just in so much sorrow Notice in chapter 19 verse 21 chapter 19 verse 21 Chapter 19 and verse 21 There's a bright side to the sermon I want you to realize hey this exists Hey, there's Bible characters and job was the just the most just man upon the earth at that time That God was using him to making it, you know make a point that hey I do have men down here that will not forsake me even if you take everything away from them And so but know this that if you're in that situation and God's testing you like that Listen, that doesn't mean that you're going to be immune from depression and heaviness and everything else that comes with that In verse 21 of chapter 19. It says this have pity on me have pity On me. Oh ye my friends for the hand of God had touched me You know his friends were just kind of coming up to him and just giving all these examples of what he must have done wrong To why this is happening. He's just saying just have pity on me You know, where is where is the compassion to just say? You know brother that sucks You know instead of just trying to figure out what's going on and you know trying to figure out all the problems Sometimes you just need to be like hey, that sucks. I'm gonna be praying for you. I'm here with you What can I do to help, you know? But he's just at he just says just have pity on me Instead of just trying to tell me how bad I am and how wrong I am Go to Job 16. So back up a little bit because this sums up his friends now I don't believe his three friends were bad people. I believe they were saved people and that they were you know They weren't like these horrible people they were you know before this happened I'm sure they were great friends and all this stuff. They just dealt with it wrong. Okay in verse 6 Sorry chapter 16 verse 1 it says then Job answered and said I have heard many such things Miserable comforters are ye all I mean that is the definition of what their friends were they were miserable comforters. And so And so anyway with Job, you know the thing that we see though There's light at the end of the tunnel because if you read Job, hey, there's a there's a there's a great finale to that Because everything was turned around go to James chapter 5 James chapter 5 And when it comes to depression, I think what you really need to understand is that hey there's light at the end of the tunnel if you can find the light you'll get through it and James chapter 5 verse 10 notice what it says talking about job Remember the guy I think I was with miss Paula and every time I read this passage I think of that guy we were out soul winning and it was brother David miss Paula and me and the guy was like You know job You know, I think that that You know They found out that the last chapter Or when you know, he got all that stuff back and everything that that was made up that really wasn't even in the Bible You know just ended before you got to the like the last couple chapters or whatever I'm like, well, that's funny because what does it say in James chapter 5 in verse 10? It says take my brethren the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering affliction and of patience Behold we count them happy which endure Ye have heard of the patience of job and have seen the end of the Lord that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender Mercy, so yeah, I think that validates the fact that When job was recompensed or restitution was given to him at the very end there James chapter 5 validates that so that's for that's the first and only time I've ever heard anybody say that But it's funny when people say stuff like that and there's literally a verse that just completely annihilates that argument But we know a job. Hey, you know what after all of that and we don't really know how long exactly We know that they literally his friends sat there in front of him for a whole week for seven days and just stared at him And then they started opening their mouth and saying stuff that could all happened in one day in that whole conversation That you see from after when they started speaking to the very end there that could have all happened in one day and then that's when God steps in and You know when it comes to depression and heaviness and all that a lot of times You just think this is never going to end when it comes to persecution. You think this is never gonna end These are gonna go on the rest of my life You know when you got all the sodomites coming after you because you preach against them or you have any type of persecution in your Life or you have any type of problems in your life. You're just like this is never gonna end It's gonna be like this for the rest of my life and it sucks and I don't even want to be here anymore It's just that type of stuff goes through your head and Go to go to saw first Samuel chapter 30 first Samuel chapter 30, especially when you lose things in your life you lose people And if I can get anything across especially to believers that deal with this or deal with You know the thought of suicide or anything like that is that we need you You know, I think a lot of times when it comes to suicide it's like we think that the world is better off without us and therefore You know, why are we even here? You know, what am I providing? Well, you know, what am I doing, you know? To better anything in the world right now and When it comes to listen, the labors are few I'm saying this to the point here. You are way more needed than you know Okay when it comes to Christians You know you are needed Every single person is needed in the army of God and so it's no question But even if it was the majority you're still needed So if you're breathing you're a Christian God Wants to use you for something and he and you are needed in the fight. And if you're not here something's not going to get done Because no one person can do it all and There's gonna be things that you can do that. No one else can do so when you're if you ever get down to that point know this that you are needed you are loved and You know if if we lost anybody in this church or anybody that's a believer we've lost something You know, we've lost a valuable person and we'd be like, well, they're in heaven. Yeah true but they're needed here now and so and saw I'm sorry saw first same which have authority this is a story where David and his men were out fighting when he came back They took all their wives and sons and daughters like basically All their whole family was taken captive So you can imagine what's going through their minds at this point in verse 1 there says and it came to pass when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day that the Amalekites had invaded the south and Ziklag and smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire and had taken the women captives That were there in they slew not any Either great or small but carried them away and went on their way So David and his men came to the city and behold it was burned with fire and their wives and their sons and their daughters were taken captives Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they had no more power to weep Now sometimes we read these stories, but imagine that your family had just been kidnapped You know, there's nothing scarier in my life than I can imagine that right there Like my children being kidnapped by somebody I Would go insane. I would literally my whole life would be to find where they're at I could not live after that and you can imagine what's going through their minds. I mean just completely Losing it To the point and you may read this to be like why they want to stone David. Are you kidding me? I Mean it literally I mean you just lost her whole family everything was taken away and notice in Verse five there and says and David's two wives were taken captives I had to know him the Jester lightest and Abigail the wife of navel the Carmelite and David was greatly distressed for the people spake of stoning him Because the soul of all the people was grieved every man for his sons and for his daughters, but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God I Mean there's a man after God's own heart right there. I don't know if I could do it You know, sometimes I think we're like, oh I'd be like that would you Could you do that could you dig yourself out of that hole? Would you say yeah, I'm gonna trust in the Lord that this is gonna get done Listen, I pray every night that anybody that would ever try to cap kidnap my children But that would ever try to hurt my children that God would destroy them swiftly If there's a prayer and I'm not the model Person on prayer when it comes to like I'm always feeling like I'm inadequate when it comes to prayer But if there's a prayer that I pray most all the time I probably pray this even when I'm asking for the blessing on my lunch at work that God would protect my children and that they would not be put into the hand in any harm's way and That obviously God would use me in any way shape or form or fashion to make that possible To that that that would never happen But if that happened could you imagine What would be going through your head at that time what kind of pit and Hole would you be in of heaviness at that time? And would you say I'm gonna encourage myself in the Lord now? That's the right answer But you know what sometimes you say well, why are you preaching on this? What if it happens? What if something like that happens? You need to mentally prepare for that that you will be like David and say, you know what if everything's taken away I'm gonna trust in the Lord and I will get my family back You know, that's I'm just telling you the truth here and that would be my modus operandi. I That I would not sleep or you know if unless I passed out Till that happened But sometimes we read over that and be thinking and think wow, you know, well, he got him back Yeah, you read the rest of the story, but you weren't there when they didn't know whether they were gonna get him back They had no idea whether they were gonna get them back And sometimes you need to read and just sit there for a little bit and think about what's going through their minds and imagine If you went in there and said, you know what? I'm gonna sing you a song rejoicing the Lord You know, could you imagine saying yeah, let's let's sing, you know to the Lord when all our children are taking captives and all our wives, you know, obviously you shouldn't have more than one wife, but but obviously, you know your wife is taking captive your children are taking captive and you had no idea whether you're gonna get them back or not and So I'm just trying to put this in real Just real language here that Now think about people deal with that type of depression all the time You say well, they didn't lose their whole family. They weren't taking captive but to them it's as real as what happened with David It's that deep and it hurts that much and it's that much sorrow sometimes that people are going through to the point where they could take their own life and We need to meet them where they're at We need to have we need to have pity on them and I'm not talking about pity like I feel sorry for you, you know You poor little thing. That's not what the Bible talks about when it talks about pity You know pity in the Bible is talking about having empathy having compassion and loving that person and Trying to get them out of there trying to get them out of that space But sometimes guess what? You've got to come down where they're at You can't just be up here on cloud nine and say hey come up to me You have to condescend the men of lowest state you have to weep with those that weep You have to get down where they're at To to where you can actually bring them up with you and that's a hard thing to do sometimes, right? You go into a funeral you had no idea who this person is But your friend is is really hurting, you know, they're in They're hurting, you know, it's it's sad. You need to get down there where they're at You don't come into that do you go into a funeral of a friend, you know, they just lost their grandmother They lost a loved one and then you come up to them just be like well praise the Lord. They're in heaven. This is great You don't do that, right Even though in the bottom of your heart, you're like this person saved they're in heaven There are no more pain and that is a glorious thought But you need to be like and I'm so sorry This is this is horrible, but you don't want to be fake because people can see that You don't want to just be like just putting on this facade You need to get down to where they're at You need to think about how you would feel if your loved one passed away and you need to say you know what? They're in Deep sorrow that makes me Feel sad, you know that makes me feel That way and you know what? That's where you can say. Okay, let's get up together Because you have to get down where they're at and work or you're just not gonna it's not gonna help Psalm 6 Psalm 6 and verse 6 notice what David said now they recovered all and I'm kind of skipping because I'm getting running on time here But he encouraged himself in the Lord and though he he inquired of the Lord so you can imagine that that'd be like us getting into the Bible inquiring of the Lord and Guess what God delivered him. He said you were surely You're gonna pursue and you're gonna get them back But what if David never encouraged himself in the Lord? And Sometimes you don't have that person to come down there with you and bring you back up Why I'm preaching the sermon is because I want that to to be the case I don't want it to be to say that you say no one had pity on me I had no comforters at all. And then you have to be like David and say, you know what? I'm gonna do it myself I'm gonna have to do it with the Lord. I'm not gonna have anybody that's gonna help me up. But you know what? You know, I think our church is a very caring church I think our church is a very loving church Even though we preach hard against sin and there are things that we hate in this world, you know, there's wickedness That's out there But when it comes down to it We are a very caring church and I want it to be that way and if anybody's ever hurting in our church I want them I want people to know that hey, we will come down where you're at to bring you back up We will weep with those that weep we will mourn with those that mourn and we are not just gonna be you know saying hey Why aren't you happy? We're all happy here. You just come up where we're at. No, we got to go down to him Ultimately though if no one does that Christian you need to encourage yourself in the Lord You need to get with the Lord and let the Lord bring you back up Okay in all these cases the Lord needs to be there But how much more when you have someone that can help you with that? You know and it talks about two are better than one and There's a lot of reasons why that's true, but in Psalms chapter 6 and verse 6 it says I am weary with my groaning all the night make I my bed to swim I Water my couch with my tears mine eye is consumed because of grief it waxeth old because all of because of all mine enemies David was a lion. I mean it talks about David and his men having the face of lions I mean these were manly men David was I mean he talks about breaking a bow of steel with his own bare hands So David was not a weakling but yet He got into some deep heaviness to the point where he's saying listen I'm just watering my couch with tears because of everything that's going on And if you remember when in Samuel it talks about you know, I am but a step away from death I mean, he's just like I'm just brought ready to die and you know Just that close when it comes to the breaking point in his mind The Bible says in Psalm 119 verse 25 my soul cleaveth unto the dust quicken down me according to thy word and there is a lot of truth to the fact of the Bible bringing us up and Whenever you are feeling down or depressed I do suggest that you pick up the Bible You read through Psalms you read through Proverbs you read through a passage of the Bible and let God talk to you Just just let him talk to you and you say I'm just not getting I'm not getting keep reading until you get it Because there is power in the Word of God there is comfort in his word that will help you with that And I was gonna go to Nehemiah, you know Nehemiah dealt with this talk about how he was sad and of a sad countenance There's many people but let's go through the Savior go to go to Isaiah 53 Isaiah 53 Did you know that Jesus dealt with heaviness and sorrow? And I think with a lot of this, you know the thing that helped me with depression is perspective having the right perspective Now I'm not gonna speak for anybody everybody that had depression, but I'll say this a lot of my depression had to do with selfishness It's being honest with you it had to do with wanting to you know Have a girlfriend it had to do with wanting to have a wife It had to do with those type of things that were selfish reasons in my state now I would not say that David's case was a selfish reason to be in heaviness, right? So I'm not for a second saying that people that deal with the depression it's always a selfish reason mine was and one of the things that that helped me is perspective and The perspective that really helped me is looking at my Savior and looking what what was his life like? Say all my life is passed me by Jesus died at around the age of 33 For the sins of the world. I mean he he's younger than when I Jesus died younger than what I am right now And I want to talk about my life passing away or you know my life passing me by Saul I'm sorry Isaiah 53 in verse 1 It says who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed for he? He shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of the dry ground He hath no form nor comeliness and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him He is despised and rejected of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our faces from him He was despised and we esteemed him not surely he had borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we did esteem him stricken smitten of God and afflicted and so a Lot of times and I'm just telling you what I did. Okay, so this is just anecdotal Okay, so you're like, that's not how I deal with that doesn't help me. I'm just telling you how I dealt with it I looked at my Savior and said hey If anybody dealt with you know, sorrow and grief, it's my Savior he was tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin and You know he took all that on him and he is not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities He knows what it feels like to be despised Rejected and and listen a lot of times depression has to do with that being in heaviness is being rejected by everybody It doesn't feel good It doesn't feel good to be rejected by a girl as men it doesn't feel good to be rejected by a guy for the ladies and That is something that is a real thing that can cause heaviness. But when you look at our Savior and that he bore all that Carriers, he was a man of sorrows. That's how he's known by that he was known of being a man of sorrows and well acquainted with grief and We need to have that respect to go to Hebrews chapter 12 Hebrews chapter 12. Actually, I'm you go to Philippians chapter 1. I need to really speed this up. I'm getting too long here Hebrews chapter 12 it talks about this It says looking out to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross Despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God and the thing is is that when Jesus was going through all this and it talks about he was in such sorrow and grief that he Was he was sweating as it were great drops of blood and he was crying out to his Heavenly Father saying if there's any other way then let this cup pass from me and You know what he was a beating unto death knowing that that was the only way that had to be But why did he do it because of the joy that was set before him? Because there was light at the end of the tunnel hate this will there's a reason there's a purpose for why he's going through all Of this and it's not going to be in vain Philippians chapter 1 and verse 21 here notice what it says Philippians 1 verse 21 It says for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor yet what I shall choose out what not Notice this for I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you This right here is What kept me going through college and through some really depressing times if you will Because I had a desire to depart and you know be with Christ, you know when West died I'm just like what is all this for, you know, just like what? It's just one of those things where we were going Nuts for preaching the gospel, you know, meaning like we were just doing it day in day out Just didn't care like we were just like doing everything we could do because we're just like, you know, what what is our life? it is even a vapor that advantage that appears for a little time and it vanishes away and It was just like this moment of time where you're just like nothing else matters and you're just like I just want to be with Christ But What you have to realize notice what it says in verse 24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you You know why you need to be here, you know why you need to get out of that whole depression because people need you You Are needed listen that person at the door needs you that person that you haven't given the gospel to yet yet needs you and if you aren't here, maybe they'll never hear it and You constantly have to be thinking who needs me, you know, why do I keep pastoring this church? Why you know, it's not easy It's not like there's a lot of other things I could be doing that it could be a lot less stressful But why do I do it because it's more needful for you that I'm still here it's more needful because more works gonna be done if I don't do it and That is a driving force You know pastor the church because I want all the accolades. I don't pastor the church because I just want that power No, you know what? I see You know week after week Families getting people saved I see people growing in the Lord and you know what? It's more needful for you that I'm here And guess what? It's every single person in here could say that same thing that it's more Needful for you that you're here to help others Because it's not just me You know, I'm the pastor of church, but that's not Mountain Baptist Church in a hole It is needful that you're here and not departing and being with Christ because that's where the fruits gonna come You're not gonna get people saved if you're not down here And you're not gonna be able to help other people up if you're not down here Think about all the people you got saved and let's say you had a time in your life where you're just like I don't know if I want to go on anymore What if you actually didn't go on anymore and think about every single person that would have went to hell? Because you weren't there And we got to be thinking about that type of stuff when it comes to this and this is a verse I was just thinking I was like, you know what it's more needful for my family that I'm here Not my family that my wife and children because I didn't have yet I Thought of my my parents thought about my brothers. I thought about people in my family that weren't saved yet. I Thought about my friends. I thought about different people and I said, you know what it's more needful for them than I'm here Because I don't want you know Me being doing something like that to ever afflict with them now If Philippians chapter 3 It says this in verse 13 brethren. I count not myself to have apprehended But this one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind and Reaching forth unto those things which are before I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus You know what? There's a lot of things when I was preparing this sermon because you know, it's like when I preached about anger I had to remember Some of the times when I got angry to kind of think of you know Like how I dealt with that things that I did wrong in the past other things like that. I forgot about it You know and then I'm looking back yeah, what's that was kind of angry back then I did go to anger management one time when I was like in a teenager Fighting with my younger brother anyway But all I have to say is that when it comes to depression, I almost forgot about it. I Completely forgot about it, but there were times where it was deep and it sucked But you know what that's what we need to do We need to we need to press forward and just try to forget about that type of stuff in the past We need to set our affections to things that are above Go to I just need to end it here because I'm past time go to Matthew chapter 11, Matthew chapter 11 Again, you may say well, you know what I deal with depression and that's not really helping. I've tried that doesn't help again I'm kind of just giving you avenues of what helped me But I'll say this sometimes even if you don't deal with depression You need to be thinking about what if someone else is how do I help in those situations? so I Just think of those passages and proverbs where it says, you know, like basically taking away a garment in the winter It's like singing songs to them of a heavy heart and I'm like, okay I need to I need to come down to where they're at more and Matthew chapter 11. That's what it says here verse 28. Come on to me all ye that are that labor in our Heavy laden and I will give you rest Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart And you shall find rest unto your souls For my yoke is easy and my burden is like, you know What Jesus is promising promising here that if you will follow him and do what he tells you to do That he will take that burden off I remember hearing a story about you know, this lady is dealing with depression and everything like that and and the guy said hey, I need you to make some pies, you know, and This is a whether this story is even true or not what I'm trying to get across here Is that if you put I think it was Jack Howells to be honest with you that said this The old old sermon but the point I'm trying to get across with this is that Tells this woman to make all these pies for these people in the church And she's like, I'm really depressed right now. I can't I can't even do that. I can't do that He's like listen, I need you to do this then we'll talk later about it. So she makes all these pies and Then other people are asking for it, right? And then she just keeps doing that and doing that and doing that and then the the pastor comes up to her and says hey You know, you want to talk about that depression and she said I'm too busy making pies for people You know what? When it comes to my life right now, I'm too busy To even think about depression right now I don't have time for it and and this isn't the belittle anybody that has depression to say well You just have too much time on your hands But there is a lot of truth to be said that if you're really busy and you're not thinking The I don't mind is the devil's workshop You start thinking about stuff and you have time to think It leads into it can lead into a lot of different things. It gets you in a lot of trouble It gives you a lot of depression, but you know what if you're helping people It's very cathartic It just helps, you know It's kind of like giving a gift who here likes to give a gift to somebody more than receiving a gift Most people like giving a gift more than receiving right because you want to give it to me Like you're just you just want to you want to make them happy, right? And then receiving a gift you're almost kind of like I don't want you know, you know, it's almost embarrassing, right? You're like, ah, you know, thank you, you know, but you feel embarrassed because you don't deserve it But giving a gift you're just like you if you if you could you want to give gifts to everybody to make them feel happy And do all this other stuff And so one of the things I believe what Jesus is teaching here is that if you follow him and you're helping others and you're and You're winning people to Christ that That will help lift the load Because that will force you to put perspective into your life. Okay. Now, that's how I dealt with it. Okay You know, I realized that hey, you know, there are people out there that need me You know if it's if it's just lost people that need to hear the gospel But also the fact that Jesus is probably promising that it'll give you rest The Bible says casting all your care upon him for he careth for you the Bible talks about him being the god of all comfort and I don't know if they planned it when he was singing the comforter has come and and the other the other song was talking about I forget what the other song was, but it had to do with comfort and you know Basically dealing with this and it's just kind of fitting But All that to say is the Bible says this blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted and You know, we need to be the type of Christians that will Help those that need comforting. Okay, and not just say hey, this is automatic. You're saved. Why in the world? Are you dealing with this? No, you need to say hey You know what? That's a real thing. We probably all dealt with it to some extent You know, let me come down where you're at and let me try to bring you back up okay, and We need to be compassionate like that with our brothers and sisters in Christ and not just be constantly saying hey I got the answer for you, you know and just give them the answer Sometimes you got to earn That meaning you got to come down where they're at to try to get them back up And so I hope that helps I hope you're not all depressed after this sermon. Okay, I hope you know The light at the end of the tunnel is the fact that hey we are here for each other and when someone's down we need to go down with them and bring them back up and Not everybody's gonna be happy all the time. I don't ask everybody to be happy all the time And so we need to be thinking about that and and so heaviness depression in the Bible Let's look unto Jesus the author and finisher our faith You know think about the joy that is set before you think about that light at the end of the tunnel and know This that you are needed in the Lord. You are needed in this church by more people than you know, and You know, we need to always be remembering that let's end with the word paradigm We think of today and thank you for the souls that were saved today. Thank you for our church Thank you for everybody that's here and Lord just prayed you'd help us with the issue of depression heaviness and even You know like last week, you know dealing with anger and just different things that we all deal with as far as emotions and and we'll just help us to deal with these things help us to To look into your word to encourage ourselves and you and then also as Christians that we can help in any way To help those that are dealing with different issues in their lives. And well, we just love you in Paris in Jesus Christ name. Amen