Bible Text: Lamentations 3:17-32 |  

June 8, 2014

Open:  Melancholy (depression) comes from lost hope or a lack of vision/purpose [meaning]

It results in disengagement from life and relationships

It’s the feeling voiced in Psalm 42, “My tears have been my food day and night while…

It’s the feeling in songs like Lonely People (“lonely people, thinking that life has passed them by”), Every Day Is Exactly the Same (“I think I used to have a purpose; then again, that might have been a dream”) and Bridge Over Troubled Water (“When darkness comes and pain is all around”).

Who will be the bridge for you?  Who will “Lay me down?”

Key Line—Lamentations 3:22, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed.”

I.        That’s Depressing

A.     Where were you when Elvis, MLK or JFK died?  How did it feel?

B.     The melancholy of

1.      Job [3:11-13] who lose everything and didn’t understand why

2.      Jonah [4:3] who hated his job and felt trapped by it

3.      Elijah [1 Kings 19:4] who felt alone and unappreciated

II.       Will things Ever Get Better?

A.     The paradox of Jesus on the cross.

1.      “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

2.      He lost everything, endured a lousy job, and he died alone.

B.     Joy comes from renewed hope and/or renewed sense of meaning.

1.      Hebrews 12:2, “Who for the joy set before him endured the cross…”

2.      Philippians 2:6-9, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place…”

3.      James 1:2, “Count it all joy, brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know…”

Conclusion: 

Key Line—Lamentations 3:22, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed.”

Proverbs 13:12, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” With a little Gilligan’s Island

Isaiah 40, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not be faint.”