When I Feel Discouraged

In life, it’s not the one time of extreme difficulty that makes you want to quit. It’s the slow, steady discouragement that can steal your heart, make you give up your dreams, and settle. The accumulation of discouragement in your life will wear down your soul. We have to ask ourselves, what do we do when we feel discouraged?

The word courage comes from the Latin word “cor,” which means heart. This is why scripture is sometimes translated as “Take heart.” Encouragement makes you energized for life; discouragement makes you drowsy about living. Discouragement is the Devil’s lullaby. He just wants you to go to sleep. He doesn’t have to get you into active rebellion to keep you from active revival.

How can we wake up our sleeping souls? In Psalm 57:8, Davis says to himself, “Awake, my glory!” He’s addressing his glory as his whole self: his heart, mind, soul, and strength. At the start of the Psalm, his heart is discouraged, but by the end of it, he’s singing a new song of encouragement to wake himself up. He goes from asking for mercy to declaring his heart is strong.

The context of Psalm 57 is important. Saul, the first king of Israel, was made aware that his kingdom would be taken from him due to his bad choices against God. Unbeknownst to Saul, David is anointed to take over after Saul. Jonathan, Saul’s son, becomes his best friend. Davis marries Saul’s daughter. Overall, things are looking up for David. He’s just stacking up wins as he eats at the king’s table.

Before long, Saul turns on David, forcing him to flee for his life. He ends up hiding in a cave and writes this Psalm. This was not how the story was supposed to go. He felt like everything was being taken from him. 1 Samuel 22:2 tells us that while David was in his own sadness, everyone who was in distress, in debt, and discouraged came to him. David is in a discouraging circumstance in a discouraging place surrounded by discouraging people. It’s accumulating and wearing down his soul.

The first thing he says is “Lord, have mercy on me.” He’s desperate in his discouragement. This isn’t foreign to us. There are two primary causes of discouragement.

Discouragement from your circumstances, specifically from unmet expectations. We all have some version of our lives that we imagine for ourselves, and our real lives don’t match. Our hearts break over the loss that should have been but never was. Discouragement feasts on this.

In Psalm 57:2, David responds by crying out to God — not a general god but God Most High, God All Powerful, sovereign over all. He also calls out to God, who is ever present, ever personal, and fulfilling His purpose for him.

How can you go to God with your discouragement? One way is to journal. It helps you shift your view from your circumstances to Scripture and God’s glory. You don’t have to hide anything.

The shift in David’s heart happens in Psalm 57:5. If he continues to focus on his calling and current circumstances, he’s just going to stay discouraged. Instead, David turns to God’s glory. He reminds himself of the true purpose of his life: not to be king, but to glorify God. It helps us see the bigger picture. He can have the throne without God’s glory or the cave with God’s glory. Verse 5 confronts us with the question, "Is God’s glory enough for your joy?"

The second thing to note is the discouragement that comes from guilt over sin. We struggle with repeated sin, which causes us to want to give up. We still believe in Jesus, but we have stopped having the courage to live for Him. The solution is to humbly confess sin. Hebrews 3:13 says sin hardens us and makes us callous to life, but encouragement softens the heart.

What does God do to encourage us? Psalm 57:3 says God will come, He will conquer, and He will clothe us in His steadfast love and faithfulness. This is also prophesying about Jesus coming from Heaven to save us through His crucifixion. He has paid your debt and given you the courage to fight sin. He put what used to shame you on the cross. Jesus gave us His Holy Spirit to clothe us with His love and faithfulness. He will never leave you. He is with you always. He will not let the song of discouragement be the soundtrack of your life. He sings a new song over you of love, forgiveness, victory, and freedom. Which song are you listening to?

How else can you go to God to defeat discouragement? Sing! Join Him in His song of victory and wake your heart up to His heart towards you.