October 20

And Jabez called on the God. of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep rue from evil. - 1 Chronicles 4:10.

FIRST, Observe the God to whom he prayed. He addressed himself to the one living and true God, and who is called “the God of Israel,” first, because he had appeared to Jacob and given him the name of Israel, saying, “As a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed;” secondly, because he had entered into covenant to be the God of the nation that should descend from his loins; and, thirdly, because he is now what he has always been,-a Being peculiarly concerned for the good of those who are “Israelites indeed, in whom there is no guile.” We address the same God as Jabez did. What a thought is this! He is no older now than then: -“He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Oh, what a pleasure is there in addressing the God of Israel as a known God, as a tried God, the God of our fathers, the God of our households, a faithful God who has always been “a very present help in time of trouble”!

Observe, Secondly, His prayer. Was this prayer at his setting out in life, or was it offered on any particular occasion? Or was it a prayer, the substance of which he had often made use of? However this may be, he was a man of prayer, and his prayer here recorded would never have been found in the hook of God, unless it had been offered “in spirit and in truth.” Let us notice the subject-matter of it; it is first expressed generally:-“Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed!”

By this we may understand God “blessing him with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” There is a reality, an excellency, and a satisfaction in these; they pertain to the soul and to eternity; they can accompany us through the valley of the shadow of death, and stand by us when we appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. We must be concerned to add to the blessings of nature and providence the blessings of divine grace. As to temporal blessings, a man taught of God considers himself blessed indeed with regard to these, when God gives him a heart to enjoy them and to improve them, and when, along with them, comes the love of God.

Secondly, It is also particularly expressed. Persons differ in their conditions and circumstances, and therefore they pray every man accordingly. There is very little, as to our greater wants, but may be comprehended under three articles. Let us notice them both as to their temporal and spiritual bearing.

The first is, that “thou wouldest enlarge my coast.” If Jabez lived after the division of the Holy Land, and had to fight with and drive out the Canaanites, that he might more and more realize and possess the portion that was assigned him, the prayer is very striking, and can be easily explained. It will equally apply to the worldly state of the good man now. He will not indeed be avaricious, but he may pray that God would send him a competent support; that he may be able to “provide things honest,” not only in the sight of God, but also “in the sight of man;” that he maybe able to train up a growing family with credit, and that he may have wherewith to give to him that needeth; that he may “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith he is called with all meekness.” But where is the person who does not stand in need of spiritual enlargement? This “enlargement of coast” is the same which Paul enjoins on the Corinthians: “Be ye also enlarged,” says he; that is, obtain a more religious state,-more hope, more peace, more joy in believing.

The second article regards the divine assistance:- “And that thine hand might be with me.” This, as a prayer for success in all his enterprises, will apply still more to a Christian. How much has he to do in his spiritual vocation! To be active in serving his generation, and in private and public devotion to serve his God acceptably. But he feels his need every moment of the hand of God to be with him, “working in him to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

The third regards suffering:- “And that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me.” A suffering state is in itself a state of temptation, and a good man will pray, “Keep me from temptation, that it may not grieve me,” (the evil of suffering:) how much more may he pray with regard to the evil of sin, that it may not grieve him! Indeed, there is nothing that ever can or will grieve the child of God like this; and yet he well knows that he is liable to it, and altogether unable to keep himself; and therefore he prays, “Hold thou me up, and I shall he safe.”