Depression Part 1 of 3

What Does the Bible Say About Depression?

You won't find the term "depression" in the Bible. Instead, the Bible uses words such as downcast, sad, forlorn, discouraged, downhearted, mourning, troubled, miserable, despairing, and brokenhearted.

You will, however, find many Bible people showing the symptoms of this disease: Hagar, Moses, Naomi, Hannah, Saul, David, Solomon,Elijah, Nehemiah, Job, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Judas Iscariot, and Paul.

What does the Bible say about depression? What truths can we glean from God's Word about this condition?

No One is Immune From Depression

The Bible shows that depression can strike anyone. Poor people like Naomi, the mother-in-law of Ruth, and very rich people, like King Solomon, suffered from depression. Young people, like David, and older people, like Job, were also afflicted.

Depression strikes both women, like Hannah, who was barren, and men, like Jeremiah, the "weeping prophet." Understandably, depression can come after a defeat:

1 Samuel 30:3,4

3So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.

4Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

Oddly, an emotional letdown can also come after a great victory. Elijah the prophet defeated the false prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel in a stunning display of God's power (1 Kings 18:38). But instead of being encouraged, Elijah, fearing Jezebel's revenge, was weary and afraid:

1 Kings 19:4,5

4But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

5And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.