Strongholds, the Mind, Fear, and Depression

¹For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God. ²My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear in God’s presence? ³My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?” ⁴These things come to mind as I pour out my soul: how I walked with the multitude, leading the festive procession to the house of God with shouts of joy and praise. ⁵Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence. ⁶O my God, my soul despairs within me. Therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon—even from Mount Mizar. ⁷Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and waves have rolled over me. ⁸The LORD decrees His loving devotion by day, and at night His song is with me as a prayer to the God of my life. ⁹I say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?” ¹⁰Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” ¹¹Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

³You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You. ⁴Trust in the LORD forever, because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal.

¹Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. ²Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

³For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. ⁴The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the flesh. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵We demolish arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. ⁶And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, as soon as your obedience is complete.

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵Let your gentleness be apparent to all. The Lord is near. ⁶Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things. ⁹Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

⁷For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

¹Now Ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. ²So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I have not made your life like the lives of those you killed!” ³And Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, ⁴while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” ⁵Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” ⁶And he looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. ⁷A second time the angel of the LORD returned and touched him, saying, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.” ⁸So he got up and ate and drank. And strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. ⁹There Elijah entered a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁰“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.” ¹¹Then the LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD. Behold, the LORD is about to pass by.” And a great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. ¹²After the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a still, small voice. ¹³When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.” ¹⁵Then the LORD said to him, “Go back by the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you arrive, you are to anoint Hazael as king over Aram. ¹⁶You are also to anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah to succeed you as prophet. ¹⁷Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu. ¹⁸Nevertheless, I have reserved seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

¹Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; deliver me from deceitful and unjust men. ²For You are the God of my refuge. Why have You rejected me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression? ³Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to Your holy mountain and to the place where You dwell. ⁴Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my greatest joy. I will praise You with the harp, O God, my God. ⁵Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

¹For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Maskil of David. Listen to my prayer, O God, and do not ignore my plea. ²Attend to me and answer me. I am restless in my complaint, and distraught ³at the voice of the enemy, at the pressure of the wicked. For they bring down disaster upon me and resent me in their anger. ⁴My heart pounds within me, and the terrors of death assail me. ⁵Fear and trembling grip me, and horror has overwhelmed me. ⁶I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and find rest. ⁷How far away I would flee! In the wilderness I would remain. Selah ⁸I would hurry to my shelter, far from this raging tempest.” ¹⁶But I call to God, and the LORD saves me. ¹⁷Morning, noon, and night, I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice. ¹⁸He redeems my soul in peace from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me. ²²Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.

¹A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD, the God of my salvation, day and night I cry out before You. ²May my prayer come before You; incline Your ear to my cry. ³For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. ⁴I am counted among those descending to the Pit. I am like a man without strength. ⁵I am forsaken among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom You remember no more, who are cut off from Your care. ⁶You have laid me in the lowest Pit, in the darkest of the depths. ⁷Your wrath weighs heavily upon me; all Your waves have submerged me. Selah ⁸You have removed my friends from me; You have made me repulsive to them; I am confined and cannot escape. ⁹My eyes grow dim with grief. I call to You daily, O LORD; I spread out my hands to You. ¹⁰Do You work wonders for the dead? Do departed spirits rise up to praise You? Selah ¹¹Can Your loving devotion be proclaimed in the grave, Your faithfulness in Abaddon? ¹²Will Your wonders be known in the darkness, or Your righteousness in the land of oblivion? ¹³But to You, O LORD, I cry for help; in the morning my prayer comes before You. ¹⁴Why, O LORD, do You reject me? Why do You hide Your face from me? ¹⁵From my youth I was afflicted and near death. I have borne Your terrors; I am in despair. ¹⁶Your wrath has swept over me; Your terrors have destroyed me. ¹⁷All day long they engulf me like water; they enclose me on every side. ¹⁸You have removed my beloved and my friend; darkness is my closest companion.

¹⁷Unless the LORD had been my helper, I would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence. ¹⁸If I say, “My foot is slipping,” Your loving devotion, O LORD, supports me. ¹⁹When anxiety overwhelms me, Your consolation delights my soul.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. ²⁴See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.

¹The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners, ²to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn, ³to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

²⁸Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

³¹So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. ³²Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ³³“We are Abraham’s descendants,” they answered. “We have never been slaves to anyone. How can You say we will be set free?” ³⁴Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵A slave does not remain in the house forever, but a son remains forever. ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

¹Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ²For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. ³For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ⁶The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God. ⁹You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. ¹⁰But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.

¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. ¹⁶Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

⁶Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you. ⁷Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. ⁸Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.

¹⁶And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him. ¹⁷In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him. ¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.

¹Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. ²Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

³For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. ⁴The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the flesh. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵We demolish arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

⁶Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things. ⁹Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

¹⁰Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.