Genesis 32:28 And he said, Your name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince have you power with God and with men… A little more than two centuries ago a thoroughly devoted English minister was full of anxiety in view of the dangers that threatened many of the seamen who belonged to his parish. They were about to engage in a fearful battle with the French, and be exposed to all the perils of the fight. His heart yearning over them, he calls together his people, and appoints a day of fasting and prayer, that the shield of the Almighty might be thrown before them in the day of battle. It is said the good man wrestled in prayer as in an agony, that the seamen might be preserved in the hour of danger. When the battle was over, it was found that John Flavel too had wrestled with the angel; that he was a prince with God, and had prevailed. His prayers were a wall of defence round about those for whom he pleaded. Not a single sailor from Dartmouth was lost, though many of them were in the hottest of the fight. If the real history of many a soldier in our fearful civil war were written, it would doubtless be found that he came forth unscathed because defended by the believing prayers of a Christian wife, mother, or sister. Parallel Verses KJV: And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. |
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