What is the prayer of Jabez?

On the other hand, it is sweet and edifying to the soul to trace out the brief notices (which, if this were but a human book, would seem so out of place in the midst of long lists of names) of what divine grace had wrought in one and another as they trod their oftentimes lowly ways, with faith in exercise and the conscience active. Of this character is the lovely passage as to Jabez, who was more honorable than his brethren because he set the Lord before him. His prayer, "Oh that Thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that Thy hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!" tells of the longings of his soul; and we do not wonder when we read that "God granted him that which he requested" (1 Chron. 4:9-10). The sons of Reuben, too, with their allies who overcame the Hagarites when "they cried to God in the battle, and He was entreated of them, because they put their trust in Him," are cited as another instance of the power of faith (chap. 5:18-20). Nor does God forget Zelophehad, the man who had no sons to inherit after him, but who claimed a portion for his daughters, and learned that the strength of the Lord is made perfect in weakness (chap. 7:15).

But that which has been preserved here of the genealogies of the people — an affecting remnant (through grace) of those who had fallen under the sorrowful condemnation of "Lo-ruhamah" and "Lo-ammi" — reveals to us another circumstance, namely, that, wherever there has been faith, God has blessed His people individually. Jabez (1 Chron. 4:9-10), the son of affliction, seeking blessing in the presence of the God of Israel, failed not to find it. Jehovah enlarged his borders, and so kept him from evil that it grieved him not. Simeon, although dispersed in Israel, was able to drive out the enemy and possess their land, even unto mount Seir. The two tribes and a half beyond Jordan enlarged their territories also, and possessed the gates of their enemies, "because they cried unto God." Afterwards they were carried away captives, because they forsook God. Thus, although there was neither the power of the king nor the order of the kingdom, yet, wherever there was faith, God blessed those of His people who trusted in Him.

There is honourable mention made of one man for his piety. Jabez is named, not because he had possessions, but in that he prayed. "And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, O that Thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that Thine hand might be with me and that Thou wouldst keep me from evil that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested" (4:9, etc.) His prayer was in keeping with God.* promises and Israel's relationships. This is the character of acceptable prayer, and the action of true faith which rests and builds upon the revealed word of God. Earthly prosperity was the unerring mark of God's favour to an Israelite. So witnessed the Psalmist. "I have been young and now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread" (Ps. 37:25). It is not so now. The Lord Jesus Himself was here as a poor and dependent man. He had no possessions in this world. Certain women ministered to Him of their substance (Luke 8:2-3). And the word for us who now believe is, "having food and raiment, let us be content therewith" (1 Tim. 6:8). The Christian's thought, even when having possessions here, if true to his heavenly calling, is, that he is only a pilgrim, a sojourner here below, and looks not at earthly possessions great or small. There are earthly wants to be supplied, and our heavenly Father knoweth that we have need of these things (Matt. 6:22). The foundation of faith is the same now as then — the word of God. If the word promised every earthly good, contingent upon their obedience, the same word gives us the assurance of heavenly blessing through Him Who has secured them by His death. The pathway to glory may be through poverty, reproach, and much tribulation; but the heavenly inheritance, reserved in heaven for us, is beyond the reach of thieves, or the touch of moth and rust.

Among the list of names in the early chapters of this book of the Chronicles — each of which we are apt to forget, represents a person with experiences as real as our own — that of Jabez stands out in bold relief on account of his prayer, to which God returned so full and explicit an answer. One is tempted to wonder whether Jabez wrote this prayer down; or if it so impressed others that they kept a record of it; until, when this book of the Chronicles was being compiled the Holy Spirit led the compilers to insert this fragment of Jabez' history into the inspired word, for the perpetual comfort and education of the people of God. The three outstanding facts of the story are (1) The God of Israel — the unfailing resource of every true Israelite, whatever the sense of limitation, of weakness, or of the power of evil, (2) An exercised human heart with its struggles, wants, sorrows, cares, hopes and fears waiting upon the God of Israel, and (3) A prayer made and fully answered.

Our chapter, which is concerned with the genealogies of the tribes of Judah and Simeon, bring before us some who had been well-known in Israel, such as Caleb, who brought back a good report from the land, and who along with Joshua was allowed of God to enter the promised land. Others, like Jabez, have no Scriptural mention outside this book, but their names have been put in the divine record to teach us what God values in His saints, and what should engage us as the people of God.

Jabez' mother had borne him with sorrow and had named him Jabez: “Sorrow.” She had herself experienced the consequences of sin. She acknowledged the curse that was its consequence for man, God's righteous sentence pronounced upon the woman whom the serpent had beguiled, for God had said: “I will greatly increase thy travail and thy pregnancy; with pain thou shalt bear children” (Gen. 3:16). Jabez' mother accepted this sentence by faith. So little did she seek to escape from it, that she passed it on to her son by having him bear the name “Sorrow.” On man's side all hope of happiness was lost through the fall and sorrow was his fatal portion.

Jabez began with this conviction; therefore he was “more honourable than his brethren.” Then he “called on the God of Israel,” knowing that he could only depend on the Lord to be delivered from the curse of sin. He knew, moreover, that this deliverance could be so absolute that he, Jabez, would be able to be without sorrow!

The very first words concerning Jabez are, "And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren," and the Spirit of God leaves us in no doubt as to the reason for this divine commendation. His name means "sorrowful," or "causing pain," so that the reason for his being more honourable than his brethren was not connected with what he was in a natural way. He was more honourable than his brethren because of his dealings with God.

"Jabez was more honourable than his brethren." Is this an intimation that his brethren had forgotten that God was the Giver of their good things? Here they are not said to pray, and they have no such answer. God grants him (Jabez) that which he requested. Among that rebellious and stiff-necked people there were men of faith, and Jabez was one.

Then we find at the time of David's flight from Saul that Ahimelech the priest fed David and his followers, and the priest spoke up on David's behalf, and said to Saul, "And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house?" (1 Sam.22:14). It seems to me that in David faithfulness was a mark that showed that he was honourable. David was faithful to Saul, Saul could not point a finger at him as to any misdemeanour in his life, any failure in responsibility, he had always done all that was required of him, it was Saul's enmity and envy that had chased him from the court. So David's friend spoke up for him and said, 'He is a faithful man'. Yes, that is what it means to be honourable, to be faithful to God, to be faithful to the saints in relation to the truth, to be faithful to what you know.

Jabez' mother had borne him with sorrow and had named him Jabez: "Sorrow." She had herself experienced the consequences of sin. She acknowledged the curse that was its consequence for man, God's righteous sentence pronounced upon the woman whom the serpent had beguiled, for God had said: "I will greatly increase thy travail and thy pregnancy; with pain thou shalt bear children" (Gen. 3: 16). Jabez' mother accepted this sentence by faith. So little did she seek to escape from it, that she passed it on to her son by having him bear the name "Sorrow." On man's side all hope of happiness was lost through the fall and sorrow was his fatal portion.

Jabez began with this conviction; therefore he was "more honorable than his brethren." Then he "called on the God of Israel," knowing that he could only depend on the Lord to be delivered from the curse of sin. He knew, moreover, that this deliverance could be so absolute that he, Jabez, would be able to be without sorrow!

v.10Jabez addresses four requests to God; if God grants them, they will become the proof of his complete deliverance.

This is the first request: “Oh that Thou wouldest richly bless me … ” God had cursed man and the earth from which he had been taken (Gen. 3:17). He alone could annul this sentence and replace it with blessing, the first proof of the end of sorrow. He alone could change circumstances in such a way that the sinner, banished from His presence, might be brought to Him to enjoy His grace and unconditional promises. “I will bless thee”, the Lord had said to Abraham. When all is in ruin Jabez' faith goes back to the counsels of grace and to the promises of God. Is not his history, related only in this book, well-suited to the general character of Chronicles? “And God brought about what he had requested.” In our case likewise, God has abolished through Christ's sacrifice all the consequences of sin, so that we might be blessed in Him with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies.

His second request is this: “ … and enlarge my coast.” Here and there these genealogies highlight various individuals whose borders God extended in the promised land at a time when the mass of the people had failed to conquer their inheritance completely. Jair has already given evidence of this in 1 Chronicles 2. The names of Caleb, Achsah, and Othniel are likewise examples of this individual energy of faith, which finds its borders enlarged as it relies upon God. So it is with us: our spiritual borders expand in the heavenly sphere while we are upon earth. In order to attain to this we must recognize our irremediable ruin and the incapacity we have demonstrated to extend our borders ourselves, and must manifest humble dependence which relies upon the grace of God alone in order to possess them.

Third, Jabez says: “ … and that Thy hand might be with me.” He does not rely on his natural energy to enlarge his borders, but rather on the power of God. This is all the more striking since he came from a family noted for its energy.

Fourth and finally he says: “ … and that thou wouldest keep me from evil.” The evil that introduced sorrow into this world has not disappeared; it is ever present. Jabez knows this well, for he does not ask that it be removed, but he desires to be kept from the evil whose existence he sees. Here again, he recognizes that it is not his will, but the power of God alone that is able to keep him.

Absolute confidence in God's grace and power is the only way of obtaining these things. Jabez obtains them. How could sorrow still subsist in the heart of this man of God when all his requests had been granted? No doubt, sorrow has not disappeared from the earth any more than has the evil which caused it, but Jabez' heart, full of those excellent things which had been granted him, had no room for it.

Jabez prayed to a God who was well known, a God who had done the most wonderful things for His people, taking them out of the hands of a powerful enemy in Egypt, Pharaoh with all his might, providing for them day by day for forty years in the wilderness, the manna never ceasing, food and water supplied for them, their shoes and clothing never wearing, their enemies defeated, the care of God was displayed at every step of the way, and then He took them over the Jordan and put them into the land flowing with milk and honey. What a God He proved to be!

A man who possessed this knowledge in his soul, in his heart, rather than in his head, knowing not so much a collection of historical facts, great though they were, but being a man who had the knowledge of God in his soul, he was going to pray with tremendous energy. It was a known God that he called upon, a God who was possessed with illimitable power, with tremendous wisdom, grace, kindness and care; that was the kind of God that Jabez called upon. I am sure that God heard that prayer sympathetically. 'Here is one person', God said, 'who knows Me, who is calling upon Me, who knows that I can do what he is asking and so he is asking Me in this simple way'. He called upon the God of Israel.

The second request made by Jabez was in relation to his inheritance; he desired that God would enlarge his border. This showed that he not only wished for God's blessing, but also that he prized the inheritance that God had given to His people. From the last chapter of Numbers we learn that the daughters of Zelophehad, and the sons of Joseph valued the inheritance that God had given to His earthly people; and should we not highly esteem the heavenly inheritance that God has given to us?

This is where the prayer of Jabez comes in, that not only do we know that these things are available for us, but we acquire them and we hold on to them and we enjoy them. "Oh, that thou wouldest bless me indeed!", I would that that was our prayer continually all the time, desiring to receive blessing from God. Why? Just for our own personal aggrandisement? No, firstly for our encouragement and strengthening so that we can then be of help to others, because if we have blessing in our souls it will be bound to flow out to others; see for example the well of water that springs up unto eternal life and the well of water that flows out in blessing to others (John 4 and 7). This is always the way. The love and the life that came down from God and met us in our need flows out towards man in blessing. That is the kind of blessing that we desire in the power of the Spirit, to consequently be made available for others.

Jabez desired the enlargement of his coast. Again, this is connected with the book of Joshua because that was the time of taking possession, that was the time of enlargement. It was one thing to enter into the land, it was another thing to possess it. God told Joshua to take courage (1:6,7,9) and to go in and to possess the land, and that "every place that the sole of your feet tread upon, that have I given unto you" (1:3). It was their land, God had given it to them, but enemies had to be overcome and destroyed, and then the land would be theirs to enjoy for themselves - but there was something behind that, they were to tithe, there was to be a return for God. The first fruits were to be offered to God in response to Him. So you see in the possession of the land God was not only thinking on the blessing of Israel, although that was true, He was also thinking of a return from them for Himself, a return that indicated they had really possessed the land and were glad. So we find in Deuteronomy 26 the man comes with his basket of first fruits and he is a worshipper, bowing before God with the evidence in his basket that he had possessed, had tilled and had obtained the fruits of the land and he acknowledged that God was the Given of it all and he returned it to Him in response. This is what Jabez was asking for, 'Enlarge my coasts, increase my dominions, fill me with Thy blessing', and I am perfectly sure after that was acquired then there was a response to God.