Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that it not be to my sorrow! God granted him that which he requested.
We know very little about Jabez, except that he was more honorable than his brothers, and that he was called Jabez because his mother bore him with sorrow. It will sometimes happen that where there is the most sorrow in the experience, there will be the most pleasure in the outcome. Just as the angry storm gives way to the clear sunshine, so the night of weeping precedes the morning of joy. Sorrow is the messenger; gladness is the prince it ushers in. Cowper says: -
