Depression

1. Depression is a heavy burden and feels insurmountable.

Proverbs 18:14 A man's spirit sustains him in sickness, but a
crushed spirit who can bear?
Psalm 69:1-2 Save me, 0 God, for the waters have come up to
my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I
have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me.
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2. Is sin involved in this depression? Cain was depressed because of
sin in his life.
Genesis 4:6-7 Then the LoRD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? =
Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not
be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at
your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." I:
3. When sin is the cause of depression, step one is confessio1}.to God
as David did after his sin.
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Psalm 51:1-18 Have mercy on me, 0 God, according to your
unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my
transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my ;:
sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your
sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified =
when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time
my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, I:
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and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let
~ me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create
in me a pure heart, 0 God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
cI Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit ttom
me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing
spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and
~ sinners will turn back to you. Save me from bloodguilt, 0 God,
the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your
righteousness. 0 Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare
cJ your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you
do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are
a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, 0 God, you will not
= despise. In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the
walls of Jerusalem.

= Psalm 32:3-8 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through

my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy
upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then
= I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I
said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-and you
forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore let everyone who is godly
~ pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters
rise, they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; you will
protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.
~ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will
counsel you and watch over you.

= 4. God is the answer to a life in despair.

Psalm 43:5Why areyou downcast, 0 my soul?Why so disturbed
within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my
td Savior and my God.
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help
in trouble.
= 2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though
outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed
:; day by day.

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5. God understands despair.
Psalm 18:28You,0 LORD,keep my lamp burning; my God turns
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my darkness into light.
Psalm 38:9 All my longings lie open before you, 0 Lord; my ;::
sighing is not hidden from you.
Job 23:10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested
me, I will come forth as gold.
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6. There is hope in God.
Psalm 16:8 I have set the LORDalwaysbefore me. Because he is
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at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Hebrews 12:2 Let us fIx our eyes on Jesus, the author and
perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the
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cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the
throre of God. ;;::
Ephesians 1:17-19 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and
revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the
eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know
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the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious
inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us
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who believe.

NOTE: It would be beneficial to have the counselee see a physician to

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eliminate the possibility of physiological causes.
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