Puritan of the Week: Matthew Henry (1662-1714)

Matthew Henry is most well known for his helpful commentary on the whole Bible. This work has been broadly accepted and useful because of its comprehensiveness and its devotional nature. In the book, Meet the Puritans, Henry was described as “a frail child, yet spiritually robust”. This is a marvelous description of anyone. When physical looks and strength are so focused upon, the true measure of our life is our spiritual fitness, and here is one who has influenced centuries now because of his focus upon the spiritual. It was said that Henry stressed the following simple message to his friends and family:

A life spent in the service of God, and communion with him, is the most comfortable life anyone can live in this world.

Matthew Henry’s life was not without it’s own share of trials. His first wife died during childbirth at the age of 25. He also had three daughters die in infancy. He grew up at a time in England where unless you wanted to conform to the Church of England, one could not enter into the profession of being a pastor. So, Henry entered the legal profession, but was constantly preaching and continuing theological studies on the side. However, he was privately ordained at 25, and entered the ministry full time at Chester where he pastored twenty five years. He was then called to a prominent congregation just outside of London, but died to injuries due to falling of a horse just 2 years later.