“Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in [H]is sanctuary: praise [H]im in the firmament of [H]is power. Praise [H]im for [H]is mighty acts: praise [H]im according to [H]is excellent greatness.”  (Psalm 150)

“…[M]y soul refused to be comforted.”  (Psalm 77)

 

Let me preface this article by saying, I have had long periods of melancholy. I would call them dark places and to be honest, I still have them but they’re are much, much longer periods in between. So I know what I speak of.  As I said before, in another article, my Uncle Jerry said to me once, “You have the disposition of a rattle snake.”  My sister once said to me that I would end up in prison. My Mother used to say, “I don’t know about you.” Sometimes she still does but for different reasons. When I was a teenager I fell into the destructive pattern of cutting. So again, I know of what I write in this article.

To demonstrate a great juxtaposition, I can say now, “The joy of the LORD is my strength.”  When I used to read that I wasn’t really sure what it meant.  Did it mean that God would grant me strength if He had joy from me and He would withhold it if He was displeased? I wasn’t really sure, but now I know.

I am strengthened when I find my joy in the LORD. Let me define joy, but first let me define happiness and fun. Happiness can come and go and is based on things outside ourselves, “Blessed [or happy to the third power] is the man when…[some condition is met].”  which means unhappy is the man when that condition is not met. Fun lasts only as long as something that is fun lasts. Joy, on the other hand, can exist when things are good as well as bad. Joy is based in God and not yourself, some condition, or while something lasts.

However, one can still fall into a bad mood with their joy intact. Joy has much to do with one’s outlook on life. I can fall into a bad mood and still know that God is enthroned and that all things will work together for my good. Joy allows me to be thankful even when I am down. The Christ-ian is a complex new creature.

How can we pull ourselves out of a bad mood? I have found praising God works wonders. In our (1st) first text above we are told to praise God pretty much every where and to praise him for His mighty acts and His excellent greatness. This means we can praise God anywhere, anytime, and at all times. We certainly have much praise worthy material: God’s mighty works, and His excellent greatness. So often we use words and do not think of their meaning. Excellent greatness for example, We should praise God for His greatness that excells all other things that have a quality of greatness or exceeds all others. The word greatness has many meanings. These are definitions for greatness from the dictionary:
1. Notably large in size.
2.Large in number or measure.
3. Remarkable in magnitude, degree, or effectiveness.
4. Full of emotion.
5. Eminent, distinguished.
6. Long, continual.
7. Principal, main
9. Superior in character and quality.
10. Remarkable skill.
11. General term of approval.
Again, God excells and exceeds all others that fit this definition.

When one wants to study God’s mighty works one need only turn to Isaiah 40 and Job 38-42. Here are just a few nuggets from these great passages,

“Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance:  behold, [H]e taketh up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before [H]im are as nothing; and they are counted unto [H]im less than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto [H]im? “(Isaiah 40:15-18).

“It is [H]e that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers;  tha stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and speadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. That bringeth the princes to nothing; [H]e maketh the judges of the earth  as vanity.”  (Isaiah 40:22,23)

Reader, Do thyself a favour and read Isaiah 40 and Job chapter 38 – chapter 42.  By my count that is (6) six chapters. This can easily be read in one sitting or it can be broken up into one chapter per day for (6) six days or (2) two chapters for (3) three days. How ever you read these just please read these.

Other mighty works that should be considered and God should receive praise for is Christ’s work on the Cross and His resurrection. In the Old Testament the one act of God that is called upon time and again to demonstrate His power is the dividing of red sea. When the people needed to be reminded of God’s greatness and of His power and might, the prophets would point to the Red Sea. In the New Testament, the single act that demonstrates the great power of the Godhead is the Resurrection of Christ. I say Godhead because each person in the Divine Trinity is given credit for the resurrection. The Father raised Christ, Christ rose from the dead, by His own power, and the Holy Spirit is creditted with the resurrection of Christ.

If you want to pull yourself out of a bad mood, praise ye the LORD.

However, According to our (2nd) second text above, sometimes we can refuse to be comforted. The truth is some people are happy being miserable and that is not a contradiction in terms. I have known people through the years that simply refused to be happy. There are Christ-ians that are not happy lest they be mournful and these are not those that are comforted in their mourning (Matthew 5).

We have counseled persons and it is usually women…not being sexist, only factual, and these persons simply would not be counseled, they were not happy unless thay had problems to complain about. These persons liked to have attention and this is how they got it. If they were ever happy or joyful, they would lose everyone’s attention. When this became obvious I refused to speak to them anymore about their problems. I told them they have not a nd probably willl not ever do what we have suggested so there is no point to our discussions. When this person would try to sneak something in, I would refuse to discuss it if it was negative. I never saw her again.

I have also found some women who complain about how aweful their husbands are, are usually the problem. To hear these women belittle their husbands one would expect a monster, but we have found so often the opposite. I can think of (2) two women in particular. One sought the pastor’s counsel (not me) saying her husband was possessed by a demon. The pastor met the husband and found a quiet, humble man. In fact, this man, at this meeting submitted to Christ and has been a member of a church ever since and this goes back (2) two decades!!! The wife was the problem the whole time.
Another woman would go on and on about how aweful her husband is to her how he doesn’t pay attention to her etc. etc. etc. I met this husband. He was a descent guy, great father, and it turned out the wife was borderline.
[SIDENOTE: I am not suggesting that the wife is always the problem. I know many men that are aweful husbands and aweful fathers. I have often said the church should start a ministry called the (as)salt ministry. This ministry would visit abusive men at their homes and have very direct conversations. If that didn’t work we could visit them at their place of employment during their lunch break. One might object by saying the abusive man would only hurt his wife and or child(ren) when the (as)salt ministry left the home or the place of employment. To answer that objection let me say this, before the men left the abusive man alone with the abused wife and or child(ren), certain promises would be made to the abuser if he stepped out of line and a minister from the (as)salt ministry would remain behind in a car for the night. Another objection: The abuser could call the police and report the minister as a stalker. Answer to objection: The abuser could not do this lest he wants to confess to domestic abuse.]

My point is this, Some persons refuse to be comforted or do what they need to do to get help.

 

To summarize: If you want to pull yourself out of a mood or a funk, praise God, it’s that simple. If you are not willing to do this, then you are one who refuses to be comforted.

There is a hymn that reads, “Count your blessing; name them one by one.” When I led singing for a while or when I sing to the Lord alone, I change the words to, “Name them ton by ton.”