Spurgeon's Sorrows: Realistic Hope for those who Suffer from Depression

by Zack Eswine

Overview

Christians should have the answers, shouldn’t they?

Depression affects many people around us; we and our loved ones are not exempt. With this compassionate exploration of the struggles faced by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a renowned 19th–century preacher, who himself endured bouts of severe depression, Zack Eswine provides realistic hope and practical guidance for those grappling with depression. Drawing on Spurgeon’s experiences and wisdom, Eswine offers readers comfort from a fellower sufferer, and hope from the same God.

Spurgeon’s words are not shallow: he knew the valley and he knew the God who walked him through it. The light Spurgeon found in his darkness can serve as a light in our own darkness and enable us to shed light on the darkness experienced by others.

Understanding Depression: Depression is complex and can affect anyone, including people of faith, without being a sign of spiritual failure.

Spurgeon’s Experiences: Spurgeon’s transparency about his struggles with depression provides an authentic example of dealing with mental health issues.

Biblical Insights: Biblical teachings and theological reflections offer comfort, emphasizing God’s constant grace and love even in despair.

Practical Advice: The book offers practical tips like seeking professional help, self–care, and community support, encouraging patience and trust in God’s presence.

Role of the Church: Advocates for a compassionate church culture that supports those with depression without judgment.

Realistic Hope: Emphasizes acknowledging the pain of depression while holding on to the hope of healing and comfort, assuring readers they are not alone.

Spurgeon’s Sorrows combines historical insights with practical and spiritual guidance, making it a valuable resource for anyone affected by depression, as well as for those who seek to support them.

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781915387
Publisher:	Christian Focus Publications
Publication date:	11/20/2015
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Zack Eswine is the Lead Pastor of Riverside Church in St Louis, Missouri and co–founder with his wife, Jessica, of Sage Christianity sagechristianity.org.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Trying to Understand Depression

1 The Road to Sorrow 17

2 Depression and our Circumstances 25

3 The Disease of Melancholy 33

4 Spiritual Depression 41

Part 2 Learning How to Help Those Who Suffer from Depression

5 Diagnosis Doesn't Cure 57

6 A Language for our Sorrows 67

7 Helps that Harm 75

8 Jesus and Depression 83

Part 3 Learning Helps to Daily Cope with Depression

9 Promises and Prayers 93

10 Natural Helps 105

11 Suicide and Choosing Life 119

12 The Benefits of Sorrow 133

What People are Saying About This

David Powlison - CCEF Executive Director

The river of life often flows through sloughs of despond. Charles Spurgeon knew that well... Ditto Zack Eswine in this unusual, refreshing, sensible book... Read it, and take it to heart.

Tom J. Nettles - Senior Professor of Historical Theology

...Spurgeon from early years to final days found dark distress ever hovering on the edges of his mind and sometimes launching an all out assault on his very being. How he managed all this, by the grace of God, both for himself and for others, drives both the gripping content and the riveting literary style of Zack Eswine in Spurgeon's Sorrows.

Jason Byassee - Senior Pastor

Zack Eswine is a pastor with the mind of a scholar and the heart of a poet. His wisdom gleaned from Charles Spurgeon's struggle with depression is theologically profound and pastorally lucid.

From the Publisher

Zack Eswine, like Spurgeon, a preacher, pastor, and no stranger to suffering... there is much encouragement, comfort and practical help to be found in this rich and poetic treasure. ~ Dr Richard Winter (Author of When Life Goes Dark: Finding Hope in the Midst of Depression, Director of Counseling at Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri )

Richard Winter - Author of When Life Goes Dark: Finding Hope in the Midst of Depression

Zack Eswine, like Spurgeon, a preacher, pastor, and no stranger to suffering... there is much encouragement, comfort and practical help to be found in this rich and poetic treasure.

Editorial Reviews

What a comfort to know that a great man was very human, a "man of like passions." The grace that came through his preaching also lifted his soul. It is a comfort to be reminded of that great grace.

Leighton Ford

Zack Eswine, like Spurgeon, a preacher, pastor, and no stranger to suffering... there is much encouragement, comfort and practical help to be found in this rich and poetic treasure.

Richard Winter(Author of When Life Goes Dark: Finding Hope in the Midst of Depression

In an age of quick answers Spurgeon speaks beyond the grave with heart-felt understanding and solace. Those who know the pain of such suffering find in these pages a level of succour for the soul which both normalizes and gives hope...a rare insight into the experience of a ubiquitous problem.

Margaret Reynolds

The river of life often flows through sloughs of despond. Charles Spurgeon knew that well... Ditto Zack Eswine in this unusual, refreshing, sensible book... Read it, and take it to heart.

David Powlison((1949–2019) CCEF Executive Director

Zack Eswine is a pastor with the mind of a scholar and the heart of a poet. His wisdom gleaned from Charles Spurgeon's struggle with depression is theologically profound and pastorally lucid.

Jason Byassee(Senior Pastor

...Spurgeon from early years to final days found dark distress ever hovering on the edges of his mind and sometimes launching an all out assault on his very being. How he managed all this, by the grace of God, both for himself and for others, drives both the gripping content and the riveting literary style of Zack Eswine in Spurgeon's Sorrows.

Tom Nettles(Senior Professor of Historical Theology

...Poetic, poignant, and platitude-free, this shimmering treasure of a book may literally save your life or the life of someone you love.

Ken Shigematsu

...Poetic, poignant, and platitude-free, this shimmering treasure of a book may literally save your life or the life of someone you love.

Ken Shigematsu(Pastor

Eswine's work demonstrates the value of reading biographies, old books, and sermons. Interacting with godly men and women from church history can be a vital aid to Christian maturity. He handles Spurgeon carefully, yet provocatively at points, and produces a volume that promises to help pastors and laypeople confront the sad terror of the dark night of the soul.

The Gospel Coalition

I like Zack Eswine's writing.
In Spurgeon's Sorrows Eswine sensitively considers the experience of depression, using Charles Spurgeon's experiences and writings as a reference point. Such are the variations in depression I'm loathe to generalise or make it look like there are universal treatments that will bring relief. It's not a long book, but it is sensitive and constructive

Gary Ware

There are few men I trust more to write a book on depression than Zack Eswine. His tears have freed me to embrace my tears, and his story of heartache has taken me further into my own. So Zack hasn't merely written a book chronicling Spurgeon's often debilitating struggles with melancholy and depression; he has given us a grace-full en ramp to understand our sorrows, and an incredibly practical guide for caring for heart-pained friends God places in our lives. I cannot wait to buy many copies of this book to give to strugglers and care-givers alike.

Scotty Ward Smith(Founding Pastor

Most Christian books on depression depress me. This book is a very rare and precious gift of encouragement and help. In it two godly pastor-scholars open up their lives to us and share their hearts. Both have suffered profoundly and both have known seasons of deep despair and darkness. Together they bring us God's word, helping us wrestle with the scary fact that our Heavenly Father loves us dearly and sometimes calls us to lifelong struggles with dark despair. I wish I could give this book to everyone I have ever counselled or ever will counsel. It gives us a life-changing, gospel-saturated perspective on this very prevalent, painful, and confusing problem.

Barbara Duguid(Author

This book was the best book I have ever read on depression. If you know anyone or you yourself struggle with depression, this book is such an incredible encouragement. It is well worth the time. Even if you have never met anyone who struggles with depression, this book is great for your library because you will probably know a depressed person at some time.

This book was was timely for me. I cried as I read through it because it was such balm to my weary soul. I highlighted so many things that were used to heal my heart in ways I desperately needed. I cannot recommend a book more highly.

Refresh My Soul Blog

Zack Eswine's beautifully crafted Spurgeon's Sorrows is poetry for the soul. Weaving Spurgeon's acquaintance with depression with his own, Zack gives language to the honest struggle of the weary. He kindly invites sufferers, and their fellow sojourners, to breathe what is true, offering grace-filled help and real hope. An exquisite book.

Patti Hawley(Licensed Professional Counselor; Faculty Adjunct

In an age of quick answers Spurgeon speaks beyond the grave with heart-felt understanding and solace. Those who know the pain of such suffering find in these pages a level of succour for the soul which both normalizes and gives hope...a rare insight into the experience of a ubiquitous problem.

Margaret Reynolds(Counselor and Co-Founder of Grace Counselling & Conciliation Services

I highly recommend this book. It will help Christians at every stage of their Christian life to understand how to help those who often suffer in silence with depression and discouragement. This book will also help those who do struggle with discouragement and depression with the gospel. This is a must read book for pastors, counselors, biblical counselors to learn how to walk with those who struggle with discouragement and depression. This excellent book will bring much encouragement, comfort, and practical help to strugglers and ministers alike

Dave Jenkins- Servants of Grace

Pastors, fellow strugglers, spiritual friends, counsellors, caring church members, and you...will find your own soul enriched and, consequently, more effectively equipped to wisely love others through the dark, foggy valleys that believers of all ages have travelled.

Paul Tautges(Senior Pastor

Spurgeon's Sorrows is biography meets pastoral exhortation. In taking us through the suffering of CH Spurgeon, Eswine encourages the reader to heed the words and life of this hero of the faith. Pastors deal with enormous emotional struggles by bearing the burdens of an entire flock and standing on the frontline of spiritual warfare. Couple that with personal tragedy and a predisposed temperament towards melancholy and the struggle grows exponentially. Enter Charles Spurgeon.

Eswine uses the events of Spurgeon's life and ministry to help the reader try to understand depression, to help those with depression, and to cope with it ourselves. This book is full of wisdom and grace and will serve the Church well. It is short and easy to read and deserves a broad audience. Spurgeon's Sorrows bears the subtitle of "Realistic Hope for those who Suffer from Depression." It offers that and so much more.

Josh Skinner

For those struggling with depression and assuming they are confined to the sidelines because of their mental health, Spurgeon's example should serve as a great encouragement. Spurgeon knew what to do when the lights were on. And after awhile he knew how to take time off in the midst of darkness. We've much to learn here.

Eswine's book is poetic and mercifully short. There are sentences and paragraphs throughout that are life-giving. The writing is compelling and the type of language which resonates with one in the pit. To this end I pray that many who are battling depression will read this book and hold onto these tiny morsels.

Mike Leake

Eswine's writing about depression is some of the most accessible-dare I say beautiful-that I have read... I hope many Christians will read, learn from, and treasure the hope celebrated in this book. It is a tenderly written book from the heart of one who knows that "the sorrowing have a Savior."

A Wonderful Providence Blog

I highly recommend this book for all believers. The wisdom examined by Eswine from the pen of Charles Spurgeon regarding depression is outstanding and will greatly help those suffering from this issue to begin to grab hold of Jesus who suffered as we did, even to the point of death on a cross. I know I learned much about depression and how to help those suffering from this pain in their life. Look to the man of sorrows for he cares for you. That was the approach Spurgeon took and it is the correct one.

Mike Boling

What a comfort to know that a great man was very human, a "man of like passions." The grace that came through his preaching also lifted his soul. It is a comfort to be reminded of that great grace.

Leighton Ford(President

You can almost taste Spurgeon's tears in this book... Eswine's gentle, poetic, unmasking of Spurgeon's inner turmoil may become a soothing balm for your soul. It may not heal you, but a healthy empathy emerges when you read about the struggles of a man who has walked down the same dark alleys you stumble along, and somehow found God in the valley of despair. If you don't struggle with depression yourself, it will help you love those who do!

(Teaching Pastor

...Poetic, poignant, and platitude-free, this shimmering treasure of a book may literally save your life or the life of someone you love.

Ken Shigematsu(Pastor of Tenth Church and best-selling Author of God in My Everything

The river of life often flows through sloughs of despond. Charles Spurgeon knew that well... Ditto Zack Eswine in this unusual, refreshing, sensible book... Read it, and take it to heart.

David Powlison((1949-2019) CCEF Executive Director

The words 'realistic hope' are in the subtitle, and that is exactly what this book offers. The writing style is winsome and the way he frames Spurgeon's quotes almost make it sound as if the great man was writing last week.

Evangelical Magazine of Wales(Published by Evangelical Movement of Wales)

You can almost taste Spurgeon's tears in this book... Eswine's gentle, poetic, unmasking of Spurgeon's inner turmoil may become a soothing balm for your soul. It may not heal you, but a healthy empathy emerges when you read about the struggles of a man who has walked down the same dark alleys you stumble along, and somehow found God in the valley of despair. If you don't struggle with depression yourself, it will help you love those who do!

Jeremy McQuoid(Teaching Pastor

There are few men I trust more to write a book on depression than Zack Eswine. His tears have freed me to embrace my tears, and his story of heartache has taken me further into my own. So Zack hasn't merely written a book chronicling Spurgeon's often debilitating struggles with melancholy and depression; he has given us a grace-full en ramp to understand our sorrows, and an incredibly practical guide for caring for heart-pained friends God places in our lives. I cannot wait to buy many copies of this book to give to strugglers and care-givers alike.

Scotty Ward Smith

Pastors, fellow strugglers, spiritual friends, counsellors, caring church members, and you...will find your own soul enriched and, consequently, more effectively equipped to wisely love others through the dark, foggy valleys that believers of all ages have travelled.

Paul Tautges

Most Christian books on depression depress me. This book is a very rare and precious gift of encouragement and help. In it two godly pastor-scholars open up their lives to us and share their hearts. Both have suffered profoundly and both have known seasons of deep despair and darkness. Together they bring us God's word, helping us wrestle with the scary fact that our Heavenly Father loves us dearly and sometimes calls us to lifelong struggles with dark despair. I wish I could give this book to everyone I have ever counselled or ever will counsel. It gives us a life-changing, gospel-saturated perspective on this very prevalent, painful, and confusing problem.

Barbara Duguid

...Spurgeon from early years to final days found dark distress ever hovering on the edges of his mind and sometimes launching an all out assault on his very being. How he managed all this, by the grace of God, both for himself and for others, drives both the gripping content and the riveting literary style of Zack Eswine in Spurgeon's Sorrows.

Tom Nettles

Zack Eswine, like Spurgeon, a preacher, pastor, and no stranger to suffering... there is much encouragement, comfort and practical help to be found in this rich and poetic treasure.

Richard Winter

For those struggling with depression and assuming they are confined to the sidelines because of their mental health, Spurgeon's example should serve as a great encouragement. Spurgeon knew what to do when the lights were on. And after awhile he knew how to take time off in the midst of darkness. We've much to learn here.

Eswine's book is poetic and mercifully short. There are sentences and paragraphs throughout that are life-giving. The writing is compelling and the type of language which resonates with one in the pit. To this end I pray that many who are battling depression will read this book and hold onto these tiny morsels.

Patti Hawley

The river of life often flows through sloughs of despond. Charles Spurgeon knew that well... Ditto Zack Eswine in this unusual, refreshing, sensible book... Read it, and take it to heart.

David Powlison

The words 'realistic hope' are in the subtitle, and that is exactly what this book offers. The writing style is winsome and the way he frames Spurgeon's quotes almost make it sound as if the great man was writing last week.

Evangelical Magazine of Wales

Zack Eswine is a pastor with the mind of a scholar and the heart of a poet. His wisdom gleaned from Charles Spurgeon's struggle with depression is theologically profound and pastorally lucid.

Jason Byassee

...Spurgeon from early years to final days found dark distress ever hovering on the edges of his mind and sometimes launching an all out assault on his very being. How he managed all this, by the grace of God, both for himself and for others, drives both the gripping content and the riveting literary style of Zack Eswine in Spurgeon's Sorrows .

Tom J. Nettles

...Spurgeon from early years to final days found dark distress ever hovering on the edges of his mind and sometimes launching an all out assault on his very being. How he managed all this, by the grace of God, both for himself and for others, drives both the gripping content and the riveting literary style of Zack Eswine in Spurgeon's Sorrows.

Tom J. Nettles - Senior Professor of Historical Theology

...Spurgeon from early years to final days found dark distress ever hovering on the edges of his mind and sometimes launching an all out assault on his very being. How he managed all this, by the grace of God, both for himself and for others, drives both the gripping content and the riveting literary style of Zack Eswine in Spurgeon's Sorrows.

Tom J. Nettles - Former Senior Professor of Historical Theology

Zack Eswine, like Spurgeon, a preacher, pastor, and no stranger to suffering... there is much encouragement, comfort and practical help to be found in this rich and poetic treasure.

Richard Winter - Author of When Life Goes Dark: Finding Hope in the Midst of Depression

Zack Eswine is a pastor with the mind of a scholar and the heart of a poet. His wisdom gleaned from Charles Spurgeon's struggle with depression is theologically profound and pastorally lucid.

Jason Byassee - Senior Pastor

The river of life often flows through sloughs of despond. Charles Spurgeon knew that well... Ditto Zack Eswine in this unusual, refreshing, sensible book... Read it, and take it to heart.

David Powlison - CCEF Executive Director

You can almost taste Spurgeon's tears in this book... Eswine's gentle, poetic, unmasking of Spurgeon's inner turmoil may become a soothing balm for your soul. It may not heal you, but a healthy empathy emerges when you read about the struggles of a man who has walked down the same dark alleys you stumble along, and somehow found God in the valley of despair. If you don't struggle with depression yourself, it will help you love those who do!

Jeremy McQuoid

In an age of quick answers Spurgeon speaks beyond the grave with heart-felt understanding and solace. Those who know the pain of such suffering find in these pages a level of succour for the soul which both normalizes and gives hope...a rare insight into the experience of a ubiquitous problem. ~ Margaret Reynolds (Counselor and Co-Founder of Grace Counselling & Conciliation Services, Auckland, New Zealand.)

From the Publisher