Don't Let the Title Fool You....

Spiritual Depression by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is probably not a book many of us would buy. I started reading it with hopes that it would help me Biblically counsel a particular person in my life who continuously struggles with depression. Wanting to avoid the very popular psychologized approaches that are rooted in man's foolishness rather than God's wisdom, but have the "Christian" label attached to make them more palatable for us, I came across this book after much searching. I was surprised by how edifying and encouraging it was for me. As I continued to read, I was reading for myself, not just to benefit another.

Compiled from a series of sermons that Pastor Lloyd-Jones preached, this book is easily read in chapter order or randomly. The chapters are all related in their connection to a Christian's lack of joy, but each can stand alone.

Lloyd-Jones opens the book with "general considerations" about spiritual depression. He explains that this is a condition "which has afflicted God's people right from the beginning, for you will find it described and dealt with in the Old Testament and in the New." He began preaching this series of sermons because "there are large numbers of Christian people who give the impression of being unhappy. They are cast down, their souls are 'disquieted within them.'

He clearly points out that we should always "start with the Bible, where there is explicit teaching on every condition, and he asserts that there are five main causes for a Christian's lack of joy...

1) Temperament~he doesn't mean here that you should take a personality test and go from there. He's simply addressing that we're all different and react to circumstances differently. Some of us are introverts and some are extroverts. Some of us can be morbidly introspective. He reminds us that we should be aware of these things and be careful about our strengths and weaknesses.

2) Physical condition~Lloyd-Jones warns us not to dismiss the part that physical condition plays in spiritual depression. He includes in this group "tiredness, overstrain, illness, any form of illness." We're reminded that "the greatest and best Christians when they are physically weak are more prone to an attack of spiritual depression than at any other time and there are great illustrations of this in the Scriptures."

3) A reaction~"A reaction after a great blessing, a reaction after some unusual and exceptional experience." He cites the situation of Elijah under the juniper tree and Abraham in Genesis chapter 15.

4) Satan~"The adversary of our souls...he can use our temperament and our physical condition." Satan's methods of producing spiritual depression are endless, Lloyd-Jones tells us. "The devil's one object is so to depress God's people that he can go to the man of the world and say: There are God's people. Do you want to be like that?"

5) Unbelief~He describes this as the "ultimate cause." "That is why psalmist keeps on saying to himself: 'Hope thou in God for I shall yet praise Him...' He reminds himself of God...because he had forgotten God, so that his faith and his belief in God and in God's power, and in his relationship to God, were not what they ought to be."

He goes on to address the issue of spiritual depression more deeply in the twenty chapters that follow, which include topics such as "Mind, Heart, and Will," "Vain Regrets," "Feelings," "Weary in Well Doing," "Trials,", "Chastening," and "That One Sin." This is an encouraging and convicting book that not only helps you consider the lack of joy in your own Christian walk but also equips you to minister Scripturally to others in your life who are struggling. There are several chapters that I will be having our children read as well, for I think there is much wisdom in guarding ourselves in this area instead of being suddenly surprised by a lack of joy that results from the many little things we've carelessly let seep into our hearts and minds.

"Rejoice in the Lord alway, again I say rejoice!" (Phil. 4:4)

Pressing On,
Queen Mom

*Note: I'm just a sinful human being...remember that when I recommend a book. Always read with discernment, measuring everything by God's Word. If I ever recommend something contrary to God's Word, TELL ME! As iron sharpens iron....