4 COMFORT
r 2. He begins with his usual doxology, " Blessed be God." He will have a great deal to say in this Epistle about affliction, but he begins upon another note. He begins with the contemplation of the mercies of God, and from that standpoint he surveys the field of his own trouble.
^ Everything depends upon our point of view. I stood a week or two ago in a room which was furnished with wealthy pictures, and I fixed my gaze upon a Highland scene of great strength and glory. The owner of the picture found me gazing at this particu- lar work, and he immediately said, " I am afraid you won't get the light on the hill." And sure enough, he was right. From my point of view I was contemplating a dark and storm-swept landscape, and I did not get the light on the hill. He moved me to another part of the room, and, standing there, I found that the scene was lit up with wonderful light from above. Yes, every- thing depends upon our point of view. If you are going to look upon your trouble, the primary question will be, " Where do you stand ? " See where the Apostle Paul plants his feet. " Blessed be God!" That is view-point in the life of faith! Standing there we shall get the light on the hill. Paul takes his stand in the grace of God, and he gazes upon the ministry of mercies and comfort in the otherwise midnight wastes of affliction and pain. He begins, I say, in doxology. He sings a psean of mercies and comfort, and lifts his soul in adoration to God.^
I.
When Comfort Comes.
"Who comforteth us in all our affliction."
1. The desire for comfort may be a very high or a very low, a noble or a most ignoble wish. It is like the love of life, the wish to keep on living, which may be full of courage and patience or may be nothing but a cowardly fear of death. We know what kind of comfort it must have been that St. Paul prayed for, and for which he was thankful when it came. We have all probably desired comfort which he would have scorned, and prayed to God in tones which he would have counted unworthy alike of God and of himself.
» J. H, Jowett.
2 COR. I. 3, 4 5
(1) What picture does the word " comfort " convey to your mind ? Do you not almost instinctively think of it in a passive, in a somewhat selfish sense ? The concrete picture of a comfort- able person would have for its essentials good health, a fixed income, and for its immediate surroundings probably an arm-chair, a fire, a well-spread table, every possible sign of material friendly circumstances.
" Comfort," says Mrs. Pearsall Smith, " is pure and simple comfort, and it is nothing else. We none of us care for pious phrases, we want realities ; and the reality of being comforted and comfortable seems to me almost more delightful than any other thing in life. We all know what it is. When as little children we have cuddled up into our mother's lap after a fall or a mis- fortune, and have felt her dear arms around us, and her soft kisses on our hair, we have had comfort. When, as grown up people, after a hard day's work, we have put on our slippers and seated ourselves by the fire, in an easy-chair with a book, we have had comfort. When, after a painful illness, we have begun to recover, and have been able to stretch our limbs and open our eyes without pain, we have had comfort. When some one whom we dearly love has been ill almost unto death, and has been restored to us in health again, we have had comfort. A thousand times in our lives, probably, have we said, with a sigh of relief, as of toil over or of burdens laid down, ' Well, this is comfortable,' and in that word ' comfortable ' there has been comprised more of rest, and relief, and satisfaction, and pleasure, than any other word in the English language could possibly be made to express."
(2) But this is only a part, and the smallest part, of the comfort of the Bible. The word " comfortable " is really an active word. The derivation of the English word illustrates that perhaps better than the Greek word which it translates — fort, strong — and one very common old use of the verb " to comfort " simply meant to communicate strength. In Wycliffe's Bible of 1382, the words of Christ which read in our Version, " The child grew and waxed strong in spirit " are given, " The child waxed and was comforted in spirit." In Isaiah we have it, " He fastened it with nails " ; in Wycliffe it is, " He comforted it with nails " ; and a century and a half later, in Coverdale's Bible, it represents " Let your hands now therefore be comforted," instead of, as we have it.
6 COMFORT
"Therefore now let your hands be strengthened." When our fathers used this word " comfort," they meant clearly something more than the mere entertaining of a sentiment, however kindly, or utterance of words, however sympathetic. So we must so far clear the way by getting rid of the idea that comfort is simply soothing, right and pleasant as that may be under certain conditions.