Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, July 28, 2024

Fighting the Black Dog

Today, Michael is talking about depression, the “Black Dog” as Winston Churchill coined it.

The theme today can be summed up as, “Praise is a weapon against depression” and Michael will drill down on it herein.

Not all depression is situational, though as we see in Psalms 102 we hear of ‘the day of his trouble”, a season of struggle, a deep disappointment, prolonged illness, a myriad of things.  

The author of this Psalm is wrestling with God, feeling he has been abandoned by Him.  Yet, He clearly has not!

Prayers prayed to God from human suffering can increase personal faith.  Sometimes it does seem, due to our human understanding of things, that God has abandoned us, but He never does and never will. 

Psalms 102:3-10 (CSB Bible Notes) 102:3 My days vanish like smoke, which immediately dissipates into the air (37:20; 68:2; Hs 13:3). Life passed quickly as the psalmist suffered physical pain (Ps 69:18; Is 33:14). The furnace could be a hearth or brazier (Jr 36:23). 102:4-5 The heart, or seat of morale, has been suffering as if by disease. Withered like grass shows the discouragement of the psalmist. He longed for death as the ultimate deliverance from a life of persecution and oppression (Pss 39; 90).

Today’s verses can be found in Psalms 102.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.