Where is it written: “Thou Shalt Not Be Depressed!” It is not in the Bible. Yet many people believe this as if it were a commandment of God. What does the Bible really say about depression? A great website is openbible.com, because it lists plenty of verses on the topic, but there are always far more.
Psalm 34:17-18 ESV / 1,917 helpful votes
When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Isaiah 41:10 ESV / 1,159 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
1 Peter 5:7 ESV / 1,076 helpful votes
Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Matthew 11:28 ESV / 1,042 helpful votes
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Psalm 23:4 ESV / 448 helpful votes
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 9:9 ESV / 388 helpful votes
The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
The Bible says many objectively depressing things that many Christians have not yet even accepted as the truth.
1 John 5:19 New King James Version
We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
John 16:33 King James Bible
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
John 15:18-19 King James Bible
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.
1 Peter 3:16 ESV / 262 helpful votes
Having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
Matthew 5:11 ESV / 140 helpful votes
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Bad things will happen to us. This is depressing. We will be hated, slandered, lied about, persecuted, we will have tribulation, testing, being squeezed. We will be stolen from, murdered. Cain killed righteous Able. This is depressing. Objectively, and truly speaking. Crying about the state of the world, and the state of our lives, is no crime, and is no sin. It is a blessing. Angels notice.
Ezekiel 9:4 ESV / 4 helpful votes
And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan (cry) over all the abominations that are committed in it.”
Even the righteous who were unfairly killed, in heaven, cry for vengeance.
Revelaion 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
The reality of it seems to be that evil people don’t like it when we cry for justice against them.
Evil people don’t like us to be depressed by their oppression. Note: “press” being common to both words. They press on us, we feel de pressed.
But evil has been, and will be, defeated. And the depression that evil creates, will be gone, too.
REVELATION 21:4 KJ21 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.”