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What the Bible says
The psalmist speaks honestly to his own heavy soul: “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). He does not pretend the darkness is not there. He names it, then turns his soul toward God. David invites us to do the same: “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us” (Psalm 62:8).
Jesus is not a stranger to sorrow. Isaiah foretold that He would be “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). In Gethsemane He said, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death” (Matthew 26:38). At the grave of His friend, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). And Isaiah adds, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4). The one who weeps in the dark is known and understood by Christ.
When Elijah sat under the juniper tree, he prayed, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life” (1 Kings 19:4). God did not rebuke him. He sent an angel who touched him and said, “Arise and eat” (1 Kings 19:5). The Lord cared for His tired servant’s body and soul. So it is written, “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart” (Psalm 34:18), and “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3).
David remembered the pit: “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock” (Psalm 40:2). The night is real, but it is not the end: “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Christ came to give “the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness” (Isaiah 61:3), and one day “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (Revelation 21:4).
13 verses, King James Version
Psalms 34:18
The Lord is nigh to the brokenhearted
18The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Isaiah 53:3–4
Jesus carried our sorrows
3He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Matthew 5:4
They that mourn shall be comforted
4Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
2 Corinthians 1:3–4
The God of all comfort
3Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
Psalms 42:11
Speaking hope to a downcast soul
11Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
Psalms 147:3
He heals broken hearts
3He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
Psalms 40:1–3
Lifted out of the pit
1I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 2He 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. 3And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
Psalms 62:8
Tell Him everything
8Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Psalms 143:7–8
A prayer when your spirit is failing
7Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. 8Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.
1 Kings 19:4–8
God cared for Elijah in his despair
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. 6And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. 7And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. 8And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
Psalms 3:3
He lifts your head
3But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
Psalms 30:5
Morning comes
5For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Isaiah 61:1–3
Jesus came for hearts that are broken
1The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (public domain). Read aloud by Anthony.