Coast — 1 Chronicles 4:10

• 1Coast means a border and the land within it. The KJV word coast can suggest a seashore to modern ears, but here it means a boundary or territory. The Hebrew noun gebul names a border and, by extension, the land it encloses. Strong’s traditional word history connects it with a twisted cord; the meaning in this sentence is established by its use for territory. Jabez is asking for real enlargement, not merely a larger inner feeling. That literal setting gives our application its starting point: a larger field brings more to tend. Responsibility is a thoughtful application of the request, not a hidden dictionary definition that replaces the land.
• 2Bring the desire for more to the God of Israel. Jabez calls on the God of Israel. He does not announce that he can secure the blessing himself. The preceding verse calls him more honourable than his brothers and remembers the sorrow associated with his name. That brief introduction gives the prayer a personal setting without telling us every detail of his life. His desire for blessing belongs within dependence on the covenant God, rather than a technique for controlling outcomes. We may bring an honest desire for opportunity, provision, or fruitful work to God while leaving the size and shape of the answer in his hands.
• 3Keep the wider border together with God’s hand. The next request is that thine hand might be with me. Read it beside enlarge my coast, not as an optional sentence after the important part. Jabez wants God’s active help with the enlargement he seeks. The prayer does not describe the future territory, but it makes the desired companionship explicit. Our application follows that pairing: do not ask only for a larger role, a bigger project, or more influence. Ask for wisdom, help, and humility to carry what comes. Greater reach without dependence can exceed our ability to care well for the people and work entrusted to us.
• 4Ask for protection as well as expansion. Jabez also asks to be kept from evil so that it will not grieve him. The prayer remembers vulnerability as well as possibility; it does not assume that more territory makes life safe. The wording echoes the sorrow attached to his name in the previous verse. Applied today, growth should include concern for integrity, the people affected, and the harm we might suffer or cause. Israel’s boundary laws also protected a neighbour’s inheritance. Asking God to enlarge our own opportunities does not permit us to take what belongs to another. Prayer for more belongs with care for what is right.
• 5Receive the answer as a gift to steward. The account ends simply: God granted him that which he requested. It reports God’s answer to this prayer; it does not promise every reader the same acreage, income, or result for repeating its words. We can trust God with an honest request and respond faithfully to what he entrusts to us. Begin with the field already before you: one relationship, one responsibility, one chance to serve. Today’s song, “The Measuring Cord,” turns boundaries and fruitfulness into devotional imagery. Let its invitation to enlarged capacity lead to practical care, without turning the song’s imagined details into additional events in Jabez’s life.

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CARRY TODAY’S WORD WITH YOU“enlarge my coast” BORDER.

A wider border, under His hand.

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