Image: David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981)
Note: Devotion taken from conclusion of last Sunday's sermon on Ecclesiastes 2:12-26.
Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair
of all the labour which I took under the sun (Ecclesiastes 2:20).
There
is nothing better for a
man, than that he should eat
and drink, and that he should
make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God
(Ecclesiastes 2:24).
This week I went back and read the opening chapters to
the classic devotional work by David Martyn Lloyd-Jones titled Spiritual Depression: Its Causes
and Cures (Eerdmans, 1965).
Lloyd-Jones was the longtime pastor at Westminster Chapel in downtown
London. He had been a medical doctor
before he was called into the ministry, so he understood both the physical and
spiritual aspects of what he called “spiritual depression.”
In the book he cites five causes of spiritual depression:
1. Temperament.
He notes: “There is a type
of person who is particularly prone to spiritual depression” (pp. 16-17). He suggests these persons are often
introverts who are prone to unhealthy introspection rather than healthy
self-examination.
2. Physical condition.
Among these he lists “tiredness, overstrain, illness, any form
of illness” (p. 19).
He adds: “The greatest
and the best Christians when they are physically weak are more prone to an
attack of spiritual depression than at any other time….” (p. 19).
3. Reaction.
Lloyd-Jones warns that we are often prone to spiritual depression
as a reaction “after great blessing” or “after some unusual and exceptional
experience” (p. 19).
4. The devil.
Spiritual depression comes as the result of spiritual
attack. This is “the one and only cause”
(p. 19).
5. Unbelief.
He calls this “the ultimate cause” for without it “even the
devil could do nothing” (p. 20).
Lloyd-Jones’ offers this remedy for spiritual depression: “We must take ourselves in hand” (p.
20). “We must talk to ourselves rather
than letting ‘ourselves’ talk to us” (p. 20)!
“The main art in spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself”
(21).
Lest we think Lloyd-Jones was some kind of self-help guru, he
also clearly says that the true foundation for overcoming spiritual depression
is grasping the doctrine of justification by grace through faith.
He describes counseling with persons who have said to him, “I
am not good enough,” noting that this sounds modest, but it is “a lie of the
devil and a denial of the faith.” Of
course you’re not good enough! No one is
good enough! “The essence of Christian salvation
is to say that He is good enough and that I am in Him!” (p. 34).
Nevertheless, Lloyd-Jones also concludes that going through
spiritual depression, including feeling miserable and wretched, is necessary
for the Christian. He says, “You must be
made miserable before you can know true Christian joy” (p. 28). He calls the experience of this misery or
despair “the essential preliminary to joy” (p. 28).
It is said that when John Calvin was dying, while in a moment
of intense suffering, he said: “Thou
bruisest me, O Lord, but it amply sufficeth me, that it is thy hand” (as in
Bridges, Ecclesiastes, p. 41).
I don’t know why Solomon fell into this slough of
despond. His life line out of his
despair seems to have come when he sat down to do something as mundane as
eating a meal and it struck him, “This also I saw that it was from the hand of
God” (Ecclesiastes 2:24b).
He came to understand:
Yes, my labor is and would be meaningless apart from Christ. But my life is made meaningful because of
Christ.
At the close of each message in the Ecclesiastes sermon series,
I have been trying to find some fitting parallel to the New Testament. The one
that came to mind to place alongside this passage were these words from Jesus
recorded in Matthew:
Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I
am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my
yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
No comments:
Post a Comment