2 Corinthians 7:6–7

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.

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.

"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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.