Melancholy.

I am a melancholic. I must have a preponderance of black bile as thought by medieval psychologists.

So i read a very encouraging chapter in Future Grace by John Piper about fighting Despondency. Here is an excerpt:

How Jesus Fought in the Dark Hour
There were several tactics in strategic battle against despondency. First, he chose some close friends to be with him. "He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee" (Matthew 26:37). Second, he opened his soul to them. He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death" (v.38). Third, he asked for their intercession and partnership in the battle. "Remain here and keep watch with Me" (v.39) Fourth, he poured out his heart to his Father in prayer. "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me." (v.39). Fifth, he rested his soul in the sovereign wisdom of God. "Yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt" (v.39). Sixth, he fixed his eye on the glorious future grace that awaited him on the other side of the cross. "For the joy set before Him [He] endured the cross, despising the shame, and had sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2)

When something drops into your life that seems to threaten your future, remember this, the first shockwaves of the bomb are not sin. The real danger is yielding to them. Giving in. Putting up no spiritual fight. And the root of that surrender is unbelief - a failure to fight for faith in future grace. A failure to cherish all that God promiises to be for us in Jesus.

Jesus shows us another way. Not painless, and not passive. Follow him. Find your trusted spiritual friends. Open your soul to them. Ask them to watch with you and pray. Pour out your soul to the Father. Rest in the sovereign wisdom of God. And fix your eyes on the joy set before you in the precious and magnificent promises of God.


mmm...and the insight of John Piper again points me to treasuring my Savior.

Please pray for me as I fight despondency. Thanks.

I also read Psalm 62:1-2; 5-7 which was very encouarging...o how the law of the Lord revives the soul!

"Truly my soul silently waits for God;
From Him comes my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my defense;
I shall not be greatly moved.

My soul, wait expectantly for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my defense;
I shall not be moved.
In God is my salvation and my glory;
The rock of my strength,
And my refuge, is in God."

Next to Chaucer, if I could meet a literary figure from the past, I think I would like to meet Milton. He's epic. Gotta love that Paradise Lost.