In When the Darkness Will Not Lift, John Piper offers several reasons for why a Christian may suffer from melancholy–and its evil cousin, depression: sin, Satanic assault, distressing circumstances, or hereditary or other physical causes. He draws much of his wisdom from Puritan pastors who “never seemed to give up on anyone because of discouraging darkness.” Many Puritan pastors understood melancholy, having suffered through their own periods of darkness, and sought to address all of its causes and remedies appropriately for the good of their churches and the glory of God.

Piper offers a long list of books from which he’s learned much regarding suffering (and persevering) through spiritual darkness:
The Path of True Godliness by Willem Teellinck

The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes

A Lifting Up for the Downcast by William Bridge

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs

Overcoming Sin and Temptation by John Owen

Communion with God by John Owen

“The Cure of Melancholy and Overmuch Sorrow by Faith and Physic” by Richard Baxter in Puritan Sermons. You can access this one online here.

The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification by Walter Marshall

The Life of God in the Soul of Man by Henry Scougal

The Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards

Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Genius, Grief and Grace: Its Causes and Cures at Suffering and Success by Gaius Davies

Faithfulness and Holiness: The Witness of J.C. Ryle by J.I. Packer

I had no idea there were so many books for Christians who suffer with depression. It makes me wonder now why this subject is so taboo among believers. It is obviously something that Christians have had to work through for centuries.

I also find it immensely encouraging that all of those books above were written by men who also wrote books filled with language that indicates the loftiest warmth, affection, and love for God I’ve ever read. They experienced the heights and depths in their respective relationships with Jesus.

I really think part of the misunderstanding of sorrow and melancholy among Christians comes from this idea that we’re always supposed to be happy and smiling. There is a massive throng of feel-good, everything’s alright, chipper Christianity in America that will deny that we can ever have a downcast soul. I can’t say that I’ve suffered from what the medical community defines as depression, but I have gone through bouts of spiritual darkness, or what I would call an experience of a downcast soul.

Piper quickly alerts the reader to the fact that he is not a medical doctor, and he doesn’t spend much time evaluating the physical diagnosis and treatment of depression for that reason. He acknowledges the real role that medicine plays in helping people who suffer with depression. However, when it comes to spiritual darkness, the answer is Jesus. Medicine may help, but it is not the solution to a spiritual problem. What he emphasizes is the definite connection between our physical bodies and “the capacity of our minds to think clearly and of our souls to see the beauty of hope-giving truth.” He quotes Spiritual Depression by Martyn Lloyd-Jones:

“There are many, I find, who come to talk to me about these matters, in whose case it seems quite clear to me that the cause of the trouble is mainly physical. Into this group, speaking generally, you can put tiredness, overstrain, illness, any form of illness. You cannot isolate the spiritual from the physical for we are body, mind and spirit. 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 and there are great illustrations of this in the scriptures.”

Personally speaking (watch out male readers!), I think some physical factors that may affect my spirit are my less-than-healthy eating habits, being tired, hormones, and lack of exercise. All of these things work together to make me feel terrible. For the last several months (and I probably should write a word that means more than several, but I can’t think of one) I haven’t slept well at night, I have eaten on-the-go or not at all, and I have not exercised despite telling myself that I will tomorrow. Obviously, there are some very practical things I can do to remedy these feelings.

Last night, I went for a run. Consequently, I didn’t have any trouble falling asleep, and I felt good when I woke up today. I’ve snacked on carrots instead of baked goodies. I’ve drunk water instead of Dr. Pepper (OH, how I love Dr. Pepper!). I do feel better today.

Thinking through this, though, has alerted me to areas that were just out of control. “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls” (Proverbs 25:28). That, my friends, is a spiritual issue. Piper definitely has some things to say about the spiritual side of spiritual darkness, and that is what I’m thinking through for my next post.