2 Corinthians 12:7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of
these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn
in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so Christs power may rest on me. 10 This is why,
for Christs sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in
hardships, in presecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
http://www.studylight.org/com/guz/view.cgi?book=2co&chapter=012
David Guzik's Commentaries
on the Bible
2. (7) The presence of Paul's thorn in the flesh.
And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
a. And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations: Paul's vision was so impressive that it would have been easy for him to be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations. He could have gloried in himself, or caused others to glory in him because of this experience.
i. Paul was not immune to the danger of pride. No one is. "The best of God's people have in them a root of pride, or a disposition to be exalted above measure, upon their receipt of favours from God not common to others." (Poole)
b. To prevent being exalted above measure, Paul was given something: a thorn in the flesh was given to me. In this, Paul reveals the real reason for telling of his heavenly vision: not to glorify himself, but to explain his thorn in the flesh.
i.
It seems that everyone could see the thorn in the flesh Paul suffered from. It was no secret. His heavenly vision was a secret until now, but everyone saw the thorn. Some among the Corinthian Christians probably thought less of Paul because of his thorn in the flesh, but they knew nothing of the amazing spiritual experience that lay behind it!
ii. "He says, 'There was given to me.' He reckoned his great trial to be a gift. It is well put. He does not say, 'There was inflicted upon me a thorn in the flesh,' but
'There was given to me.'" (Spurgeon)
c. What is a thorn in the flesh? When we think of a thorn, we think of a somewhat minor irritation. But the root word Paul uses for thorn here describes a tent stake, not a thumbtack!
i.
In the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint, the word skolops (thorn) shows "something which frustrates and causes trouble in the lives of those afflicted." (Kruse)
d.
A thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me: In a strange way, the thorn was both given (ultimately given by God), but it was also a messenger of Satan.
i. Satan probably jumped at God's permission to afflict Paul, and did so with malice towards the apostle. But God had a purpose in it all, and allowed Satan's messenger to successfully keep Paul from being exalted above measure.
ii. To buffet me means that this thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, "punched" Paul. He felt that he was beaten black and blue by this messenger of Satan.
iii. Paul, punched about by the devil? Who would have thought it? "Perhaps you have looked into the face of a Christian who is always smiling, who never seems to have any worry, is always happy and radiant and, as you have thought about your own circumstances, you have said in your heart, 'I wish I were he! He seems to have no problems. He doesn't have to take what I do.' But perhaps you have lived long enough, as I have, not know that sometimes the most radiant face hides great pressures, and often the man who is being most blessed of God is being most buffeted by the devil." (Redpath)
e. It is interesting to consider what a counselor without a Biblical perspective would have said to Paul. Imagine that Paul tells the counselor about his great infirmity, his troublesome "thorn in the flesh," and how Paul feels weak and powerless to continue on against it. We might imagine that the counselor would say, "Well Paul, what you need a positive mental outlook to meet this problem." Or, he might say "Paul, the power is within you to conquer over this infirmity; you should look deep within the inner man to find the resources for success." Perhaps the counselor would then tell Paul "What you really need a support group of caring individuals." Or he might even seek to challenge Paul by saying "Paul, if you really had faith, you would be delivered from this thorn in the flesh." Some of this advice might be good in different circumstances. But Paul will take his problem to the Wonderful Counselor, and He will have something different to say.
3. (8) Paul's prayer regarding the thorn in the flesh.
Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
a. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord: Paul did exactly what he told others to do in a time of trouble. Paul believed for himself what he wrote in Philippians 4:6: Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
b. I pleaded with the Lord three times: In fact, Paul repeatedly prayed about this thorn in the flesh. We might imagine that when the thorn in the flesh first appeared, Paul thought, "This is no problem. I'll just give it to the Lord in prayer." But nothing happened when he prayed. So he thought, "This is a tough one," and prayed again. When nothing happened after praying the third time, he knew God was trying to tell him something.
i. Some think that Paul is using a Hebrew figure of speech that really means much more than three times. "That does not mean three times. It is the Hebrew figure for ceaselessly, continuously, over and over again." (Morgan)
ii.
Some say it is unspiritual and evidence of little faith to pray for something more than once. That would be surprising to Paul, who pleaded with the Lord three times, and to Jesus, who prayed with the same words three times in His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:39-41).
iii. But there was nothing wrong with Paul's prayer. "God respecteth not the arithmetic of our prayers, how many they are; not the rhetoric of our prayers, how neat they are; nor the geometry of our prayers, how long they are; nor the music of our prayers, how melodious they are; nor the logic of our prayers, how methodical they are; but the divinity of our prayers, how heart-sprung they are. Not gifts, but graces prevail in prayer." (Trapp)
c. Paul's prayer was passionate. He pleaded with the Lord about this matter. We might even wonder if he wasn't surprised when the prayer was not answered the first or second time.
d. That it might depart from me: Paul's initial prayer was to escape the suffering this thorn in the flesh brought him. Paul was no [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse]. When he suffered, his first instinct was to ask God to take it away.
i.
But when his passionate, repeated plea for deliverance was not answered, it must have concerned Paul. It added another dimension to this trial. The trial had a physical dimension, in that it was a thorn in the flesh. It had a mental dimension, in that it was a messenger of Satan. And it had a spiritual dimension, in that it was an unanswered prayer.
e.
What exactly was Paul's problem? We simply don't have enough information to say precisely, but that hasn't prevented many commentators and teachers from giving their opinion.
i. Some have seen it mainly as spiritual harassment. Others have thought it was persecution. Many have suggested it was a physical or mental ailment. Some have said this was Paul's struggle with lustful and sinful thoughts.
ii. Among Christians, Tertullian gives the earliest recorded guess at the exact nature of Paul's problem. He thought the thorn in the flesh was an earache or a headache.
iv.
Each of these suggestions is possible, but God had a definite purpose in not revealing the exact nature of Paul's thorn. If we knew exactly what Paul's thorn was, then everybody who was afflicted, but not in exactly the same way, might doubt that Paul's experience was relevant for them. God wanted everyone with any kind of thorn in the flesh to be able to put themselves in Paul's shoes. "I generally find that each expositor has selected that particular thorn which had pierced his own bosom." (Spurgeon)
4. (9-10) God's provision to Paul through his thorn in the flesh.
And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
a. And He said to me: God had a response for Paul. The answer was not what Paul was initially hoping for, or expecting. But God still had a response for Paul. We often close our ears to God if He responds in a way we were not hoping for, or expecting.
b.
My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness: Instead of removing the thorn from Paul's life, God had given, and would give, His grace to Paul. The grace God gave Paul was sufficient to meet his every need.
i. Paul was desperate in his desire to be relieved of this burden. But there are two ways of taking away a burden. It can be done by removing the load, or it can be done by strengthening the shoulder bearing the load. Instead of taking away the thorn, God would strengthen Paul under it, and God would show His strength through Paul's apparent weakness.
ii. To do this, Paul had to believe that God's grace is sufficient. We really don't believe God's grace is sufficient until we believe we ourselves are insufficient. For many of us, especially in American culture, this is a huge obstacle. We are the people who idolize the "self-made man" and want to rely on ourselves. But we can't receive God's strength until we know our weakness. We can't receive the sufficiency of God's grace until we know our own insufficiency.
iii. "Great tribulation brings out the great strength of God. If you never feel inward conflicts and sinking of soul, you do not know much of the upholding power of God; but if you go down, down, into the depths of soul-anguish till the deep threatens to shut her mouth upon you, and then the Lord rides upon a cherub and does fly, yea, rides upon the wings of the wind and delivers your soul, and catches you away to the third heaven of delight, then you perceive the majesty of divine grace. Oh, there must be the weakness of man, felt, recognised, and mourned over, or else the strength of the Son of God will never be perfected in us." (Spurgeon)
c.
How did God's grace make the difference? How did it meet Paul's need at this point?
i. Grace could meet Paul's need because it expresses God's acceptance and pleasure in us. When we receive His grace, we enjoy our status of favor and approval in God's eyes. Grace means that God likes us, that He is favorably disposed towards us; we have His approval and promise of care.
ii.
Grace could meet Paul's need because it was available all the time. When we sin or fail, it does not put us outside of the reach of God's grace. Since grace is given freely to us in Jesus, it can't be taken at later because we stumble or fall. When we come to God by faith, through the blood of Jesus, His grace is ever ready to meet and minister to our insufficiencies.
iii. Grace could meet Paul's need because it was the very strength of God. So much of the power of this world is expressed in things that can only bring harm and destruction. But God loves to show His power through His goodness and grace. Sometimes we associate goodness with cowardice or timidity. But when we do, we take a worldly perspective about power and strength, and we deny God's truth about the strength of grace and love. Grace is not weak or wimpy. Instead, it is the power of God to fulfill what we lack.
God bless
whitestar
going to bed now
