Mental Health Matters - Psalm 55
Here is the sermon Paul preached on 14th Oct 2018, based on Psalm 55
Last Wednesday [9th Oct 2018] was World Mental Health Awareness Day
There are shocking statistics around about mental health problems:
Every year one adult in four, along with one child in ten, will have a mental health issue:
· 1 in 10 children aged 5-16 have a diagnosable condition
· ½ of all mental health problems are established by the age of 14
· ¾ of all mental health problems are established by the age of 24
And many seek help, but many suffer in silence and do not tell a single soul – not even their closest friend or partner.
Christians are not exempt from mental health problems.
Just as Christians are not immune to horrible diseases and illnesses like heart disease / diabetes / cancers, so we are not immune to mental health problems.
When I went to Chad I had a number of vaccinations.
But there is no vaccination that can be given when you become a Christians that immunises you against mental health problems
Christians get:
Anxiety disorders, Mood disorders, Psychotic disorders, Eating disorders, Addiction disorders, Personality disorders, Obsessive-compulsive disorders, Post-traumatic distress disorders.
And more besides.
And sincere followers of Jesus have to battle with their mind over these disorders.
In Psalm 55 we see a person battling with their mind.
“This Psalm is extraordinary in its intensity and correspondingly wonderful in its comfort.” Christopher Ash
We read of the psalmist’s intense issues:
V2 – his thoughts troubling him / distraught
V4 – his heart is in anguish within him
V5 – fear and trembling beset him
V5 – horror has overwhelmed him
It was as if “These spiders were crawling through his head and messing up his mind”
V6-8 – he wants to escape: to run away, draw the curtains closed, to hide and be all alone, and say “hello darkness my old friend”.
But, what does he do in this condition?
V1,2 – he prays to God, compare with V16,17
V22 – he casts his care upon the Lord
These are ancient spiritual disciplines that will help us with our mental disorders: PRAY / CAST / TRUST
I don’t want to come across all glib/trite and say all our mental health problems will be solved if we just trusted God more and pray more.
Not for one moment denying that there are other things we can do to help – there are certain techniques, tips and procedures that counsellors and charities recommend and many of these help:
Get moving – walk, run, dance, swim, kick a ball…
Get the thoughts out of your head and onto paper…
Breathe properly and thoughtfully
Serve others and be kind
Eat the right kind of food
Have a good friend you can talk to / text / contact.
These tips are part of conventional wisdom that God has built into our world – and are good and sound techniques.
And they certainly do help
Nor am I saying that we should not take prescribed medication when it is helpful and not harmful.
But I am saying that in this Psalm we find tried and tested spiritual disciplines that the people of God can use to help them through the many troubles, trials, tests of this unpredictable life in a fallen, broken world.
And especially I want to concentrate on v22
22 Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.
Which is quoted in the New Testament by Apostle Peter: 1 Peter 5v7
Cares = burden = That which you carry, that is heavy and is bringing you down and causing you survival problems.
Cast = throw / hurl / fling same word for when Joseph’s brothers threw him into a pit.
The Psalmist is saying: Take that which is weighing your mind down, that which is pressing on your heart – and throw it on the Lord.
Nexus: So what are our cares –
and how do we cast them on the Lord?
I came across this quote a while ago in a daily reading book: Streams in the Desert: “Leave it all quietly with God… your failures, fears, foes, future.”
Think about each one of these things: their reality, and what we are to do with them.
1. Failures (affect our mind)
We are to cast our failures onto the Lord
We all have our failures: and they can really get us down making us feel worthless, fed-up with ourselves, useless.
In our personal life with goals we set
In our marriage and relationships
At work and employment
With exams and tests
In our attempt to sort things out and make things better: DiY
We all have our sins:
Our actions / words / attitudes / responses / behavior / revenge / disobedience to the Lord
Past sins – haunt us – play on our mind – vivid – make you tremble and go cold… that word I said to that person that devastated them (how could I say such a thing); that thing I did to that person that destroyed them (how could I do such a thing?); that attitude I had back then – made me so hard to cope/live/be with (how could I have been so proud and pig-headed)
Present sins torment us – why do I keep saying that, doing that, responding like that, ignoring the Lord and smearing my testimony?
These failures/sins get us down – they affect our hearts/minds
Cast your failures/sins on the Lord and he will sustain you. 1 John 5 v19-22
A problem: Our hearts condemn us (for our failures/sins)
Know this – God is greater than your hearts – Romans 8v1
Forgiveness, cleansing, renewal is offered to us in Jesus Christ and his shed blood: 1 John 1v8
2. Fears (affect our mind)
We are to cast our fears onto the Lord
We have many fears – this world is a fearful place
Different fears for each one of us…
Some of us have phobias of various things – endless list
Some of us have a fear of things going wrong if we don’t do things in a certain way
Some of us have fears about our health
Some have fears for their children, parents, partners
Some of us fear certain social situations / people / events
Fear making fools of ourselves / being shown up / embarrassed
Cast our fears onto the Lord and he will sustain you.
So often Jesus said to people “Do not be afraid”
…to Simon-Peter who was sinking: “Do not be afraid”
…to his disciples after the resurrection: “Do not be afraid.”
…to Jairus whose little girl was so ill: “Do not be afraid.”
… to his disciples in the Upper Room: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”.
On holiday this year I decided to try something different – it’s a little embarrassing really…
Nearby where we stay in Crete is this lovely Hotel… and every year by wife and daughters go there for a manicure, pedicure… or whatever… I decided to have a pedicure… (no nail varnish)
Crazy because I hate people touching my feet
Go in and sit down… Eva, the lady, nice lady calls me over and sits me down and puts my feet in a sink (footbath)
It starts bubbling (I wanna toilet)
And then she puts out on a white towel what can only be described as things that look like instruments of torture… pliers, wire cutters, screwdrivers, bradawls, sticks with wire wool on… (ladies call these different names)
She gets to work on my feet.
5 mins in I am so tense, my feet are so rigid – she says in her beautiful English accent, “Do not be afraid.”
Why was I afraid? I was in the hands of an expert. She wasn’t going to harm me…
And Jesus Christ says to us “Do not be afraid.”
Matthew 10v26-31
“God is near
You are dear
Do not fear”
So take your fears and cast them onto the Lord
3. Foes (affect our mind)
We are to cast our foes onto the Lord
We’ve all got them. (Maybe “foes” is too strong a word).
But we all have people who don’t like us, or don’t like what we are doing; who are jealous of us; who make things difficult for us, who generally seem to be against us!
The context of this Psalm is that foes are troubling this man’s mind/heart.
V2 – what he is suffering: mental distress
V3 – the reason why he is suffering mental distress = his enemy was saying bad things about him in anger!
Then v12-14 is shocking; it is revealed that his foe was once his closest friend
We have that as well:
People we once got on with so well – now seem to have turned against us!
People we spent time with/went out with/had meals and drinks with/went to prayer meetings with – now . have turned their backs on us – or worse, have sought to hurt us in some way: verbally or emotionally.
One of Jesus Christ’s closest friend turned against him and betrayed him… Judas, one of the 12, shared the Last Supper with Jesus: “The one who dips his bread into the wine bowl with me will betray me.” He was actually having a meal with him.
When you have a “foe”- When you know someone is against you - It affects your mind:
You think about them; you think about the situation; you try and work out what went wrong; you wrestle with your thoughts.
You justify yourself and demonize the other person.
You act out the scenario of what you are going to say to them if you have chance.
You wonder/worry if they are going to be at the event, meeting, social gathering… and how you will handle it.
Cast your cares (foes) on the Lord
He prayed to the Lord and committed them into God’s hands, v9, v15 (difficult verses – but he is praying for Justice to be done).
The Psalmist never took personal revenge / got his own back.
“If you don’t cast your foes on the Lord – they will eat you up.
Your mind will have no peace – and you will be troubled continually:
Let them go – love them and do good to them – but don’t let them screw your mind up” John Calvin
So take your foes and throw them onto the Lord
4. Future (affect our mind)
We are to cast our future onto the Lord
I guess all of us have a little worry about the future every now and again? (Take your Sunday-face off and be honest!)
All ages have a concern for the future:
Child changing schools from Junior to Secondary school
Teenager facing decisions about options, uni, work
Young couple about where they will get a house/flat to live
40% of 25-34 year olds in England do not qualify for a large enough mortgage to buy the cheapest home in their area, even if they had a 10% deposit.
20s-50s and your work and its stability or uncertainty
Seniors and whether your pension is going to be enough
Later years and thoughts of the carehome
Our health may concern us and we wonder what the future will bring..
That nagging pain that won’t go away
That dull ache that troubles you and you don’t know what it is
The hospital appointment – the surgery – the recovery
The ultimate future for us all = death itself
For some people this is a huge worry.
It is a worry that gets bigger the older one gets.
But do you know that our God is not just the God of the past and the present, but also of the future.
We can trust God that he has our future (the world’s future) in his hands.
Jesus: I give you eternal life, and you shall never perish; no one will snatch you out of my hand.
Nothing shall separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord: neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers.
“The work which his goodness began,
the arm of his strength will complete;
his promise is ‘Yes’ and ‘Amen’,
and never was forfeited yet:
things future, nor things that are now,
nor all things below or above,
can make him his purpose forgo,
or sever my soul from his love” Christopher Ash
So take your cares about the future and cast them onto the Lord and he will sustain you.
Our Saviour, Jesus, did this.
We are to think of him “casting his cares upon the Lord”, throughout his life.
Picture Jesus Christ singing/reading/praying this Psalm: Psalm 55.
This Psalm is about him and was sang by Him:
(v2) His thoughts troubled Him: Jn 12v27 Now my soul is troubled.
(v4) His heart was in anguish: Lk 22v44: And being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
(v5) Fear and horror overwhelmed Him: Mt 26v38: My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.
He knew these mental health problems. and He prayed and cast them on God and he was sustained…
It wasn’t easy for Him. Life was a struggle, (and increasingly so)
But He cast His cares on the Lord
The very thought of Jesus reading/praying/singing this Psalm., somehow boosts our hearts and cleanses our thoughts.
And shows that what seems impossible, is actually possible with the Lord.
In Christ, leave it all quietly with God; your failures, your fears, your foes, your future.