(8) For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: (9) But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: (10) Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us; (11) Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.
The imagination can hardly conceive, to what distresses, and exercises, the first Preachers of the Gospel were exposed in those times of the Apostles. Paul hath given some account of it, in a future Chapter (2 Corinthians 11:23). But, what I particularly beg the Reader to remark, is the blessed view the Apostle had upon the occasion, when he saith, that he and his companions had the sentence of death in themselves, that their sole confidence might be in the Lord. He doth not mean God's sentence of death, or the sentence of any court of judicature. But their own views of death were such at the time, that they had death so full in prospect, that there seemed, speaking after the manner of men, as if there was no way to escape.
And, how graciously the Apostle ascribes their deliverance to the Lord. And how confidently, in past experience, doth he speak of the sure expectation of future deliverances. He counts the past, and the present, as pledges of all to come. The Lord hath delivered: he doth deliver; and he will deliver. Reader! it is very blessed, when faith, from past proofs of God's faithfulness, finds strength for all future emergencies. Hath God in Christ been faithful to every generation of his people, and shall he not prove so to me? Shall he cease to be Jehovah now? Nay, have I not proved his Covenant-love, and truth, all the way along, to the present hour; and shall I, towards the close of my warfare, begin to question it? Oh! how blessed it is, when a child of God can so live by faith, and cleave to Jesus, when all comforts in flesh and blood, seem to be sinking under the feet.
The Apostle while looking solely to the Lord, doth not despise, but rather invite, the prayer of faithful men. He knew that the Lord had commanded the Church to seek, by prayer the mercies they needed. Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them, Ezekiel 36:37.