Sage advice from Dr Lloyd-Jones

This is from a letter written by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones that appears in a new biography of Leslie Land by Ian Shaw. He is telling Land how to deal with his depression. Much of it is counter-intuitive but is correct I am sure and can be a help to anyone in a similar conditon.

1. Your present trouble is only temporary. It is quite a common happening at your age and it will in no way affect you permanently. It is quite a common experience and one from which the patient invariably makes a full recovery. Do not analyse your symptoms. Still less be worried about them. Our nervous system can play all sorts of tricks with us and if we begin to consider each symptom we can become very worried. Avoid that. Just relax completely and give nature a chance.

2. Don't be in too much of a hurry. Reconcile yourself to the fact that for the time being you must do just nothing. That is the way to prepare for the future.

3. Do not think at all about the work at Leicester (Land was pastor of Melbourne Hall). It is God's, not yours, and he will care for it.

4. You will find that this experience will be most rewarding spiritually. It will bring you as it has brought me to rest more in the love and perfect wisdom of God. I am sure that He has something special for you in all this for which you will thank Him all your life. It will enrich your ministry.

Rest in him and abandon yourself entirely to him.

Meynell When Darkness Seems

The latest reading group at the Pastor's Academy was on Monday. We tackled Mark Meynell's book on depression in ministry. There were about six of us, including a new recruit from south of the river. I was chairing. We were generally happy with the book although we thought some of it was strange and found it difficult to think who exactly we might pass it on to. Depression is a difficult subject, of course, and the good thing is that someone has bravely tacked the subject in relation to ministry. I liked this quotation on Pages 178, 179

The people who scare me most are the leaders who admit no weakness. They are either living in a super-spiritual fog without self-awareness ... or they wish they could admit it, but are too scared of the repercussions in over-critical and graceless church cultures, and so, perhaps, over-compensate by polishing the facade of ‘sortedness’... or they are plain old hypocrites. As someone once put it, never trust a leader without a limp. How else can any of us be brought to the end of ourselves enough to be forced to throw ourselves on God’s mercy? We’re all too proud ... by nature. But a limp is hard to hide - and, in fact, does not need to be hidden ... leaders who limp are those who are weak and know it, but are not threatened by it. They have no alternative but to trust God. They know they cannot manage on their own; they simply don’t have it in them. And yet still they lead, and even thrive. For that only God can take credit. That is how it was always meant to be for anyone in Christian ministry.

We meet again in the Autumn to look at F V Fesko's Last things first.

Day off Week 17 2019

This week's day off included phoning, waiting for and receiving the electrician at home, which went off okay. I also caught up on University Challenge, including the final, won by Edinburgh. In the evening Eleri and I watched a bit of TV. In the afternoon I slipped down to the National Portrait Gallery where they currently have an exhibition of Tudor and Jacobean miniatures by Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac Oliver. I knew of Hilliard but not Oliver, his protege. Great exhibition (£10 a go; the hardback catalogue is £35, hint hint). I'd seen Hilliard's miniatures of Drake and Raleigh but not the ones of Elizabeth I, certainly not the one where she plays the lute. Also getting on with Mark Meynell's book on depression, which is our next book for the reading group. Not sure what to make of it yet.

Thoughts on Religious Experience

On Monday it was up to the Pastors Academy again (with Alffi the dog) for the Pastors Academy reading group. We like to read old books as well as new and I had suggested the 1841 work by Archibald Alexander Thoughts on religious experience. (The above image shows the original Banner cover. My copy was bought in 1980). Around six of us were present and we had a decent time. The book covers such a vast range of topics that it was difficult to cover everything and it was not easy to formulate questions for discussion but we had a stab at conversion, death and depression. So not the best time we've had but okay. In June we hope to tackle Mark Meynell's When Darkness Seems My Closest Friend partly prompted by the previous volume. (Best source ICM Books). Do join us if you can. Details will appear shortly on the Pastors Academy website.

Some quotations

Conviction, then, is no part of a sinner’s salvation - but the clear practical knowledge of the fact that he cannot save himself, and is entirely dependent on the saving grace of God.

In judging of religious experience, it is all important to keep steadily in view the system of divine truth contained in the Holy Scriptures; otherwise our experience, as is too often the case, will degenerate into enthusiasm. Many ardent professors seem too readily to take it for granted that all religious feelings must be good. They therefore take no care to discriminate between the genuine and the spurious, the pure gold and the tinsel. Their only concern is about the ardour of their feelings; not considering that if they are spurious, the more intense they are the further will they lead them astray.

There is no necessity for any other proof of native depravity than the aversion which children early manifest to religious instruction and to spiritual exercises.

Of two persons under conviction of sin, one of whom has had sound religious instruction, and the other none, the former will have an unspeakable advantage over the latter in many respects.

There is a common practical error in the minds of many Christians in regard to this matter. They seem to think that nothing has any relation to the conversion of the sinner but that which immediately preceded this event; and the Christian is ready to say, I was awakened under such a sermon, and never had rest until I found it in Christ; making nothing of all previous instructions and impressions. So, when a revival occurs under the awakening discourses of some evangelist, people are ready to think that he only is the successful preacher whose labours God owns and blesses; whereas he does but bring forward to maturity feelings and convictions which have been long secretly forming and growing within the soul, but so imperceptibly that the person himself was little sensible of any 

change.

We know very little, however, of what is passing in the minds of thousands around us. The zealous preacher often concludes and laments that there is no impression on the minds of his hearers, when, if the covering of the human heart could be withdrawn, he would be astonished and confounded at the variety and depth of the feelings experienced. Those impressions which manifest themselves by a flow of tears are not the deepest, but often very superficial; while the most awful distresses of the soul are entirely concealed by a kind of hypocrisy, which men early learn to practice to hide their feelings of a religious kind from their fellow-creatures.

If there be a truth established beyond all reasonable question by uniform experience, it is that lovers of pleasure are the enemies of God.

Spurgeon and depression

I recently came across American Zack Eswine's Spurgeon's Sorrows a book for those who suffer from depression. I don't suffer from depression thankfully but I feel like I do sometimes.

I thought the book might be more biographical but in fact what it is a pulling together of Spurgeon's many, many references to depression and how to cope with it. The book looks at trying to understand depression, learning how to support those who suffer and learning helps to cope daily. So much of it is fairly conventional but with this very fresh look at Spurgeon's take on it. It is a short book (143 pages) but helpful for any Christian with depression or who is trying to help such a person.

The decision to refer to Spurgeon as Charles was probably not the right decision but the general style is okay once you get used to it (and no typos -well done Christian Focus!). This is a book packed with wisdom that is really worth checking out. Eswine  himself says "the melancholy life thrives when it marathons instead of sprints, or when it sprints often, only to rest often." That on its own is a great seed thought.

Lloyd-Jones on depression

I just ordered the book referred to. This is from the Banner website here.

 

In August 1969 Dr. Lloyd-Jones was the principal preacher at the summer Institute of Theology in Pensacola. People today who were there still talk of the nine messages they heard him preach. They were the cream of his sermons, messages he had taken with him around the UK preaching to packed churches. They have now been reprinted, and the following is one of his memorable illustrations in a sermon on the road to Emmaus from Luke 24.

I remember preaching in my homeland of Wales one Sunday in the early 1930s. I was preaching in a country place at an afternoon and then an evening service. When I finished the service in the afternoon and had come down from the pulpit, two ministers came up to me. They had a request to make. They said, 'We wonder whether you'll do us a kindness.'

'If I can,' I said, 'I'll be happy to.'

'Well,' they said, 'we think you can. There's a tragic case. It's the case of our local schoolmaster. He's a very fine man, and he was one of the best church workers in the district. But he's got into a very sad condition. He's given up all his church work. He just manages to keep going in his school. But as for church life and activity, he's become more or less useless.''

'What's the matter with him?' I asked.

'Well,' they said, 'he's got into some kind of depressed condition. Complains of headaches and pains in his stomach and so on. Would you be good enough to see him?'

I promised I would. So after I had had my tea, this man, the schoolmaster, came to see me. I said to him, 'You look depressed.' He was like the men on the road to Emmaus. One glance at this man told me all about him. I saw the typical face and attitude of a man who is depressed and discouraged. I said, 'Now tell me, what's the trouble?'

'Well,' he said, 'I get these headaches. I'm never free from them. I wake up with one in the morning, and I can't sleep too well either.' He added that he also suffered from gastric pains and so on.

'Tell me,' I said, 'how long have you been like this?'

'Oh,' he said, 'it's been going on for years. As a matter of fact, it's been going on since 1915.'

'I'm interested to hear this,' I said. 'How did it begin?'

He said, 'Well, when the war broke out in 1914, I volunteered very early on and went into the navy. Eventually I was transferred to a submarine, which was sent to the Mediterranean. Now the part of the navy I belonged to was involved in the Gallipoli Campaign. I was there in this submarine in the Mediterranean during that campaign. One afternoon we were engaged in action. We were submerged in the sea, and we were all engaged in our duties when suddenly there was a most terrible thud and our submarine shook. We'd been hit by a mine, and down we sank to the bottom of the Mediterranean. You know, since then I've never been the same man.'

'Well,' I said, 'please tell me the rest of your story.'

'But,' he said, 'there's really nothing more to say. I'm just telling you that's how I've been ever since that happened to me in the Mediterranean.'

'But, my dear friend,' I said, 'I really would be interested to know the remainder of the story.'

'But I've told you the whole story.'

This went on for some considerable time. It was a part of my treatment. I said again, 'Now I really would like to know the whole story. Start at the beginning again.' And he told me how he had volunteered, joined the navy, was posted to a submarine that went to the Mediterranean, and everything was all right until the afternoon they were engaged in the action, the sudden thud and the shaking. 'Down we went to the bottom of the Mediterranean. And I have been like this ever since.'

Again I said, 'Tell me the rest of the story.' And I took him over it step by step. We came to that dramatic afternoon — the thud, the shaking of the submarine.

'Down we went to the bottom of the Mediterranean.'

'Go on!' I said.

'There's nothing more to be said.'

I said, 'Are you still at the bottom of the Mediterranean?' You see, physically he was not, but mentally he was. He had remained at the bottom of the Mediterranean ever since. So I went on to say to him, 'That's your whole trouble. All your troubles are due to the fact that in your own mind you are still at the bottom of the Mediterranean. Why didn't you tell me that somehow or another you came up to the surface, that someone on another ship saw you, got hold of you and got you on board his ship, that you were treated there and eventually brought back to England and put into a hospital?' Then I got all the facts out of him. I said, 'Why didn't you tell me all that? You stopped down at the bottom of the Mediterranean.'

It was because this man was dammed up in his mind that he had suffered from this terrible depression during all those years. I am happy to be able to tell you that as the result of this explanation that man was perfectly restored. He resumed his duties in the church and within a year had applied for ordination in the Anglican Church in Wales.

Now I tell you this story simply in order to show you the condition of these men on the road to Emmaus. There they are: 'We had thought . . . but, oh, what's the use of thinking? They tried him and condemned him unjustly. They crucified him. He died, and they buried him. And he's in the tomb.' They are so certain of this that they have become oblivious of everything else and blind to everything else. And I have a fear, my dear friends, that that is the trouble with so many of us. We are so aware of the problems, so immersed in them, that we have forgotten all of the glory that is around us and have seen nothing but the problems that lead to this increasing dejection. That is my analysis of these men on the road to Emmaus.

---

Published in Setting Our Affections Upon Glory: Nine Sermons on The Gospel and the Church, pp. 73-76 (Crossway Books, 2013).

Favourite Puns 12

Deep rest

Down in the dumps

Not much coming out here I know. I'm a bit down that's all (not as bad as the picture might suggest thankfully). Doing too much perhaps (or not enough).

Archive 5b Black Dog Days

Coping
For the one who is inexplicably depressed himself it is a matter of coping. Perhaps a strategy can be developed along these lines.
1. Do not be surprised by depression. It happens even to eminent Christians. Think of Cowper or Luther or Brainerd. Spurgeon once said ‘I, of all men, am perhaps the subject of the deepest depression at times’. David and Jeremiah are biblical examples. Godliness does not guarantee freedom from depression. There is a sinful depression. Think of angry Cain or pouting Ahab. Depression can also lead to sin. We must not excuse ourselves. However, depression can come unbidden to holy people.
2. When depressed or despondent, take special care to get plenty of sleep and to eat well. This will sometimes be difficult to achieve but if we realise its importance for mental as well as physical well being we will make it a priority. Many have pointed out how when Elijah fled from Jezebel in a fit of depression the first thing God did was to feed him and give him a long rest.
3. Do not be afraid to seek medical advice. It is not a lack of faith. Maybe medication is needed. There is no shame in using drugs to get through depression brought on by physical causes. Scripture condemns Asa not for seeking medical help but for failing to pray about his disease. Of course, on the other hand, it is a sin to pretend we have a medical problem when there is none. We should not be too quick to resort to medicine.
4. Concentrate on ‘getting through’. Depressions tend to be cyclical. They come and go. They can be more intense at certain times. It is common, for instance, to feel worst first thing in the morning or during the night. Remember that. Psalm 27:14 says ‘Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD‘.
5. Beware of thinking too much. This may sound unusual advice. However, when a person is depressed he is not thinking straight and to let thoughts go round and round in a downward spiral does no good. Richard Baxter says ‘Do not exercise your thoughts too deeply, nor too much .... Long meditation is a duty to some, but not to you, any more than it is a person’s duty to go to church who has his leg broken’. When depressed do not waste mental energy on why you are depressed. It is worth analysing at another time but not in the midst of depression.

6. Seek company. The natural tendency of depressed persons is to seek solitude. Rather, seek cheerful company. Remember ‘A cheerful look brings joy to the heart and good news gives health to the bones’ (Pro 15:30). Dr Gaius Davies adds, ‘The role of a confiding, intimate friend is also important in protecting against depression’. Where this is possible such a friend will know you are depressed and with few words can help you through. Under this heading we might also note the need to take care over the music you hear. Music can powerfully affect moods, positively or negatively.
7. Concentrate on your duties. Jay Adams points out how those with less structured life-styles, such as housewives and ministers, can be more prone to depression. As far as possible, keep to daily routines and keep appointments. Try and ‘do the next thing’. At least do the little things that need doing but that require little mental effort. When depressed it is not the time for new initiatives or in depth discussions about the future.
8. Concentrate on maintaining your Christian testimony. All sorts of temptations may come to a depressed believer, it is important not to spoil an otherwise faithful witness by breaking out and doing something foolish that will bring the gospel into disrepute.
9. Keep praying and reading the Scriptures. Praying can be difficult at the best of times. In depression, prayer may seem impossible. Try and pray with others. It is clear that David came to God even at his worst. Ps 42:6 ‘My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you’. Ps 69:1, 2 ‘Save me, O God, ... I have come into the deep waters’. The psalms are a good place to turn to when downcast. Do not forget the great promises either.
10. Above all, trust in the Lord. Ps 42:11 ‘Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God .…’ Isa 50:10 ‘Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God’. Look to the Lord. He will bring you through. Spurgeon says ‘I find myself frequently depressed ... I find no better cure ... than to trust in the Lord with all my heart and seek to realise afresh the power of the peace-speaking blood of Jesus and his infinite love in dying upon the cross to put away all my transgressions.’

Archive 5a Black Dog Days

Sir Winston Churchill used to speak of a metaphorical black dog that sometimes followed him. Many have known the same thing. To be downcast, depressed, dogged by a mood of hopelessness or inadequacy, can be debilitating. Depressions vary in intensity and duration. Perhaps as many as one in ten experience melancholia at some point. Christians are not exempt.

Causing
What causes it? There are a number of possible factors.
1. Heredity. It may be that some family lines are more disposed to depression than others. It is worth knowing your family background, where you can, and how that may affect you psychologically.
2. Chemical imbalance. Some are sceptical but certain illnesses, child birth, menstruation, etc, can all lead to chemical imbalance, such as lowered brain amines, bringing on depression.
3. There can be a reaction to stresses of various sorts, emotional and physical, leading to depression. Major life changes, such as bereavement, moving home, redundancy, etc, can precipitate depression. Sometimes, confusingly, there can be a delayed reaction.
However, many depressions are unidentifiable. Proverbs 18:14 says 'A man’s spirit sustains him in sickness then observes, but a crushed spirit who can bear?' It is a curious thing that faced by the same set of circumstances at one time a man can surmount them but at another, for no apparent reason, is unable.

Curing
A cure is not always possible with depression. Saying ‘snap out of it’ is usually unhelpful. The whole problem is being unable to snap out of it’. A more subtle approach sometimes works as when Luther’s wife suggested to him that God was dead! Obviously where a chemical cause is discovered appropriate medication may deal with the root problem. Similarly, stress induced depression can be overcome by removing the cause or managing it better.

Caring
Where the underlying cause of a depression is unclear the approach must be a caring one from those who wish to help the depressed person. Sympathising with those who are depressed for no obvious reason is not easy, especially if we have never experienced depression ourselves. Jay Adams warns against extremes. On one hand, it is not good to encourage anyone to rely too much on our support. They must took to the Lord. On the other, we must never minimise what they are facing. If we underestimate how bad they feel, we risk alienating them and driving to despair. Patience and love are vital.

To be continued