God's Answer to Elijah's Depression - 1 Kings 19

Perhaps the most famous preacher of the last several centuries is a man by the name of Charles Spurgeon. You might have heard of him. He was a preacher in England. You've certainly heard me quote him before, because he. He is a very, very quotable person.

He had an incredible gift in speaking that. By the time he was in his mid-20s, the congregation of the church that he was the minister at was estimated to be about 10,000 people each week. He became affectionately referred to as the Prince of Preachers. Now it's okay to be sitting there wishing that you were listening to him and not me, because I wish the same. I wish for you you were listening to Spurgeon and not to me.

There's one story about that comes from his life, and he had gone to a huge building. They were expecting a crowd of about 20,000 people. And so this is before the time of, you know, PAs and microphones. And so he went there to test the acoustics. And he called out in a loud voice the words from John 1:29.

He said, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. A tradesman who was working nearby heard Spurgeon bellowing these words. And he became so convicted by them that he put down his tools, he went home, and he gave his life to Christ. That was the authority that Spurgeon spoke with. There's so many stories about the incredible fruit of his ministry as he spoke boldly, God's Word.

Yet at one service, standing in front of his congregation in the middle of his sermon, he said this. He said, the person who shares these words with you knows within himself more than he would care or dare to tell, the abysses of inward anguish. Spurgeon went on to speak often about the depression that he experienced. He taught young ministers about the times where they would face their own challenges. And he said one of the most common moments was after a great victory.

He said that when a long held desire is fulfilled, when God has been glorified by our work, then we are at great risk of collapse. That's exactly where we find Elijah this morning in 1 Kings 19. We're following on from what happened and what we went through last week was Elijah had seen an incredible victory. God had come in power on Mount Carmel. The people had seen BAAL for what he was, which was an idol that couldn't answer them.

The hearts of the people turned back to God. And then to top it all off, Elijah prayed. And after three and a half years of drought, God sent rain. Rain came upon the land. If Ever there was a mountaintop experience, both literally and figuratively in the Old Testament.

This is it. Incredible victory. What it seems Elijah has been waiting for, praying for. But just One verse separates 1 Kings 18 and the victory with what we come to in 1 Kings 19, 19. Just one verse separates the highest of mountaintops with the deepest of valleys.

And so as we come to 1 Kings 19 this morning, we're gonna see four things. Four things that in the midst of exhaustion and depression, we're gonna see four ways that God responds. And they'll come up on the screen. There we see that God listens, God restores, God speaks, and God sends. Let's read from verse one together.

When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way he had killed all the prophets of baal. So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah. May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you as you killed them. Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there.

Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. I've had enough, Lord, he said, take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died. Wonder if you saw Ahab's response there to this incredible moment that has happened on Mount Carmel in front of Ahab's eyes. Let me remind you that Ahab is not a pagan king.

Ahab is the king of the northern kingdom of Israel. He's supposed to be leading God's covenant people to be faithful to the Lord, but he hasn't been. And even when he sees indisputable proof that God is at work amongst his people, even when he looks and sees the people of Israel fall on their faces and declare that Yahweh is God, Ahab doesn't. He doesn't join in. He simply, we're told, goes back to the palace.

He goes to Jezebel. And maybe, like your children, certainly like mine, he dobs on Elijah. He goes to Jezebel and he says, look at what happened. Look at what Elijah did. And we see that even though Jezebel hears the way that Yahweh has acted powerfully, the way that BAAL has been proven to be an idol, she doesn't think, oh, maybe I got this wrong.

I wonder if you've seen people or you've heard people in your life who have said, oh, you know, I believe if only God would appear, if only he would turn up and show Himself, then I'd believe. But you know what? God has shown up. He showed up and he showed himself. And Ahab and Jezebel rejected God not because they didn't have proof.

They rejected God because they didn't want him. They didn't want to change. So we read that Jezebel sends a messenger to Elijah, and she says, I'm going to kill you. I give myself 24 hours. There is a bounty on your head.

You are going to be killed. And we read that when that reaches Elijah, he's afraid and he flees. Now that probably, like, if that turned up at my door today, I think I would be afraid. I think I would flee. But we see in Elijah this incredible change.

Remember, he spent the last three and a half years with them, wanting him dead. He spent the last three and a half years hiding away by, hidden away by God because God has more for him to do and protects his people. And Ahab and Jezebel have wanted him dead. And he's lived in trust. And now all of a sudden, he runs in fear.

And he runs a long way. He runs from the northern kingdom down into Judah. Remember, by this stage, Israel had split into two. God's people had split into two, into Israel in the north and Judah in the south. And he runs into the southern kingdom.

He goes to a town, there he drops off his servant and he flees into the wilderness. And we have this desperate picture of Elijah collapsed under a broom tree. We have similar trees in the Australian wilderness, and they don't grow in groves. They grow individually. It's just one solitary tree that doesn't actually give much shade.

And the desperate prophet of God is collapsed underneath it. And he prays, God, I've had enough. It's the prayer of a man who is completely exhausted. But it's not just exhaustion. You see, the hearts of the people have turned back to God.

But that hasn't changed the palace. While Ahab and Jezebel remain on that throne with their hearts unchanged, Elijah feels like all that has happened, all that God has asked him to do, has been for nothing. And so he looks to the reason for that failure. And he decides that I am no better than my ancestors. That is why everything has gone wrong.

I'm a sinner just like them. That is why the work has failed. It's remarkable, isn't it, that God's prophet would speak to God like that. Who is he? Who are any of us to tell the Creator of the heavens?

When his work in us is finished. And yet Elijah does just that. But I love the fact God doesn't strike him down. We don't see God angry with him. God doesn't rebuke him and just tell him, elijah, have more faith.

We'll see in a few weeks time that God answers Elijah's prayer to die. He answers it with a resounding no. Elijah is one of only two people in the whole of Scripture who never dies. God takes him home in a whirlwind to be here in a few weeks time to see that. I want to say something this morning to those amongst us who have experienced this same feeling of exhaustion, maybe this same feeling of depression as Elijah, perhaps in the past, maybe you've been there.

Maybe that's where you're at today. I want you to see this morning that as God's prophet sits under this tree, collapsed from exhaustion, deeply depressed, that this is not painted to us as the picture of someone who failed. It isn't the picture of someone who just needs to have more faith. It's not the story of someone who has let God down. The fact that he is struggling is not a sign that God has left him.

And it's the same for you. Right through Scripture we see the opposite of this. Right through Scripture, we see the most faithful followers of God experience deep diversity, depths of depression. Jeremiah, who spent his whole life speaking God's word to a nation who wouldn't listen, he asked God, why am I even here? Why was I even born at all?

Job, he says, the same as Moses is leading God's people out of slavery. In numbers 11, he says to God, the load is too much for me. Just go ahead and kill me. And then we have the apostle Paul who tells the Corinthians that when he was in Asia, he was crushed and overwhelmed beyond his ability to endure. And he thought he would never live through it.

These people and their stories are in God's word for a reason. They're in God's word for a reason. I am grateful that they are there. I am grateful that we don't have this sanitized picture of what it looks like to follow God. That it is all just happy, joyful people all of the time.

But we see in this world, in these bodies, in this broken land, we see people in their darkest moments of despair. And we see God listen to them. We see God listen to them. But not only does he listen in verse five, we see God restore. Let's read that together.

Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, get up and eat. He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, get up and eat some more or the journey ahead will be too much for you.

So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. There he came to a cave where he spent the night. Elijah declares, I've had enough. He lies down to sleep and we see God respond with compassion. First God lets him sleep.

Then he wakes him with a touch and feeds him. Then he lets him sleep again. Then he wakes him and feeds him again so he'll have strength for the journey that is ahead. Underneath this in the Hebrew, there's an important connection. Back in verse two, Jezebel sends a malach, a messenger, to Elijah.

It's the Hebrew word for messenger. And the message the messenger carries is a message of death. Then in verse 5 and 7, we see exactly the same Hebrew word, but this messenger comes from God. And this messenger brings restoration and life. I don't want us to miss this this morning.

That when God's faithful servant has had enough, God's first response to him is to deal with his physical needs. I wonder if you've heard maybe well meaning Christians say to people who are struggling, if you just have a bit more faith, if you could just trust God a bit more, as if somehow it's only the unfaithful who struggle. But God's response to Elijah isn't that at all. He doesn't say, elijah, I've protected you, I've provided for you for three and a half years. How could you have so little faith?

Now instead, God meets Elijah where he is, and he meets his first need, which is a need in his body. My encouragement to you today is if that's where you find yourself, more often than not, the first thing to deal with is the physical need. Sometimes the best thing you can do is to sleep and eat, sleep and eat. Sometimes the best thing you can do is to rest, to eat. Well, maybe it's to go and see a doctor, maybe it's to speak to a counsellor, maybe it's to get some medication.

These incredible things that have been created to help us with these struggles. Maybe the first step is to reach out and ask someone here for help. You know, I was Amazed this week when I read this passage again. And I've preached on it before. But what stood out to me this week is that God could have touched Elijah and fixed it straight away.

He could have touched Elijah and in a moment healed his mind, given him the energy he needed for the journey. But God doesn't. And, you know, I don't know exactly why not. The passage doesn't actually tell us exactly why not. But I'd suggest to you Elijah's story is here so that you and I would read it.

It's here so that we would see a God who is compassionate, a God who restores the physical needs of his faithful followers, that we might see a faithful follower of God who is in a deep, deep valley. Before he does anything else, before God asks anything of him, he addresses his physical needs. And then in verse 10, God speaks. The end of verse 9, it says, but the Lord said to him, what are you doing here, Elijah? And Elijah replies, I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty.

But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, killed every one of your prophets. I'm the only one left. And now they're trying to kill me, too. Go and stand on the mountain before me, the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain.

It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose. But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, there was a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire.

And after the fire, there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, what are you doing here, Elijah? He replied again, I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars and killed every one of your prophets.

I'm the only one that left. And now they're trying to kill me, too. God sends Elijah to Mount Sinai. This mountain is the mountain where God met Moses in the burning bush and called his people out of slavery in Egypt. It's the same mountain that Moses came back to, this time with an entire nation of God's people.

It's the same mountain that God descended upon in cloud and in fire and thunder and the ground shook. It's the same mountain where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. But perhaps the most remarkable moment that happens on this mountain is over. In Exodus 33 and Exodus 34, Moses says to God, let me see you. Show me who you are.

And God does. And as part of that scene, we have the first time in all of Scripture that God describes his own nature. And so if it's the first time God describes his own nature, the words that he says are going to be important. And I want to share them with you this morning. Exodus 34.

6. It'll be up on the screen. The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out Yahweh, the Lord, the God of compassion and mercy. I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I want you to see that this morning.

Isn't that remarkable that the first time in all of Scripture that God says anything about his nature, it's that he is a God of compassion and mercy.

Elijah would have known this. This would have been passed down to him. So when God sends him to this mountain, it is not an accident. He's taking Elijah to the mountain where he told his people who. Who he is.

And now, as Elijah hears from God on this mountain, he hears words full of compassion and mercy as God says to him, what are you doing here, Elijah? God didn't need Elijah to tell him. I mean, Elijah tells him twice. God didn't need to be told. Once he knew why Elijah was there.

And yet God invites Elijah to spill out what is in his heart. And as he does, Elijah points us to the cause of his collapse. He says, I've given everything to serve you, but it's been for no good. The people have torn down the altars. They've turned away from you.

I'm the only one left, and now they want me dead. There's three things here, Elijah says. First, I've been faithful. Secondly, everybody else has failed. And third, I'm the only one left.

And yet Elijah's wrong. Because back at the start of chapter 18, Elijah met with Obadiah, one of the officials in the palace. And Obadiah says to him, I have hidden away 100 of God's prophets in caves. I've fed them through the drought. Elijah's wrong, and yet God says to him, not you're wrong, Elijah.

He says, go and stand before me on the mountain. And Elijah does. And as he stands there, a mighty wind comes. And that's followed by an earthquake which shakes the mountain. And then a fire rages.

The wind, the earthquake, the fire, these are not random things. This is exactly what happened on the mountain in Exodus 19 when God came down and shook the ground but three times in these two verses, we're told the same thing. The Lord is not in the wind. He's not in the earthquake. The Lord is not in the fire.

You see, Elijah already knows the God who shut up the sky for three and a half years and caused there to be no rain. He already knows the God who went into the king's palace and puts a king in his place. He already knows the God who sends fire down from heaven in front of a whole nation. I think if you'd gone next to Elijah at this moment in the cave and said to Elijah, do you know that God is powerful? Elijah would have said, absolutely, I know he is.

But after the fire comes the sound of a gentle whisper. The Hebrew here is actually really difficult to translate. People have had difficulty translating it for a very long time. But it can be literally translated as a thin silence. One translation calls it a deafening silence.

As God comes to Elijah, he isn't in the loud displays of power. He is in the quiet. God is in the stillness. I think it's easy for us to see God's presence only in his audible voice. Only in these mighty works he does.

And because of that, we can easily think that when it feels like God is silent that his presence is gone. But he shows us the opposite. Here God's presence comes not in loud acts of power, but in silence. We've already seen this chapter, that while Elijah sleeps, God's already preparing food and water for him. God is sending his messenger to wake him.

Even while Elijah is sleeping, God is at work. And now he stands here at the mouth of the cave. Elijah doesn't need more power. He's already seen God's power. What he needs is the compassion of God.

And so God speaks again and says to him again, what are you doing here? And Elijah gives the same reply. Why? And then God responds. In verse 15, he sends Elijah with renewed purpose.

Then the Lord told him, go back the same way you came and travel to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to be king of Aram. Then anoint Jehu, grandson of Nimshi, to be the king of Israel, and anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat from the town of Abimelech to replace you as my prophet. Anyone who escapes from Hazael will be killed by Jehu. And those who escape Jehu will be killed by Elisha.

Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him. Be Easy for us to read God's response here in verse 15 and think that God's just ignoring what Elijah has said, but he's actually responding to each of the things that Elisha feels. He says, get up, Elijah, there is still work for you to do. You see, Elijah thought that God was finished with him. But God says, I'm not finished with you.

I still have things for you. Elijah thought he had been a failure, that all he had done had amounted to nothing. And here God responds by saying, elijah, the days of Ahab are numbered. The days of BAAL worship in Israel are numbered. Elijah, you're the one going to set that in motion.

Elijah thought he was all alone, that he was the faithful one left, the only one. So God tells him, go to Elisha. Go and anoint Elisha. He's going to eventually take your place. I want you to see this.

This morning, a few verses before, Elijah ran to Beersheba, and he left his servant there and walked out into the wilderness on his own. Depression and exhaustion so often makes us want to isolate ourselves, convince ourselves that we are the only one. And so when God goes to Elijah, what does he do? He gives him a companion for the days ahead.

Twice Elijah has said, I'm the only one alone. So he gives him Elisha. And then he says, you aren't alone, Elijah. There are 7,000 faithful, 7,000 that have never bowed to Baal. You see, Elijah thought the measure of a life was what could be seen.

And God says, you can't see the 7,000. The measure is what is actually there. I wonder if you've ever looked at your family or your workplace or the years you've spent serving God and you've had the same thought. You've decided it's amounted to nothing.

But here we see this reality this morning. What Elijah says, what Elijah sees is he couldn't see the 7,000, but God saw every single one of them. And he said, elijah, they're there. As we close this morning, I want to take you back to that mountain one more time. When Moses stood there and asked God, show me who you are.

That comes after the people had completely failed. It comes after the people had built an idol there at the base of this mountain of the Lord. There was a devastating moment for Moses as God's people had turned their backs on him. As God passes in front of Moses, I wonder if Moses expected God to come in anger, but just after his people had failed. God says, yahweh, the Lord, the God of compassion and mercy.

I'm Slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. You know, we see that declaration of who God is line by line here in 1 Kings 19. God listens to Elijah, a man who asked to die. And he doesn't rebuke him. He lets him sleep and then he feeds him.

God comes in the stillness and the silence. He gives Elijah compassion. He gives him a companion for the days ahead. He says to him, Elijah, there are 7,000 faithful that you can't see. Elijah, you're not alone.

That's who God is. And this morning, I want to encourage you, God has not changed. God has not changed. He is still the God of compassion and mercy. He is still the God who sees you.

So wherever you find yourself this morning, maybe you walked in here being able to empathize with Elijah because that's where you feel you are at as well. You can be confident that God sees you. He is still speaking to you through his word. He's not waiting for you just to find more faith. He's the God of compassion and mercy who is with you.

Let's pray. God, we thank you for your word this morning. We thank you that you speak to us, Lord, that it ripples across thousands of years, but its truth hasn't changed one bit. Lord, we thank you that just as you came to Elijah in his moment of desperate need, Lord, we thank you that you come to us.

And so, Father, I just pray that we would know your presence today in the stillness and even in the silence. We thank you that it isn't an indication that you have left us, but that we can know that you are with us. We can be confident in that. And so we just ask that you would be ministering through your Holy Spirit to people's hearts right now.

Pray this in Jesus mighty name. Amen.