David Martyn Lloyd-Jones - Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Its Cure

SPIRITUAL DEPRESSION

ITS CAUSES AND CURE

D. MARTYN LLOYD-JONES

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Grand Rapids, Michigan

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, 1965

First printing, July 1965

Reprinted 2003

ISBN 0-8028-1387-9

To

ANN

FOREWORD

These sermons were preached on consecutive Sunday mornings at Westminster Chapel and are here reproduced virtually as they were delivered.

The need for them arose as the result of pastoral experience, and they are now published in book form largely as the result of repeated requests that they might be issued in this form.

Believing as I do that the greatest need of the hour is a revived and joyful Church the subject dealt with in these sermons is to me of the greatest possible importance. Unhappy Christians are, to say the least, a poor recommendation for the Christian F faith; and there can be little doubt but that the exuberant joy of the early Christians was one of the most potent factors in the spread of Christianity.

The treatment of the subject is by no means exhaustive. I have tried to deal with what I have found to be the commonest causes of trouble. In several instances (e.g., the relationship between the physical, the psychic, and the spiritual) I would have liked to deal with the problem more thoroughly, but that was hardly possible in a sermon. In any case sermons are not intended for the experts but for the common people and those who are in need of help.

I pray that God will bless them to all such.

All who may derive some help from them will want to join with me in thanking Mrs. Hutchings who originally took down the sermons in shorthand, and my wife who looked after corrections, proof-reading, etc.

CONTENTS

I GENERAL CONSIDERATION ..

II THE TRUE FOUNDATION ..

III MEN AS TREES, WALKING ..

IV MIND, HEART AND WILL ..

V THAT ONE SIN....

VI VAIN REGRETS....

VII FEAR OF THE FUTURE ..

VIII FEELINGS......

IX LABOURERS IN THE VINEYARD

X WHERE IS YOUR FAITH ? ..

XI LOOKING AT THE WAVES ..

XII THE SPIRIT OF BONDAGE ..

XIII FALSE TEACHING....

XIV WEARY IN WELL DOING ..

XV DISCIPLINE......

XVI TRIALS......

XVII CHASTENING......

XVIII IN GODS GYMNASIUM ..

XIX THE PEACE OF GOD....

XX LEARNING TO BE CONTENT ..

XXI THE FINAL CURE....

GENERAL CONSIDERATION

Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance. Psalm 42.5

Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance and my God. Psalm 42:11

The simplest description of the five books of Psalms is that -L they were the inspired prayer-a nd-praise book of Israel. They are revelations of truth, not abstractly, but in the terms of human experience. The truth revealed is wrought into the emotions, desires, and sufferings of the people of God by the circumstances through which they pass.

It is because that is such a true description of them that the Psalms have always proved to be a great source of solace and encouragement to Gods people throughout the centuriesboth the children of Israel and the members of the Christian Church.

Here we are able to watch noble souls struggling with their problems and with themselves. They talk to themselves and to their souls, baring their hearts, analyzing their problems, chiding and encouraging themselves. Sometimes they are elated, at other times depressed, but they are always honest with themselves. That is why they are of such real value to us if we also are honest with ourselves.

In this particular Psalm which we propose to consider the Psalmist is unhappy and in trouble. That is why he cries out in the dramatic words: Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

This statement, which we have twice in this Psalm, is found also in the following Psalm. Some regard Psalm 43 as being part of the same statement and not a separate Psalm. It is a matter which cannot be decided, and it is quite immaterial, but in both these Psalms this statement is repeated, for we find it at the end of Psalm 43 as well.

The Psalmist is giving an account of his unhappiness, the unhappiness of his soul, the condition through which he was passing when he wrote these words. He tells us the cause of that unhappiness. Probably at that particular time he was prevented from joining with others in public worship in the House of God. But not only that, he was clearly being attacked by certain enemies. There were those who were doing their utmost to depress him and he gave an account of that. We are interested chiefly, however, in the way in which he faces the situation, and the way in which he deals with himself.

Our subject, in other words, is that which we may describe as spiritual depression, its causes and the way in which it should be treated. It is interesting to notice the frequency with which this particular theme is dealt with in the Scriptures and the only conclusion to be drawn from that is that it is a very common condition. It seems to be a condition which has afflicted Gods people right from the beginning, for you find it described and dealt with in the Old Testament and in the New. That in itself would be sufficient reason for drawing your attention to it, but I do so also because it seems in many ways to be the peculiar trouble with many of Gods people and the special problem troubling them at this present time.

There are many reasons for that. One of the main ones being, undoubtedly, the terrible events which we have lived through in this generation, the two wars and the consequent upheavals. That is not by any means the sole reason, but I have no doubt it is partly responsible. But whatever the reason, the fact remains that there are large numbers of Christian people who give the impression of being unhappy. They are cast down, their souls are disquieted within them, and it is because of that that I am calling attention to the subject.

In making an extensive analysis of this subject we must proceed along two lines. First of all, we must deal with the Biblical teaching concerning this matter, and then we can go on to look at certain notable examples or illustrations of the condition in the Bible, and observe how the persons concerned behaved and how God dealt with them. That is a good way of facing any problem in the spiritual life. It is good, always, to start with the Bible, where there is explicit teaching on every condition and it is also good to look at examples and illustrations from the same source.

We can be greatly helped by the two methods; and I would enter a plea at this point for the importance of following both of them. There are some people who are only interested in the illustrations, in the stories; but if we are not careful to extract the principles which are illustrated by the stories, we shall probably end by aggravating our own condition, and though there is great profit to be gained by looking at examples and illustrations, it is very vital that we should take the teaching first. There are many people who seem to be in trouble because they are more or less living on other peoples experiences, or are coveting other peoples experiences; and it is because they are always looking at persons and their stories instead of first grasping the teaching, that they so often and so badly go astray. Our knowledge of the Bible should have forewarned and safeguarded us against that particular danger, because it invariably does both things, as we shall see in our discussions of this subject. There is this great doctrinal teaching, plain and clear, and then God in His grace has added also the illustrations in order that we may see the great principles being worked out in practice.