|
Depression from Fear David at Gath I sought the LORD,
and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. David
was a study in contrasts. He was the sweet-voiced poet of the psalms; he was
the mighty warrior who slew his “ten thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7). He was
the meek penitent that earned him God’s commendation as “a man after
mine own heart” (Acts 13:22); he was a man who took the wife of one of his
soldiers and then had him killed in battle to cover up his crime. He was a
man who could rail over his enemies (Psalm 55:23), and who could bitterly
weep over the death of his traitorous son Absalom (2 Samuel 18:33). David
was a man sharing the like passions of fallen humanity. He rashly ordered a
divinely forbidden census of Israel (2 Samuel 24:1-4). He was an
over-indulgent father (1 Kings 1:6). Despite his shortcomings, he was judged
as having done “that which was right in the eyes of the LORD,
and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of
his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite” (1 Kings 15:5). A Refugee After
one of King Saul’s fits of anger and threats against his life, the record
reads: “And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to
Achish the king of Gath” (1 Samuel 21:10). Although he had fled before,
both from his own house and from Naioth, he now left his country completely
and went, of all places, to the Philistine city of Gath, the former home of
Goliath (1 Samuel 17:4). Although
apparently well received by the king, the king’s servants took a more
negative view: “And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this
David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in
dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish
the king of Gath.” (1 Samuel 21:11, 12). David
took two actions in response. First, he feigned madness by “scrabbling,”
or scratching, on the gates of the city and drooling saliva into his beard.
His ruse was successful in producing both disgust and sympathy; Achish
ejected him from the city. Second, he continued his flight until he reached
a safer location, the cave of Adullam, not far from his hometown of
Bethlehem. Psalm 34 Some
time after this event, David wrote his feelings about this experience in
Psalm 34. The title to this psalm reads: “A Psalm of David, when he
changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he
departed.” Abimelech and Achish are the same person. Abimelech is the
title given to Philistine kings and merely means “my father is king.” We
read, “My soul shall make her boast in the LORD:
the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad” (Psalm 34:2). The Hebrew word
translated “humble” (anav, Strong’s #6035) literally means
“afflicted,” and comes from a root meaning “depressed.” It is these
that are the psalmist’s intended audience. David is here drawing lessons
from his own depression to help others with similar emotions. In
verse 4 he gets to the crux of the problem: “I sought the LORD,
and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” It was fear, and not
real danger, from which David was delivered. Although prominent men of Gath
were suspicious of him, there is no indication that King Achish shared their
doubts. In fact, on a later occasion when he sought refuge there, Achish
received him most hospitably, even giving him the town of Ziklag for a home
(1 Samuel 27:6). Fear
is an insidious paralyzing agent. It can immobilize the one it affects. The
apostle says “fear hath torment” (1 John 4:18). Pastor Russell points
out in Reprints page 1040 that the Greek word kolasis
(Strong’s #2851 meaning penal infliction) should be translated
“restraint” rather than “torment.” The Phillips translation contains
an interesting paraphrase: “fear always contains some of the torture of
feeling guilty.” Fears
must be faced to be conquered. A young boy once had a deep fear of a deep,
dark closet in his bedroom. One night he walked in his sleep and woke up
seated on the floor in the deepest recesses of that closet. From that time
on, he no longer feared that place. Someone has well said, “Fear knocked
on the door; Faith answered; No one was there.” In
1 John 4:18, the apostle offers a remedy for expelling fear: “Perfect love
casteth out fear.” It is only as we, in our love for the Lord, learn to
trust him implicitly that he can and will overrule every affair of our life
for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28); then our paralyzing fears will
dissipate. Otherwise we can be of those who, “through fear of death” are
“all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Hebrews 2:15). David’s
confidence was restored by the realization that “the angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that
fear him, and delivereth them (Psalm 34:7). Guile David
did a masterful job of acting to escape from Gath. He feigned insanity (or
epilepsy, as the Septuagint has it) by scratching with his fingernails on
the city gate and frothing at the mouth. It was by such an innovative means
of guile that David successfully extricated himself from his predicament. Yet
he does not look back approvingly on this piece of theater. On the contrary,
he reflects plaintively and pronounces judgment on his artfulness by saying,
“Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile” (Psalm
34:13). Herein lies a lesson for every consecrated child of God. “Trust in
the LORD with all thine heart,” the wise man writes, “and lean
not unto thine own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). The
brightest schemes that earth can cherish It
is a natural human trait, when one is in a dilemma, to try to find a way of
escape. But when we seek our own solutions, even if successful, it is
essential that truth, and not deception, be used. Otherwise, feelings of
guilt torment us and bring on depression. A better approach is to trust in
the Lord for deliverance. The apostle Paul addresses this issue: “There
hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is
faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but
will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to
bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Other
translations, more correctly, do not speak of a “way of escape” but
suggest that divine strength is given to go through the difficult
experience. The Concordant Translation, for instance, renders it
“together with the trial, will be making the sequel also, to enable you to
undergo it.” A Contrite Spirit David’s
reactions to his behavior at Gath is also in Psalm 34: “The LORD
is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a
contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD
delivereth him out of them all” (Psalm 34:18, 19). Although
plagued with guilt over his deceitful conduct, David firmly leaned on the
Lord’s forgiveness. He wrote: “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to
forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all that call upon thee” (Psalm
86:5). Jesus’ beloved apostle picks up the same sentiment: “If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). It
is noteworthy that John makes God’s forgiveness a matter of justice. “As
he would have been unjust to have allowed us to escape the pronounced
penalty before satisfaction was rendered, so also he here gives us to
understand that it would be unjust were he to forbid our restitution, since
by his own arrangement our penalty has been paid for us” (The Divine
Plan of the Ages, p. 157). The
same author writes in another place: “If any violation of this [the
golden] rule brings pain and regret, it is a sure sign that the violation
was not wilful, not of the heart, not the New Creature’s violation of
principle, but, at most, a violation connived at or stumbled into by the
flesh, contrary to the desires of the spirit or intention” (The New
Creation, p. 375). Guilt,
in itself, is not necessarily a bad thing. It is guilt prolonged that leads
to depression and despair. Guilt may be likened unto a heavy weight. Wrong
actions place this weight on our shoulders for one purpose—to bring us to
our knees. Once we have prayed on our knees for forgiveness, the weight is
lifted and we may rise again: “A just man falleth seven times, and riseth
up again” (Proverbs 24:16). A
story is told of a woman who, in despair, went to her pastor and said that
she had committed a sin so grievous that, though she had asked God for
forgiveness, he was not able to grant it. Her pastor responded, “You have
indeed committed a sin for which you need forgiveness; but it is not that
sin of which you speak. That sin has been forgiven. The sin for which you
must now repent is the sin of accusing God of being a liar when he said that
he would freely forgive you.” In
a much more serious sin, the combined sin of adultery and murder, David
wrote: “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation:
and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my
lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. For thou desirest not
sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God,
thou wilt not despise.” (Psalm 51:14-17). Having
offered his contrite heart, he is willing to offer the animal sacrifices the
law required, and he appends these words, “Then shalt thou be pleased with
the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt
offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar” (Psalm 51:19). The Sum of the Whole Matter David
draws his penitent prayer to a conclusion with these reassuring words:
“The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and all that trust in him
shall not incur guiltiness” (Psalm 34:22, Leeser, where the verse
is numbered 23). If
we have this contrite attitude of David, we may be assured in our darkest
hours that we will receive divine forgiveness and, if such an attitude be
maintained, like David we may be found to be “a man after God’s own
heart” (Acts 13:22). |