Friday | 29 May 2026
Like Jacob, Paul also found poverty of spirit as he confessed his own blindness, saying, ‘For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practise; but what I hate, that I do.’ Rom 7:15. He then explained that this was a place of wretchedness, declaring, ‘O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?’ Rom 7:24. Significantly, the place of wretchedness is the place of choice. It is the valley of the shadow of death; the valley of decision. Psa 23:4. Joe 3:14.
The answer to Paul’s query was, ‘I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!’ Rom 7:25. Under the lordship and kingship of Christ, Paul’s recovery to the right hand of Christ was the fulfilment of Jacob’s prophetic statement concerning Benjamin. We recall that as Rachel was dying, following the delivery of the child, she named him Ben‑Oni, meaning ‘son of my sorrow’. However, Jacob changed the boy’s name to Benjamin, meaning ‘son of my right hand’. Gen 35:18. Paul, of the tribe of Benjamin, was the expression of this prophetic destiny when he was established as an apostle in the right hand of Christ, and found deliverance from his infirmity in the fellowship of Christ’s weakness. 2Co 12:7‑10.
As we acknowledge our infirmity, we are delivered, each day, to choice. We can either continue to live by the other law, endeavouring to serve the Law of God with our mind, or we can set our mind on the Spirit. As we walk according to the Spirit, in the fellowship of Christ’s offering and sufferings, we are able to put to death the deeds of the flesh, and live by Christ’s life. This is the way that a son of God lives! Rom 8:13‑14. Our confession is, ‘“For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.’ Rom 8:36‑37.
Further Study:
Romans 8
References:
Rom 7:15
For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practise; but what I hate, that I do.
Rom 7:24-25
O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God — through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
Psa 23:4
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
Joe 3:14
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
Gen 35:18
And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin.
2Co 12:7-10
And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Rom 8:13-14
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
Rom 8:36-37
As it is written, ‘For your sake, we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.