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Despondency
Text:1 Kings 19:1-8
1 Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and all – how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and even more so, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by tomorrow at this time.
3 When he saw that, then he arose and went for his life, and he came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and he left his servant there.
4 But he himself went into the desert a day’s journey. And he came and sat under a certain broom tree. Then he requested for himself to die. “It is enough now, O Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.”
5 And he lay down and slept under the broom tree. Then behold, an angel was touching him and said to him, “Arise, eat.”
6 Then he looked, and behold, at his head was a cake baked over hot coals and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.
Then the angel of the Lord came again the second time and touched him and said, “Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.”
8 So he arose and ate and drank, and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Sermon:
The man’s voice cracked with emotion. He started crying. His life was a mess. He saw no hope. He was giving up. He spoke of suicide. Dejection, depression, despondency overwhelm individuals when their lives turn sour. Even Christians become despondent and cry out, “I’ve had it! That’s enough!”
Haven’t you had days that made your mind scream? “I’ve had it! That’s enough!” Everything that could go wrong at work went wrong. Your boss was all over your back like a shirt. The rush hour traffic sucked up your last ounce of patience. When a big wheeled pick-up nearly ran you off the road, you heard yourself yelling, “Hey! Where’d ya get your driver’s license? Out of a cracker jack box?” When you stopped at the store on the way home, a shopper hit you with his shopping cart, the clerk short-changed you, and in the car you discovered you were charged full price for the items on sale. Upon arriving home, you had to park out on the street, because the kids left their bikes strewn all over the driveway. Once inside the door you saw that your spouse looked about as happy as a snarling wolf. Then you heard the words to welcome you home: “The lawn tractor blew up this morning! The neighbor kids just tore a hole in the lining of our swimming pool. All one thousand gallons of water ran down across the lawn and through the basement patio door. Three inches of water are standing in our rec room.” Throwing up your arms, your mind screamed, “That’s it! I’ve had it! I can’t take it anymore!”
That may not have been your exact scenario, yet you know what I mean. Sometimes life can be a real bummer! It could even be much worse. Down in the dumps, dejected, depressed, and despondent, we moan, “I’ve had it! That’s enough!”
This text allows this sermon to speak to you about despondency. Elijah, the great prophet, became despondent after the events on Mount Carmel. There when Elijah had called out, the Lord had consumed the sacrifice with fire from heaven to prove to the Israelites that he, not the idol Baal, was God. The Lord had also sent a miraculous rain shower that ended three years of drought. Elijah had killed queen Jezebel’s 450 false prophets of Baal. When Jezebel heard what Elijah had done, she vowed to take his life and kill him by the same time the next day.
Persecuted by an ungodly king and queen and their wicked government, Elijah’s life was threatened. In spite of his preaching and miracles, neither the rulers nor the land had turned to the Lord. He had lived through their persecution before, while Jezebel had killed the Lord’s prophets. He had been a hunted man. But then, after the miracles on Mount Carmel, he saw that all he had done had accomplished nothing, except to incite Jezebel to threaten to kill him.
Verses 3-5 of the sermon text tells us: “When Elijah saw that, then he arose and went for his life, and he came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and he left his servant there. But he himself went into the desert a day’s journey. And he came and sat under a certain broom tree. Then he requested for himself to die. ‘It is enough now, O Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.’ And he lay down and slept under the broom tree.”
It seems that Elijah became afraid. He went and took off for his life. At Beersheba in Judah he left his servant. Elijah himself then went another day’s journey into the desert. When he came to a certain broom tree, he sat down under it. He then prayed that he might die. He told the Lord that he had had enough. The Lord should take his life. And he laid down under the tree and went to sleep.
The great Elijah had become spiritually weak. He fled his post in Israel. He ran from the northern part of the northern kingdom of Israel to the southern extent of the southern kingdom of Judah. In terms we can understand, it was like he ran from a northern province in Canada to the southern tip of Texas in the United States. He ran to a different kingdom under a different government where he was sure to be safe. But even then he had not run far enough to suit him. He went alone a day’s journey into the desert where no one would find him.
Having run away from his problems and an ungodly world and government, he moaned, “Lord, I’ve had enough! That’s it! I’ve had it--with my work, with the ungodly people, with the government, and with life! I want to die! Take my life! It’s better to die to be with you in heaven than to live to be rejected and persecuted on earth. I can’t take it anymore.”
Like Elijah, Christians in their spiritual weakness when under duress can and do become dejected, depressed, and despondent. In the psalms the despondent Christian moans about his soul being downcast and disturbed within him At such times despondent Christians wish that, like Elijah, they could just run and fly away. David himself wrote in the psalms that he wished he had the wings of a dove. Then he would fly away and could be at rest. He would flee far away to stay in the desert. He would hurry to his place of shelter, away from the tempest and storm of life.
Being spiritually weak we can despond: “I’ve had enough! I’ve had it with my work. All my efforts have been for naught! I’ve had it with the ungodly people who oppress me and make my life miserable. I’ve had it with our government hat sanctions the evil that is being done. I’m tired of life in general! I want to get away from it all!”
Such despondency arises from such setbacks or afflictions in life as: Pain. Suffering. Failing health. Terminal illness. A failing marriage. A divorce. A dysfunctional family. A death. A jilted love. Problems at work. A loss of a job. A financial disaster. A destroyed home. Or anyone of a host of other things. In many cases life’s stress and strain and setbacks and responsibilities cause individuals to run away from it all.
Like Elijah, the ungodly people and an evil government, which sanctions the persecution and oppression of Christians, can depress us. Our government and police departments have already stood by silently, doing nothing to stop the persecution and oppression of Christians who took a stand against homosexuality. While gay activists attacked pastors and parishioners, defaced churches, disrupted worship services, and shouted “Bring back the lions!” police officers stood by watching it all happen. This can depress us too.
Depression and despondency too often leads to suicide. Elijah never entertained such a thought. He put his life in the Lord’s hands. Suicide is murder. It surely is not the answer, for in escaping life’s problems on earth one plunges himself into hell, which is far worse. Yet suicide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia are increasingly viewed as the means to escape a terminal illness and suffering. Like Elijah, by faith we recognize the Lord is the giver and taker of life. Our life rests in his hands. He will deliver us from life’s trials when the time is right. We need only wait on him.
We cannot run from life’s troubles, as Elijah tried to do. We must come to grips with what causes our despondency--an unwillingness to accept the situation that confronts us and a weakness of faith in the Lord to bring us through it. Among our many sins are those times we were unwilling to accept what was the Lord’s will for us and a weakness of faith to trust in him to help us through it. How thankful we can be that, for the sake of Jesus’ death for our sins, the Lord forgives us and has saved us from the eternal death we deserve in hell. In his graciousness he has blessed us through Jesus with eternal life and rest and peace with him in heaven, where we will never again be troubled or oppressed as we are here on earth.
Until then, our Lord watches over us on earth as he watched over Elijah. Elijah deserted life in the desert, but the Lord never deserted Elijah. Verses 5-8 of the sermon text tell us: “Then behold, an angel was touching him and said to him, ‘Arise, eat.’ Then he looked, and behold, at his head was a cake baked over hot coals and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. Then the angel of the Lord came again the second time and touched him and said, ‘Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.’ So he arose and ate and drank, and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.”
The Lord watched over Elijah through the stresses of his life and his despondency. He sent an angel to minister to his needs. The angel’s appearance showed Elijah that the Lord knew about his troubles and despondency, and that the Lord had remained with him. The angel’s appearance would then have strengthened Elijah’s spirit at a time it needed to be strengthened.
From this account let us learn that our Lord ministers to our needs. He knows our troubles of life. He knows our spiritual weaknesses. He knows when we are depressed and despondent. He knows how to help us according to our needs of the moment. He even knows how to send an angel to miraculously minister to us if and when our situation in life calls for it.
We should thank our Lord for his holy angels. They minister to us Christians, who through faith in Jesus Christ, will inherit salvation. They are our guardian angels, whom our Lord commands to guard us in all our ways and to lift us up in their hands to keep us from danger. The holy angels prevent the devil and his demons from tormenting us and murdering our families in their beds. The holy angels are invisible spirits, greater and more powerful and more noble than we are. Yet they humble themselves to gladly serve us by watching over us and protecting us each day. When the day of our death comes, they will pick us up in the palm of their hands and carry us home to heaven. For their carrying us to heaven we can also thank the Lord, because, as Luther once wrote, left to ourselves we could not find our way, would surely get lost, and would wander into the wrong place.
May this Word of God strengthen our faith and prepare us for the day we feel like crying out, “I’ve had enough! I’ve had it with work, with people, and with life.” We must through many tribulations enter into the kingdom of heaven. Why, however, should we become despondent over them when they are our Lord’s will for us? When all looks black in our lives, our Lord, who is compassionate and gracious, can show us the light of his divine aid and salvation. He remains with us. He knows our weaknesses and our needs. He even has his angels guarding us. So let’s not throw in the towel. Let’s accept what is the Lord’s will for us and wait on him with a trusting heart to help and deliver us.
Amen.
1 Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and all – how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and even more so, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by tomorrow at this time.
3 When he saw that, then he arose and went for his life, and he came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and he left his servant there.
4 But he himself went into the desert a day’s journey. And he came and sat under a certain broom tree. Then he requested for himself to die. “It is enough now, O Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.”
5 And he lay down and slept under the broom tree. Then behold, an angel was touching him and said to him, “Arise, eat.”
6 Then he looked, and behold, at his head was a cake baked over hot coals and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.
Then the angel of the Lord came again the second time and touched him and said, “Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.”
8 So he arose and ate and drank, and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Sermon:
The man’s voice cracked with emotion. He started crying. His life was a mess. He saw no hope. He was giving up. He spoke of suicide. Dejection, depression, despondency overwhelm individuals when their lives turn sour. Even Christians become despondent and cry out, “I’ve had it! That’s enough!”
Haven’t you had days that made your mind scream? “I’ve had it! That’s enough!” Everything that could go wrong at work went wrong. Your boss was all over your back like a shirt. The rush hour traffic sucked up your last ounce of patience. When a big wheeled pick-up nearly ran you off the road, you heard yourself yelling, “Hey! Where’d ya get your driver’s license? Out of a cracker jack box?” When you stopped at the store on the way home, a shopper hit you with his shopping cart, the clerk short-changed you, and in the car you discovered you were charged full price for the items on sale. Upon arriving home, you had to park out on the street, because the kids left their bikes strewn all over the driveway. Once inside the door you saw that your spouse looked about as happy as a snarling wolf. Then you heard the words to welcome you home: “The lawn tractor blew up this morning! The neighbor kids just tore a hole in the lining of our swimming pool. All one thousand gallons of water ran down across the lawn and through the basement patio door. Three inches of water are standing in our rec room.” Throwing up your arms, your mind screamed, “That’s it! I’ve had it! I can’t take it anymore!”
That may not have been your exact scenario, yet you know what I mean. Sometimes life can be a real bummer! It could even be much worse. Down in the dumps, dejected, depressed, and despondent, we moan, “I’ve had it! That’s enough!”
This text allows this sermon to speak to you about despondency. Elijah, the great prophet, became despondent after the events on Mount Carmel. There when Elijah had called out, the Lord had consumed the sacrifice with fire from heaven to prove to the Israelites that he, not the idol Baal, was God. The Lord had also sent a miraculous rain shower that ended three years of drought. Elijah had killed queen Jezebel’s 450 false prophets of Baal. When Jezebel heard what Elijah had done, she vowed to take his life and kill him by the same time the next day.
Persecuted by an ungodly king and queen and their wicked government, Elijah’s life was threatened. In spite of his preaching and miracles, neither the rulers nor the land had turned to the Lord. He had lived through their persecution before, while Jezebel had killed the Lord’s prophets. He had been a hunted man. But then, after the miracles on Mount Carmel, he saw that all he had done had accomplished nothing, except to incite Jezebel to threaten to kill him.
Verses 3-5 of the sermon text tells us: “When Elijah saw that, then he arose and went for his life, and he came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and he left his servant there. But he himself went into the desert a day’s journey. And he came and sat under a certain broom tree. Then he requested for himself to die. ‘It is enough now, O Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.’ And he lay down and slept under the broom tree.”
It seems that Elijah became afraid. He went and took off for his life. At Beersheba in Judah he left his servant. Elijah himself then went another day’s journey into the desert. When he came to a certain broom tree, he sat down under it. He then prayed that he might die. He told the Lord that he had had enough. The Lord should take his life. And he laid down under the tree and went to sleep.
The great Elijah had become spiritually weak. He fled his post in Israel. He ran from the northern part of the northern kingdom of Israel to the southern extent of the southern kingdom of Judah. In terms we can understand, it was like he ran from a northern province in Canada to the southern tip of Texas in the United States. He ran to a different kingdom under a different government where he was sure to be safe. But even then he had not run far enough to suit him. He went alone a day’s journey into the desert where no one would find him.
Having run away from his problems and an ungodly world and government, he moaned, “Lord, I’ve had enough! That’s it! I’ve had it--with my work, with the ungodly people, with the government, and with life! I want to die! Take my life! It’s better to die to be with you in heaven than to live to be rejected and persecuted on earth. I can’t take it anymore.”
Like Elijah, Christians in their spiritual weakness when under duress can and do become dejected, depressed, and despondent. In the psalms the despondent Christian moans about his soul being downcast and disturbed within him At such times despondent Christians wish that, like Elijah, they could just run and fly away. David himself wrote in the psalms that he wished he had the wings of a dove. Then he would fly away and could be at rest. He would flee far away to stay in the desert. He would hurry to his place of shelter, away from the tempest and storm of life.
Being spiritually weak we can despond: “I’ve had enough! I’ve had it with my work. All my efforts have been for naught! I’ve had it with the ungodly people who oppress me and make my life miserable. I’ve had it with our government hat sanctions the evil that is being done. I’m tired of life in general! I want to get away from it all!”
Such despondency arises from such setbacks or afflictions in life as: Pain. Suffering. Failing health. Terminal illness. A failing marriage. A divorce. A dysfunctional family. A death. A jilted love. Problems at work. A loss of a job. A financial disaster. A destroyed home. Or anyone of a host of other things. In many cases life’s stress and strain and setbacks and responsibilities cause individuals to run away from it all.
Like Elijah, the ungodly people and an evil government, which sanctions the persecution and oppression of Christians, can depress us. Our government and police departments have already stood by silently, doing nothing to stop the persecution and oppression of Christians who took a stand against homosexuality. While gay activists attacked pastors and parishioners, defaced churches, disrupted worship services, and shouted “Bring back the lions!” police officers stood by watching it all happen. This can depress us too.
Depression and despondency too often leads to suicide. Elijah never entertained such a thought. He put his life in the Lord’s hands. Suicide is murder. It surely is not the answer, for in escaping life’s problems on earth one plunges himself into hell, which is far worse. Yet suicide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia are increasingly viewed as the means to escape a terminal illness and suffering. Like Elijah, by faith we recognize the Lord is the giver and taker of life. Our life rests in his hands. He will deliver us from life’s trials when the time is right. We need only wait on him.
We cannot run from life’s troubles, as Elijah tried to do. We must come to grips with what causes our despondency--an unwillingness to accept the situation that confronts us and a weakness of faith in the Lord to bring us through it. Among our many sins are those times we were unwilling to accept what was the Lord’s will for us and a weakness of faith to trust in him to help us through it. How thankful we can be that, for the sake of Jesus’ death for our sins, the Lord forgives us and has saved us from the eternal death we deserve in hell. In his graciousness he has blessed us through Jesus with eternal life and rest and peace with him in heaven, where we will never again be troubled or oppressed as we are here on earth.
Until then, our Lord watches over us on earth as he watched over Elijah. Elijah deserted life in the desert, but the Lord never deserted Elijah. Verses 5-8 of the sermon text tell us: “Then behold, an angel was touching him and said to him, ‘Arise, eat.’ Then he looked, and behold, at his head was a cake baked over hot coals and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. Then the angel of the Lord came again the second time and touched him and said, ‘Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.’ So he arose and ate and drank, and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.”
The Lord watched over Elijah through the stresses of his life and his despondency. He sent an angel to minister to his needs. The angel’s appearance showed Elijah that the Lord knew about his troubles and despondency, and that the Lord had remained with him. The angel’s appearance would then have strengthened Elijah’s spirit at a time it needed to be strengthened.
From this account let us learn that our Lord ministers to our needs. He knows our troubles of life. He knows our spiritual weaknesses. He knows when we are depressed and despondent. He knows how to help us according to our needs of the moment. He even knows how to send an angel to miraculously minister to us if and when our situation in life calls for it.
We should thank our Lord for his holy angels. They minister to us Christians, who through faith in Jesus Christ, will inherit salvation. They are our guardian angels, whom our Lord commands to guard us in all our ways and to lift us up in their hands to keep us from danger. The holy angels prevent the devil and his demons from tormenting us and murdering our families in their beds. The holy angels are invisible spirits, greater and more powerful and more noble than we are. Yet they humble themselves to gladly serve us by watching over us and protecting us each day. When the day of our death comes, they will pick us up in the palm of their hands and carry us home to heaven. For their carrying us to heaven we can also thank the Lord, because, as Luther once wrote, left to ourselves we could not find our way, would surely get lost, and would wander into the wrong place.
May this Word of God strengthen our faith and prepare us for the day we feel like crying out, “I’ve had enough! I’ve had it with work, with people, and with life.” We must through many tribulations enter into the kingdom of heaven. Why, however, should we become despondent over them when they are our Lord’s will for us? When all looks black in our lives, our Lord, who is compassionate and gracious, can show us the light of his divine aid and salvation. He remains with us. He knows our weaknesses and our needs. He even has his angels guarding us. So let’s not throw in the towel. Let’s accept what is the Lord’s will for us and wait on him with a trusting heart to help and deliver us.
Amen.
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