Edward Payson

Edward Payson (1783 - 1827). American Congregationalist pastor and revivalist born in Rindge, New Hampshire, to a Puritan minister’s family. Graduating from Harvard in 1803, he taught school before studying theology under his father, Seth Payson. Ordained in 1807, he pastored Second Congregational Church in Portland, Maine, for 20 years, growing it from 70 to over 400 members. Known as “Praying Payson,” his intense prayer life fueled the 1816 revival, converting hundreds. He delivered over 2,000 sermons, published posthumously as Sermons for Christian Families (1831), emphasizing God’s sovereignty and personal piety. A leader in Maine’s evangelical awakening, he influenced missions through the American Board. Married to Ann Louisa Shipman in 1811, they had eight children, six surviving. Despite chronic illness, his devotional writings reached thousands, translated into French and German. Payson’s words, “Prayer is the first thing, the second thing, the third thing necessary to a minister,” defined his ministry. His memoirs, edited by Asa Cummings, remain a classic in Reformed circles, inspiring figures like Charles Spurgeon.
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Edward Payson delves into the incomprehensible nature of God, describing Him as an infinite, overflowing fountain of being, perfection, and happiness. He challenges the audience to contemplate this wonderful Being who is everywhere and in everything, yet beyond full human understanding. Payson emphasizes that even God Himself cannot fully express His essence to us, as our minds are limited in grasping His infinite nature.
God
How much this title implies, no tongue, human or angelic, can ever express; no mind conceive. It is a volume of an infinite number of leaves, and every leaf full of meaning. It will be read by saints and angels, through the ages of eternity, but they will never reach the last leaf, nor fully comprehend the meaning of a single page. Look back to the time when God existed independent and alone; when there was nothing but God; no heavens, no earth, no angels, no men. How wretched should we, how wretched would any creature be, in such a situation! But Jehovah was then infinitely happy—happy beyond all possibility of increase. He is an overflowing fountain, a bottomless and shoreless ocean, of being, perfection, and happiness; and when this infinite ocean overflows, suns and worlds, angels and men, start into existence. I would ask you to pause and contemplate, for a moment, this wonderful Being. But where shall we stand to take a view of him? When we wish to contemplate the ocean, we take our stand upon its shore. But this infinite ocean of being and perfection has no shore. There is no place where we can stand to look at him, for he is in us, around us, above us, below us. Yet, in another sense, there is no place where we may not look at him, for he is everywhere. We see nothing which he has not made, no motion which he does not cause; for he is all, and in all; and above all, God over all, blessed forever. Even he himself cannot tell us fully what he is, for our minds cannot take it in. He can only say to us, I am that I am. I am Jehovah.
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Edward Payson (1783 - 1827). American Congregationalist pastor and revivalist born in Rindge, New Hampshire, to a Puritan minister’s family. Graduating from Harvard in 1803, he taught school before studying theology under his father, Seth Payson. Ordained in 1807, he pastored Second Congregational Church in Portland, Maine, for 20 years, growing it from 70 to over 400 members. Known as “Praying Payson,” his intense prayer life fueled the 1816 revival, converting hundreds. He delivered over 2,000 sermons, published posthumously as Sermons for Christian Families (1831), emphasizing God’s sovereignty and personal piety. A leader in Maine’s evangelical awakening, he influenced missions through the American Board. Married to Ann Louisa Shipman in 1811, they had eight children, six surviving. Despite chronic illness, his devotional writings reached thousands, translated into French and German. Payson’s words, “Prayer is the first thing, the second thing, the third thing necessary to a minister,” defined his ministry. His memoirs, edited by Asa Cummings, remain a classic in Reformed circles, inspiring figures like Charles Spurgeon.