The notion of lament

In the past I've considered the correlation of Lamentations with the rise of depression in our society. In my lifetime I've seen the growth of the health industry explode. Not that hasn't always been some form of remedy offered socially, however it seems the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st is off the scale with what it offers to the wider public. The advent of the internet pressing it even wider. I think about "depression" and how we identify it and begin medicating it. When I consider how wide it is I think is this "new" to society. Is this something that just popped up because of all the tampering that we have done medically in the last 50 years. Is there an association with the rise of depression with the change that we have affected in growing our crops and feeding out our livestock. Is there a correlation with our vacines, our population growth. . .etc. It goes on and on. I'm a casual conspiracy theorist so if I go to far I find the connections which end up doing not much else than frustrating me more.

Then. . I pause. I think, what if depression has been around all along. Where do we see sign's of it historically? What were the remedies for depression in years past? I look where I often do to scripture for some insights. And when I slow down and sink into God's word a little deeper I find the signs of depression rampant within God's word. Or at the very least one of the remedies of depression being worked out. Lamentation. A cry out of despair. A desperate weeping and moaning of the soul. Fist's shaken at the heavens shouting "My God, My God why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me from the words of my groaning? (Psalm 22:1) There it is! This doesn't come out of the mouth of a person who is happy, joyful and always walking around giving pep talks. This comes from a person who is weighed down. Like Stones placed on the chest. Someone who "feels" loss and abandonment. A person suffering from the affects of depression. Here though as we work through the Lament we see the balancing of what we "feel" and what is "real" or what is the direction we must turn ourselves in order to be delivered our of the morass.

22I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:

23You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

24For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.

25From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him.

26The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever!

27All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.

28For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.

29To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.

30Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord,

31and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.

Psalm 22:22-31.

We see in the first part of the Lament it is right to speak to shout to say how it is we "feel" God can take it. God does take it. As we move through our anger or despair, our pain and loneliness we are led to put our countenance in the right perspective to the only one who can deliver us. Praise is our remedy. Telling our story is the Remedy. God is our Remedy in the times of despair. It doesn't come at once. But it does come.

I don't want anyone reading this to hear me saying if your depressed your only remedy is to write a lament or Praise God. I at the least know the impact depression has had on those I love. We have to find help. However maybe part of our help can be joining our voices together, shouting our cries in unison. And finding our peace in the one who has the power to deliver us. Praising God in the midsts of our sorrow and resting of the certainty of Gods Love.