How To Deal With Despondency

SERMON TEXT: Isaiah 40:28-31

SERMON THESIS: The believers strength comes from the Lord.

INTRODUCTION: Have you ever been despondent? A despondent person according to Webster, is a person who has lost confidence, courage, or hope. A despondent person is also a person who has become disheartened or depressed. Despondency has a demoralizing affect upon anyone suffering from it. Despondency can be devastating and destructive.

The Jewish exiles were suffering from the demoralizing effects of Babylonian captivity.

Their despondency is seen in Isaiah 40:27 . . .

Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and the justice due me escapes the notice of my God?” (Isaiah 40:27)

This is the heart cry of a despondent nation. This can become the heart cry of a despondent person. One who has lost confidence, courage, or hope. Concerning the nation of Israel while in Babylonian captivity, Psalm 137 further depicts their demoralizing condition . . . “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst of it we hung our harps. For there our captors demanded of us songs, and our tormentors mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion” (Psalm 137:1-3).

One thing despondency does is to take away our song. This is what happened to Israel, as seen in verse 4 . . . “How can we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?” (Psalm 137:4).

WHAT WAS THE ANSWER TO THEIR SERIOUS CONDITION, AND WHAT IS THE ANSWER FOR ANY OF US WHO FIND OURSELVES IN A DESPONDENT CONDITION? The answer is found in God’s Word. In our text and in the larger context of chapter 40, the prophet Isaiah responds to their questions with one of the greatest confessions of faith to be found in the Bible. His confession of faith is found in vv. 28-31. These verses instruct us as to how we are to deal with despondency.

First, he points us to . . .

II. THE GREATNESS OF GOD

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable” (Isaiah 40:28).

       1. He is the everlasting God. As the Everlasting God, He “does not become weary or tired.” We often grow tired and weary. God does not.

       2. He is the Lord (Adonai). As the Lord, “His understanding is inscrutable.” I looked this word up in Webster’s Dictionary . . . . . . obscure or mysterious; incomprehensible; unfathomable . . .” Paul wrote in Romans . . .

“Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?” (Romans 11:33-34).

       3. He is the Creator. As the Creator of the universe, “He gives strength to the weary”(v 29). The Hebrew word for “strength” is “koach” which means “power,” “ability,” and “able.” The Psalmist was speaking about the greatness of God when he said . . .

“Great is our Lord, and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite”(Psalm 147:5).

Please note, secondly, that the greatness of God is contrasted with . . .

II. THE FRAILTY OF MAN

       On packages that are shipped, we often seen the sign “Fragile - Handle With Care!” As human beings, we are fragile. We are easily bruised and broken. We are prone to become despondent and demoralized when things and events do not turn out according to our expectations. This is what happened to the Tennessee Volunteer fans on Saturday night, October 12, 2003 . . .

       The stadium is filled to capacity (107 T. plus). The color of red pales in the presence of Tennessee orange. The roar of the fans echoes through the streets of downtown Knoxville. The score is 13 - 7, in favor of the Georgia Bulldogs. Seconds remain in the 2^nd quarter. The Tennessee Vol’s have the ball on Georgia’s 1 yard line. Excitement is high and there is a kind of hush in the stadium among the Tennessee fans as they wait in anticipation for the ball to be snapped. Tennessee threatens to score a touchdown; kick the extra point, and go into the break with a one point lead over Georgia. Finally the ball is snapped. The full-back takes the ball and immediately hands it off to the quarterback. In an instant, in the blinking of and eye, the worst case scenario happens to Tennessee. The quarterback fumbles the ball. It is immediately picked-up by a Georgia Bulldog and he runs down the field for a 97 yard touchdown. The Tennessee fans are stunned, to say the least, over the developments in the last seconds of the 2^nd quarter. They are now asking, “What is wrong with this picture?”

       To make a long story short, the break ends; the two teams resume play action, but everything continues to go wrong for Tennessee. Finally the heartbreaking game ends for Tennessee with the score 42-14 in favor of the Georgia Bulldogs. For four years in a row the Bulldogs have won over Tennessee.

       Here is what I want you to see. In the meantime, the once enthusiastic fans are exiting the stadium in mass. When the game finally ends, the stadium is practically empty. What had happened? The Tennessee fans had been demoralized by the ensuing events. They had lost confidence in their team; their courage was gone, and they had lost all hope of winning. This is a vivid picture of our fragile make-up. People are prone to become despondent when things don’t go their way. It not only happens at sporting events, it happens in marriages, in ones life’s work, and yes, it even happens in the church . . . See the picture in Scripture . . .

“Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly...”(Isaiah 40:30)

My dear friends, none of us are exempt from becoming despondent. As fragile human beings, we are prone to lose courage (become discouraged), lose confidence, and even hope.

We are susceptible to depression and other emotional and mental maladies that plague the human body and mind. Why else would Paul have warned . . .

“And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary” (Gal. 6:9).

When then is the solution to our fragile state of existence and how can we rise above our daily circumstances? For the answer, we will consider . . .

III. THE POWER OF FAITH - The frailty of man and the strength of God is sharply focused in the power of faith. To overcome despondency, then, is to exercise God given faith.

“Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary” (Isaiah 40:31).

There are three words in this verse that depict the life of faith. They are: Mount up, Running and Walking. The verb “wait” preceding these three words means to “wind,”to “twist.” From this root, we get two nouns, which are “rope,” and “spider web.” When we “wait” on the Lord, He becomes our lifeline. Our faith connects us to the God of heaven. Thus we see the power of faith and the rewards/results of waiting on the Lord:

   1. Mount up - “They will mount up with wings like eagles.” Young eagles must wait for the proper time to leave the nest . . .

A faith that waits on the Lord is depicted in these verses . . .

“You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to myself”(Exodus 19:4).

“Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, He spreads His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions”(Deut. 32:11).

      2. Running - “They will run and not get tired.” Like a long distant runner, we will get our second wind if we do not lose faith and become despondent . . . This is the kind of faith Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians . . .

 “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart...” (2 Cor. 4:1).

           In the words of Isaiah, when we wait on the Lord . . .

“Behold, the Lord God will come with His might, with His arm ruling for Him, behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him. Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs, and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes” (Isaiah 40:10-11).

       3. Walking - “They will walk and not become weary.” Whether we are soaring like an eagle, running like an athlete, or just merely walking, it is our faith in God that sustains and strengthens us. One writer said, “The real test of faith comes, not when he flies or runs, but when he must plod along.” It is walking that reveals the true life of faith. Someone has said, “It is not how high we jump on Sunday, rather it is how we walk during the week that reveals our true faith.”

CONCLUSION: It is faith in Jesus that saves us. Have you been saved? It is faith in Jesus that sustains us. As a believer are you being sustained? Faith in Jesus is the way to deal with despondency!