For indeed, when we came into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but [we were] afflicted in every way; without combats, within fears.
Paul breaks off his travel story in chapter 2 and picks it up again here, when he reaches Macedonia. What he describes is a servant of God under pressure from every direction at once, and honest about having no rest.
The verse opens with "For," and that word reaches back to the last thing Paul told us about his travels.
Verse 5 picks up the threads of what happened from 2 Corinthians 2:13. You can read from one verse to the other as though nothing came between them. He had left Troas even though the Lord had opened a door there for the gospel, because he had no rest in his spirit about the Corinthians.
Three places in Paul's recent history stand behind the words "at every turn."
Things were getting worse rather than better after he left Troas. He says, "our flesh had no rest but we were troubled on every side." At Ephesus the trouble was outside; at Troas it was inside; but in Macedonia it was on every side. It was like Ephesus and Troas rolled into one.
The word choice is unusual. Where the ESV has "our bodies," older translations read "our flesh," and one writer weighs what that word means.
"Our flesh" (v. 5) is an unusual expression. I take it to mean his human weakness as such. "Afflicted in every way" describes his circumstances, both inward and outward — "without fightings, within fears." But God does not fail. He is the encourager of the depressed, just as He resists the proud.
The fightings and the fears did not weigh on him the same way. One he knew well. The other was unlike him, and it had a clear cause.
"Fightings without" were nothing new to him. Suffering and personal danger had been promised him from the start (Acts 9:16), and they had no power to daunt his spirit as he went about his Master's work. But "fears within" broke in on his usual peace and calm of soul and left him low. The blameworthy Corinthians were the main cause of them. For it was for their sakes that he feared.
How far down did he go? One writer traces it, and names what God gave in return.
He had abandoned the open door for the gospel at Troas, and his heart had even gone so far as to regret that he had written his first inspired letter. His faith had sunk below the level of the power of God, which had moved him to write it. He arrived in Macedonia, still on his way to meet Titus. He kept telling people about Christ as he went, yet his flesh had no rest... God allowed the apostle to feel his weakness; but it is worth being afflicted, if God Himself becomes our comforter.
Why would God leave an apostle with no rest? One writer points to where strength is learned.
It is in difficulties that we learn this strength. So in small things the believer easily forgets that all our dependence is to be "strong in the Lord" — that is, God does not take us out of the place where we know we are weak... When difficulties come, the believer still cannot say, I am strong. They make us lean on Christ while we are in them, and the strength is always there — "strength made perfect in weakness."
The two halves of the verse can swap places. One writer says that is what tends to happen with us.
We may try to evade the trouble, but we do not succeed. If cowardice makes us shrink from conflict with the world, we get the trouble in our daily circumstances, or even inside the church of God... Today we have to say something similar. Only we so often have to reverse the second half. We have too many fears about the "without" to do much fighting, so we are too often caught up in fightings within the circle of God's people — it is, "without were fears, within were fightings." Either way the tribulation is ours.
- No rest. The story broken off at 2:13 starts again here. Paul left Troas with no rest in his spirit, and in Macedonia things got worse.
- Every side. Ephesus brought trouble outside. Troas brought trouble inside. Macedonia brought both at once — "fighting without and fear within."
- His flesh. Older translations read "our flesh," and the word points to his human weakness. The outward battles were familiar; the inward fears were for the Corinthians' sake.
- His weakness. God let an apostle sink this low, even to regretting an inspired letter. Difficulty is where we learn to lean on Christ instead of calling ourselves strong.
- His Comforter. Affliction is worth it if God Himself becomes the comforter. He is the encourager of the depressed.
But he who encourages those that are [brought] low, [even] God, encouraged us by the coming of Titus;
Paul reached Macedonia worn down, with trouble pressing on him from every side. This verse is where that pressure breaks, and the relief comes from God through a man walking through the door.
The verse turns on a contrast. Before it, Paul has no rest. After it, he overflows with joy. One writer follows that swing and points to the God who does not fail.
Sorrow closes the heart, joy opens it. Now the apostle's gladness of heart matched the depth of his pain over believers so dear in the Lord... He was full of heaviness and anxiety not only in Troas, but also in Macedonia. He had gone there hoping to hear the latest news from Titus. There he had yet more pressure of trouble till the good news came... But God does not fail. He is the encourager of the depressed as He resists the proud.
Here God takes a name from what He does for people in one condition. One writer sees it as one of several names He keeps in reserve, each for the moment it fits.
Are we indeed "cast down?" He can reveal Himself as "God who comforts those who are cast down." Are we in tribulation? He is able to come in as "the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort." Let us get down as low as we can before God. He always has some part of His own name in reserve to reveal and meet us.
Being low is the qualification, not the disqualification. One writer weighs the sorrow against what it brings.
"God who comforts those that are cast down." Ah, I say, it is worth being cast down for such comfort as that! … and think what it is to have God occupying Himself with us in our sorrows when we remember who He is.
The word "downcast" names a condition, and that condition is itself what draws God out.
Chapter 7 shows us, further, who is fit for this gracious ministry of comfort. It is, in one word, "those who are cast down"... Distress and sorrow, fear and depression, the burden of grief — all of it appeals to the heart of God for consolation and help. How often the Lord Jesus showed this in His life on earth!
God's answer to Paul was not a striking act that removed the trouble. It was a colleague arriving with news. One writer presses this as the ordinary pattern.
God took up two things to minister to the depressed heart of His servant: the visit of a brother, and the assurance he brought the apostle of the love of the believers at Corinth. We want to press this on the reader. When we are "bowed down," we very often look for some special and extraordinary display of comfort. Or we expect God to step in and remove our burdens in some striking way. But more often it is in a quiet way, as with the apostle, that He meets our need... if we welcome a visit from a believer as God's messenger, he may be the chosen instrument for our needed consolation.
Yet the source of Paul's joy was not Titus himself. Paul directs the Corinthians to Titus, and higher still, to God.
He would have them know that the source of his joy was the God of all comfort, who had used the coming of Titus to comfort him... So the Apostle would turn their thoughts and affections not only to himself, but also to Titus, who had spoken so well of them. Above all he would turn them to the source of all blessing — the God of all comfort.
One writer explains how much this word for comfort carries.
The word in the fourth verse, "the God of consolation," does not mean quieting comfort only. It means cheering and encouragement, so that the afflicted felt fresh force and bravery to go on.
Enjoying that comfort has a condition, and it concerns whose hand put us low.
Weeping may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning. To enjoy God's comfort as we should, we must first acknowledge His hand in our casting down. In all things true faith has to do with God, not only with the circumstances close at hand. Those circumstances make up the furnace in which faith is tried. Natural strength of character is worth nothing in the time of spiritual conflict.
- Low — being cast down does not shut you out of God's comfort. It is the very condition this name of His answers.
- Name — God keeps parts of His own character in reserve, revealing each one to meet the need it fits.
- Means — His usual method is quiet and ordinary: a visit, a conversation, good news brought by a friend.
- Source — thanks belong to Titus, but above all to the God of all comfort who sent him.
- Effect — this comfort does more than soothe; it puts fresh force and courage back so the afflicted can go on.
and not by his coming only, but also through the encouragement with which he was encouraged as to you; relating to us your ardent desire, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I the more rejoiced.
Paul had been under heavy strain. He found no rest in Troas, and in Macedonia there were fights outside and fears inside. Then Titus arrived with news from Corinth. This verse tells us the relief came in two layers: the friend himself, and then what the friend had to report.
The arrival alone would have lifted Paul. But the report multiplied his joy. The three things Titus described proved to him that the church at Corinth was healthy again.
Joy came to him in double measure. Paul had mourned alone, but now has company in his comfort. Titus was glad too. As a true child of grace, he shared the grateful and happy feelings stirred in the heart of his father in the faith. Paul had found that what he wrote with so many tears had been blessed by God even beyond his hope. To see Titus was a joy to him. But to hear from his own lips what had happened at Corinth filled his cup to overflowing. Three separate proofs convinced him that God's assembly there — most of it, at least — had truly been restored to spiritual health.
Notice the chain in the verse. The Corinthians comforted Titus, and Titus brought that comfort to Paul. Paul points them back along it — first to Titus, then past him.
He wanted them to know that the source of his joy was the God of all comfort. God had used the coming of Titus to comfort him. Titus reported their mourning over all that Paul had condemned among them. He also reported the fervent love they had shown to Paul. So the Apostle would turn their thoughts and affections not only to himself, but also to Titus, who had spoken so well of them. Above all, he would turn them to the source of all blessing — the God of all comfort.
The relief did not arrive by luck. The same God who worked repentance at Corinth sent the news that lifted Paul.
A striking feature of this chapter, from verse 5 onwards, is the way it traces all these events to the hand of God… Then at last, when things seemed at their lowest, Titus appeared with good news about the letter's effect. This was the mercy of God stepping in to comfort the downcast Apostle. It had also been the mercy of God producing a godly repentance in the hearts of the Corinthians… God had intervened, and this was the real basis and cause of Paul's comfort and joy.
The older translation reads "your fervent mind toward me." Behind it stands the word usually translated "zeal." The same word can also mean jealousy.
Paul speaks to the Corinthian believers of the "zeal" they had for him. He also speaks of the "zeal" they showed in clearing themselves from the evil among them (2 Cor. 7:7, 11). The older translation calls it a "fervent mind." Afterwards he says he was jealous over them with a godly jealousy (2 Cor. 11:2); but in 2 Cor. 12:20 he uses the same word for the "envyings" or "jealousies" he feared he might find among them.
Longing, mourning and zeal were not just warm feelings about an absent friend. Paul saw the Spirit's work behind them.
He saw the moral fruits of the Spirit's work — their desire, their tears, their zeal toward the apostle. So his heart turns back to them. By expressing his affection he binds up all the wounds his first letter may have made in their hearts.
Each of the three signs had pushed out something worse.
Once they were indifferent to what was due to Him whose name they bore. Now there is an eager and dutiful desire. Once they were puffed up while shameful things went on among them. Now there was mourning, the mourning that suits people who confess their moral and spiritual failure. Whisperers had poured cold suspicions into the minds of some of them, and had already pulled them away from Paul. In their place came the opposite and worthier feeling of zealous love.
The whole painful business drew out love on both sides. The quote below uses the older wording of verses 7 and 12.
Verse 7 mentions "your fervent mind toward me." Verse 12 mentions "our care for you in the sight of God." It was no small thing to put matters right between the one who did the injury and the one he injured. It was greater still to bring into display that love which is the fruit of the Divine nature in the saints.
- Source — God stands behind both ends of the story: repentance at Corinth, comfort in Macedonia.
- Gift — comfort came with a person. Seeing Titus was a joy; his report doubled it.
- Reach — comfort travels: Corinthians to Titus, Titus to Paul. Paul sends the thanks back up the chain to God.
- Evidence — longing, mourning and zeal are fruits of the Spirit's work, not just feeling. Each one replaced something worse.
- Result — the deepest gain was not the problem solved but love brought into the open on both sides.
For if also I grieved you in the letter, I do not regret [it], if even I have regretted it; for I see that that letter, if even [it were] only for a time, grieved you.
Paul had already sent one severe letter to Corinth, and this verse lets us watch him second-guess it. He admits the letter caused pain. He admits he wished for a time that he had not sent it. Yet he stands by it. How could a man writing by the Spirit ever wish his own words unwritten?
The phrase points back to a specific document, not just any note. One commentator insists the article matters, and blames translators for blurring it:
It is not "a" but the letter, clearly referring to the first epistle to the Corinthians. Did our translators wish to conceal this?
The startling thing is not the pain he caused, but the doubt he carried afterward:
His fear went so far that even the inspired letter he had written became a trial to him. The apostle had a question raised in his mind about his own inspired letter! Yet what writing was more certainly of God?... This teaches us plainly that, whatever God is working in a man, the inspiration of the vessel stands far above his own will. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit's action.
Commentators differ on how to explain the regret. Some treat it as a lapse produced by affection:
His heart was so filled with love that it clouded his spiritual discernment. For a moment he forgot the character of his letter. He was not the one responsible for what he had written; the Spirit of God was its author. The regret showed weakness at a time when no news reached him from Corinth and his loving heart was so burdened for the Corinthians.
Others read it as ordinary human dread of hurting people, not doubt about the message:
His wavering did not come from any lack of confidence in what his hand had written. He knew the words were only in a secondary sense his own (1 Corinthians 14:37). But he was a man with the same feelings as the people he wrote to. So he shrank from picturing the effect on them of the letter he had been led to write.
Between sending the letter and hearing the outcome, Paul suffered. His "I did regret it" points to real inner pain:
There was no recalling what was past. We love those we have ministered to in the church of God more deeply than others. A link is formed between their souls and ours that even the glory will not erase... He feared he had lost the beloved Corinthians. How will they receive his letter? Was it too hard, too severe? In deep exercise he regretted having written it. "I did regret it," he says, speaking of his tried heart's exercise... He could not rest at a great and prosperous work in Troas, but went in search of Titus, so that his soul might be relieved.
The verse shows a man pulled two ways at once — firm about what needed saying, tender about what it cost them to hear it:
Nothing is more touching than the conflict in his heart. Their earlier state had made it necessary for him to write with severity, and with a certain cold authority. Now that the letter had done its work, his affection dictated almost an apology for the grief he might have caused... What concern! What a heart for the good of the saints!
Paul no longer regrets the letter, because he can see what the pain produced:
This sorrow was only for a season; it was a sorrow according to God. Because it was godly sorrow, it produced repentance leading to salvation, which no one regrets, and it brought forth fruit worthy of repentance... How different is the sorrow of this world! We see it in the solemn case of Judas. His sorrow was not for a season but for eternity. It was not godly but merely human, and instead of producing repentance it led only to death.
- The letter. Paul means one definite letter — the first one he sent to Corinth, written with severity.
- The regret. For a time he wished he had not sent it, though God had inspired it. Commentators differ on the reason: human weakness, or a tender man dreading the pain he had to cause.
- The love. The regret came from love, not from doubt about what he wrote. He feared losing the people he had ministered to.
- The season. The grief the letter caused was brief; godly sorrow has a time limit, unlike the sorrow of the world seen in Judas.
- The harvest. Once the fruit appeared, the regret vanished. Brief grief had produced repentance that leads to salvation.