Book Extract: Lifting up the Downcast by Patrick Sookhdeo
*The following is an excerpt from the book, Lifting up the Downcast, by Patrick Sookhdeo and is available for free on request from the mission organisation, Barnabas Fund.
“For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.” – Isaiah 49:13
“I, even I, am he who comforts you.” – Isaiah 51:12
The topics covered in the book include: Do not fear, for I am with you, Coping with anxiety; Trusting God in uncertain times; Death and our sure hope of heaven; True comfort; The joy of the Lord.
The longing for comfort has never been more urgent. Many in our world are living with pain and sorrow and uncertainty.
Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians is the letter in which, more than any other, he reveals his heart, his emotions, and above all his sufferings, and it begins with a most striking description of God. Paul speaks of God as “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3). Ultimately, it is God’s very nature to bring succour and help to His afflicted people. The short passage (v.3-7) resounds with repetition of the word “comfort” (ten times in the original Greek, nine times in most English translations) interwoven with words for suffering and affliction (seven times). Paul derives great comfort, strength and reassurance from knowing that God Himself is the source of all his comfort, albeit channelled to him through Christian brothers and sisters.
But what does “comfort” mean?
Some English words have changed their meaning dramatically. Today the word “comfort” has a “soft and fluffy” feel to it, but in the fourteenth century, when John Wycliffe was translating the Bible, it was a robust and powerful term. Most of its broad range of meanings have now disappeared, leaving little but the idea of soothing and consoling with sympathetic words. It has become a mundane, everyday word, with little substance.
In order to understand the word “comfort” in the Bible, we need to banish from our minds modern ideas such as quilts, warm scarves or baby’s dummies. We should not think of reassuring blankets, cosy armchairs or easy lifestyles. The “fort” part of the word “comfort” comes from the Latin fortis, which has two meanings (1) physical strength (2) courage and steadfastness. “Fortitude” is another English word that comes from fortis.
So the old meaning of “comforting” someone was to make them strong and brave to endure. Wycliffe even translated Ephesians 6:10 as “Be ye comforted in the Lord”, which to him meant “Be empowered in the Lord.” It was William Tyndale in the fifteenth century who first gave us “Be strong in the Lord.”
To help us better understand God’s Word to us, we can look carefully at the meanings of the Hebrew and Greek vocabulary used in the original Bible texts and later translated as “comfort”.
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Date published: 18/05/2022
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