The garment of praise: A remedy for depression

In the very passage that Jesus quoted on His first recorded reading in the synagogue, Isaiah prophesied the exchange of the sprit of heaviness for the garment of praise – a message indicative of the favor of the LORD towards the people of Zion.

Isaiah 61:3 “To console all who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”

☞ The “spirit of heaviness” is also translated as the “spirit of despair,” a “disheartened spirit,” or a “faint spirit.”* This could be sadness, depression, or heaviness resulting from a particular worry or burden. Whichever the case, God wants to give His people in Zion a garment of praise in its place.

—  Why the garment of praise? —

Let’s start with the foundations…

☞ A garment of praise is rightly indicative of the favor of the LORD because it welcomes the presence and authority of God.

Psalm 22:3 “But you are Holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.”

☞ To be enthroned means to be seated (actually present) in a place, and to hold a position of authority and influence over that place.

☞ God being enthroned in our praises means that He is actually present, and even more, that He occupies a position of influence in the midst of our praise. Therefore, to give the people of Israel a garment of praise (to fill them with praises to God) is to enthrone God upon their hearts and lives as they offer Him praise.

— So how does this deal with the heaviness? —

☞ Well, the most obvious connection is that when God is present, there is fullness of joy. In the presence of Joy, there can be no heaviness.

Psalm 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

☞ Even more, in 1 John 1:5, we learn that God is light, and that in Him, there is no darkness at all. Speaking of this same light, the apostle Paul asks his readers in 2 Corinthians 6:14b, “What communion has light with darkness?”

☞ In the presence of God, who IS light, darkness has to flee! Even when the darkness manifests itself as depression, the presence of God sends it packing, because in God, there is no darkness. And where is God? Enthroned on your praises!

*Translations in NIV, AMP, and ESV respectively;