MINNESOTA BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

Restoring the Joy of Salvation!

by Dr. Lance T. Ketchum, MBA State Missionary

The Example of David

This is where David is at in Psalm 43. He has fallen into a pit of the miry clay of despair and desperation and he is up to his neck in trouble. The more he tries to get himself out, the deeper he sinks. In his hopeless despair he looks upward and cries out to God. Why is it that we so often find ourselves in such states of desperation and depression? Why do we have Psalm after Psalm dealing with the same thing? Because we will not learn that living in humble adoration and dependence on God and in fellowship with Him is the only hope of joy in this world. Nothing else can fulfill us and nothing else can provide the inner peace that only comes from knowing God personally and intimately and living in fellowship with Him. We forget that fact and so, once again, we find ourselves up to our necks in the pits of despair, desperation and anxiety with depression slowly devouring our last ounce of hope.

When we find ourselves in the pits of despair and depression what do we need to do to escape? Is worry the answer?

"1 ‹‹A Song of degrees for Solomon.›› Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. 2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep." (Psalm 127: 1-2)

Psalm 43 gives us by example seven steps to the restoration of the joy of our salvation. The main reason so many Christians spend the majority of their lives in the pits of despair and depression is because they are either ignorant of or unwilling to follow the formula that God gives over and over again in His Word.