"And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he
found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring
them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom
thou persecutest: [it is] hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to
do? And the Lord [said] unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it
shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no
man: but they led him by the hand, and brought [him] into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink."
Key words, phrases, people, and places: Threatenings, slaughter, disciples, high priest, desired, Damascus, synagogues, men, women, bound, Jerusalem, suddenly, shined, light, heaven, fell, earth, persecutest, Lord, Jesus, kick, pricks, trembling, astonished, arise, city, journeyed, speechless, brought, sight, eat, drink.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary of the Whole Bible: "So ill informed was Saul, that he thought he ought to do all he could against the name of Christ, and that he did God service thereby. He seemed to breath in this as in his element. Let us not despair of renewing grace for the conversion of the greatest sinners, nor let such despair of the pardoning mercy of God for the greatest sin. It is a signal token of divine favor, if God, of the inward working of His grace, or the outward events of His providence, stops us from prosecuting or executing sinful purposes. Saul saw that Just One, ch. 22:14; 26:13: How near to us is the unseen world! It is but for God to draw aside the veil, and objects are presented to the view, compared with which, whatever is most admired on earth is mean and contemptible. Saul submitted without reserve, desirous to know what the Lord Jesus would have him to do. Christ’s discoveries of himself to poor souls are humbling; they lay them very low, in mean thoughts of themselves. For three days Saul took no food, and it pleased God to leave him for that time without relief. His sins were now set in order before him; he was in the dark concerning his own spiritual state, and wounded in spirit for sin. When a sinner is brought to a proper sense of his own state and conduct, he will cast himself wholly on the mercy of the Savior, asking what he would have him to do. God will direct the humbled sinner, and though he does not often bring transgressors to joy and peace in believing, without sorrows and distress of conscience, under which the soul is deeply engaged as to eternal things, yet happy are those who sow in tears, for they shall reap in joy."
Desired: Ask, beg, require, crave, call for.
1st John 5:15: "And if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we that we have the petitions that we DESIRED of Him."
Persecutest: To drive away.
Acts 26:15: "And I said, 'Who art thou, Lord?' And He said, 'I am Jesus whom thou PERSECUTEST.'"
Pricks: Sting.
Numbers 33:55: "But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be PRICKS in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell."
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