is an aptly titled book to discuss as we approach the shortest day of the year. However, a shortage of daylight and the cold of this season aren’t the only reasons depression is common. We hear biblical counsel and hope for today—and the days to come—as we shine the light on the darkness of depression with therapist and professor Dr. Richard Winter and review his book.

Winter reminds us that we won’t always feel happy, and he speaks about the healing power of the Psalms.

Do you find comfort reading about Elijah or Jeremiah or David? Is that a recommendation, to spend time reading about their lives will make a difference for us?

“I found great comfort when I was in my down times reading the Psalms and reading about Moses and Elijah and Jonah – these are what I call the suicidal saints. Each of them, for completely different reasons, got to this end point of saying, ‘Lord I’ve had enough I want to die take my life.’ Job of course lamented that he’d ever been born!”

These men of God went through really difficult times and didn’t lose their trust in God and God dealt with them often very gently.

“That’s one of the things I really like about these stories. God left Jonah with the right to be angry. There’s often a lot of repressed anger behind depression that we need to deal with. The Psalms give us wonderful permission to have all sorts of emotions. Sadness, grief, fear, joy, dancing before the Lord. I often tell people to write their own Psalm, about their own struggle. God loves to hear you speaking honestly to Him out of your heart. You don’t have to pretend with Him.”

Dr. Richard Winter explains walking through darkness, when life goes dark.

Highlight – Walking through darkness

Walking through darkness