Acts 20:32 And now, brothers, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up… It would be well for us in similar circumstances to follow Paul's example. When we are in sorrow ourselves, let us lift our hearts to God; and when we know that others are in distress, then is the time to bespeak God's favour for them. Especially is this true of those manifold partings from friends over which hangs the shadowy uncertainty that we may see their faces on earth no more. When, e.g., a lad leaves home, what can be more appropriate than this commendation? When again we tread the deck of the vessel, and are about to embrace for the last time the loved ones who are going to a foreign land, what can be more consoling to both than to whisper "I commend you to God," etc.? When some dear friend is in deep waters, and we feel our impotence, what a relief to us, and what a benison to him, it is to be able to say, "I commend you," etc. When Thomas M'Crie, the biographer of John Knox, was setting out as lad from his country home for Edinburgh University, his mother went with him for a portion of the way, and when at length they came to the place where they had to part, she took him into a field by the wayside, knelt down with him behind a stock of corn sheaves and fervently besought for him the blessing of the Lord. His son tells us that he never forgot that prayer; and that its influence for inspiration and strength was with him through life. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. |
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