What Does the Bible Say About Despondency?

“And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. My: or, Mine iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven”

“Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.”

“And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.”

“And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot : for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.”

“And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.”

“And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore , nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. eloquent: Heb. a man of words heretofore: Heb. since yesterday, nor since the third day”

“And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. wilt: or, shouldest”

“And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage. anguish: Heb. shortness, or, straitness”

“And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?”

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:”

“And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.”

“And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.”

“Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?”

“And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:”

“And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life:”

“In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.”

“After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.”

“And Job spake, and said, spake: Heb. answered”

“Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.”

“Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.”

“Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. stain: or, challenge let the: or, let them terrify it, as those who have a bitter day”

“As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months. let it not be: or, let it not rejoice among the days”

“Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.”

“Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning. their: or, leviathan”

“Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day: the dawning: Heb. the eyelids of the morning”

“Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.”

“Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?”

“Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?”

“For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,”

“With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves;”

“Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:”

“Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.”

“There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. weary: Heb. wearied in strength”

“There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.”

“The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.”

“Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;”

“Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures; long: Heb. wait”

“Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?”

“Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?”

“For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters. I eat: Heb. my meat”

“For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. the thing: Heb. I feared a fear, and it came upon me”

“I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.”

“If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.”

“I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister. said: Heb. cried, or, called”

“And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?”

“They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.”

“For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.”

“Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?”

“Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore ? for evermore: Heb. to generation and generation?”

“Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.”

“Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.”

“And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. of the earth: Heb. of the dust”

“Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.”

“Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. fearful: Heb. hasty”

“Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go. There: or, Is the case desperate?”

“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”

“And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.”

“I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.”

“He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.”

“Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.”

“My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.”

“He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.”

“He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.”

“He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.”

“Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.”

“He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.”

“He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.”

“He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.”

“He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.”

“He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. arrows: Heb. sons”

“I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.”

“He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood. bitterness: Heb. bitternesses”

“He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes. covered: or, rolled me in the ashes”

“And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. prosperity: Heb. good”

“And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:”

“Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. Remembering: or, Remember”

“My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. humbled: Heb. bowed”

“This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. recall: Heb. make to return to my heart”

“But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us. But: or, For wilt thou utterly reject us?”

“The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.”

“And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. by: or, out of mine affliction hell: or, the grave”

“For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. midst: Heb. heart”

“Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.”

“Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.”

“And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. vehement: or, silent”

“Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit. when: Heb. the gatherings of summer”

“The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. good: or, godly, or, merciful”

“That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up. his: Heb. the mischief of his soul”

“The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.”

“Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.”

“For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.”

“Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.”

“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

“But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.”

“There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.”

“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;”

“For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.”

“Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.”

“And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.”

“Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;”