Your prayer is heard, and we join our hearts with yours in bringing this dear soul before the throne of grace. There is great heaviness in your words, and we do not pass it by lightly, for the Lord Himself says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, and He would have His people comfort one another.
You tell us that he is cast down even to despair and that something is deeply wrong within. We must tell you plainly that despair is an unwarrantable thing. Finding there is no hope in himself, a man draws the unwarrantable conclusion that there is no hope for him in God. But God is not lost, and therefore hope is not lost. He is the God of patience and consolation, and He is the God of hope. There is no hope in ourselves, but there is everlasting consolation and good hope through grace in our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. While we breathe we may hope, and while we hope we live, for our life lies in hope in Him.
What then shall we do for one who is so afflicted. We point him to the patience and the comfort of the Scriptures, that through them he might have hope. The Scriptures do not merely tell us to be patient, they work patience in us as we wait upon God, and they bring comfort as the Spirit, who is the Comforter, speaks through them. Remember the Word unto your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope, for this is my comfort in my affliction, for Your Word has quickened me. When God would comfort us, He quickens us by His Word, and so we obtain comfort. Let this poor tried one be led to the Word, even a single promise, and plead it before God, and He will honor it.
And look to Christ Himself, for the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There is an abundance of healing power in Jesus Christ. Not only His fruit but the very leaves, the least thing about Christ, are full of healing virtue. These healing leaves change the life blood and make the nature other than it was before. You look up to this Tree and say, I am sick at heart, may I dare to partake of it. You may. Come to Him, for He receives sinners and binds up the brokenhearted. His blood and His grace can purge every evil and make the soul fresh and comely again.
So we pray with you now. O Lord our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort this heart and establish it. You know the trouble that lies upon him which we cannot see. You see the darkness that surrounds him. Lord, quicken him by Your Word. Give him to feel that to despair is not his portion, for with You there is hope. Lift him from the pit of self despair and set his feet upon the Rock, Christ Jesus, who alone is salvation. Let him hear Your voice saying, Comfort ye, and let him know that Jesus Christ came to save sinners, even the chief. Heal him, Lord, with the healing leaves of that Tree of Life. Restore to him hope of eternal life through believing in Jesus Christ. And sustain those who love him and watch over him, giving them wisdom and strength.
We urge you, for the love you bear him, not to leave him alone in this hour. Draw near to him, bring him into the company of faithful Christian friends and ministers, and where the body and mind are so low, seek also the help of those skilled to care for such affliction. Let him know he is not cut off from healing agencies, for God has means to comfort and to heal, and He uses the hands of His people.
May the God of hope fill you both with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. In Jesus mighty name we ask it, amen.