The Lord is My Refuge

By Janelle Hill

When we are right in the middle of deep grief or depression, it is very hard to know what is real.  Is everything really as dark and confused as we feel it is?  Is God angry with us or does He even care?  Are we without hope?  These can be very real concerns, and grief or depression can leave us confused and overwhelmed.

When we read the book of Psalms we find that David was no stranger to these emotions.  For example, in Psalm 142 he said, ‘I poured out my prayer before Him; I declared my trouble before Him.  When my spirit fainted within me, then You knew my path; escape was lost to me; no man cared for my soul.  I cried to You, O Lord; I said ‘You are my refuge and my portion.  Hear my cry; for I am brought very low.  Bring my soul out of prison that I may praise Your name’’.

In the Psalms, David uses these phrases many times: ‘I cried’ or ‘my heart was overwhelmed’ or ‘in my distress.’  Perhaps when we think of David, we think of the bold boy who overcame Goliath through faith, or the overcoming king who was valiant in battle.  However David was also a man who experienced affliction and understood sorrow. 

The book of Psalms can be a helpful book during times of grief and depression.  As we read through the psalms written by David, a theme becomes clear.  David’s response to affliction and grief was always to seek the Lord and to throw himself on the Lord’s mercy.

To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.   Ps 25:1

Your face, O Lord, I will seek.  Ps 27:8.

Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why do you moan within me? Hope in God; for I still praise Him, the salvation of my face, and my God.  Ps 43:5.

In the midst of his deep affliction of spirit, David found hope in the Lord.  As he walked through many periods of trial and sorrow, he experienced the faithfulness and love of the Lord to his life.  He learned how to trust in the Lord, and even praise the Lord during periods of deep trial as he walked them through.  With each new trial, he was able to remember the faithfulness of the Lord, and as he lifted his heart to his God, the Lord was able to strengthen him.

When these times of deep grief and depression come, we find that we have no strength.  We cannot lift our head and we cannot simply ‘snap out of it.’  Like David, we feel that our ‘soul is in prison.’  As we live through this time, there is a way for us – the Lord can be ‘a shield and the One who lifts up our head’. Ps 3:3.  There is nowhere we can go that the Lord is unable to go there with us.  In our darkest times, when we are unable to even hold onto Him, He holds onto us.

Where shall I go from Your Spirit? If I go up into Heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Hell, behold, You are there.  If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the furthest parts of the sea; even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.  Ps 139:7-10

Jesus said ‘come to Me all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’. Matt 11:28.  He also said ‘whoever comes to Me, I will in no way cast out’.  John 6:37.  What a blessed promise when our heart is heavy!  If we come to Him, we will find rest and He will accept us, no matter what we have done in our past.  But how do we come to Jesus?  How can we hear His voice to us?  The Bible says that ‘the word we need to hear is near us’ (Rom 10:8 paraphrased) and this word is ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’. Rom 10:13.  These verses go on to ask:  how will we call on Him unless we hear, and how will we hear unless someone speaks to us?  Rom 10:14-15. 

When we are lost, or bowed with pain and sorrow, it can be hard to call out to the Lord.  Our confusion, fogginess of mind, or feelings of guilt and sadness can rob us of strength and confidence.  We need someone to speak the good news to us, to lift our head so that our eyes can see our loving Saviour holding out His arms to us.  We need someone who knows the Lord and cares for our life to speak to us.  Their words will be life and strength to us –the Lord’s words to us.  Rom 10:17.  

The Lord has never promised to take away our difficult situations, but He has promised to go with us and help us, to hold onto us even when we cannot hold onto Him, and to encourage and strengthen us.  You can call on the Lord, and He can be your salvation and the lifter of your head.

Further Study:

1 Peter 5:7;  Psalm 23; 139:14-16;  2 Cor 4:7-10;  Rom 10:8-17 (read all)