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What the Bible says
What Does the Bible Say About Depression?
The Bible does not treat sorrow as a lack of faith; it fills its pages with honest lament and promises that God is especially near to the downcast and brokenhearted.
Some of the most faithful people in Scripture, Elijah, David, Job, walked through deep darkness and even wished for death. God did not rebuke them; He fed them, drew near, and gently carried them onward.
The Bible gives us permission to grieve and to cry out, and it points us to a God who is close to the crushed in spirit. Alongside prayer and Scripture, seeking help from doctors and counselors is a gift from God, not a failure.
Key Bible verses
“The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”
Psalm 34:18 · King James Version (public domain)
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him.”
Psalm 42:11 · King James Version (public domain)
“He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.”
Psalm 40:1-2 · King James Version (public domain)
“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.”
Isaiah 43:2 · King James Version (public domain)
How this points to Jesus
Jesus was called a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. He wept, He was troubled to the point of sweating blood, and He entered the deepest darkness so that we would never be alone in ours. He does not despise the depressed; He carries them, and He promises a morning that is coming.