Sarah Edwards: Delighting in God

Sharon James

The glory of God seemed to be all, and in all, and to swallow up every wish and desire of my heart . . . my soul was filled and overwhelmed with light and love and joy.

This was the testimony of Sarah Edwards, wife of the great American preacher Jonathan Edwards, as recounted after an intense experience of the reality of God’s love during a time of revival in 1742.  

Born in New Haven, New England in 1710, Sarah had experienced God’s grace as a little girl. By the time she was thirteen, she knew she was loved by the Creator God, and she feared offending him more than anything else. She loved to sing praise to God and was always full of joy, sometimes unspeakable joy. Aged just sixteen, Sarah confided in her diary that she “was led to prize nearness to Christ as the creature’s greatest happiness. My soul thirsted for him, so that death seemed nothing to me.” 

In 1727, she married Jonathan (1703-1758), who was then assistant minister to his grandfather, Solomon Stoddard, at the Congregational Church at Northampton. When Stoddard died in 1729, Jonathan took over as minister. Six years later, Jonathan was seeing thirty conversions a week. Three hundred people professed conversion during a six-month period, the first revival of his ministry. Jonathan later recalled:

Our public assemblies were then beautiful; the congregation was alive in God’s service, everyone was earnestly intent on the public worship, every hearer eager to drink in the words of the minister . . . our public praises were then greatly enlivened.   

Northampton was not the only town affected. Congregationalist and Presbyterian churches across New England saw dramatic increases in membership. Nominal church attendees were gripped with conviction of sin, and then wonderfully assured of their personal salvation. When the English revival preacher George Whitefield visited New England in 1740, extraordinary scenes of spiritual revival accompanied his preaching. 

This all led to bitter division among the ministers of New England. Around a third of them believed that human emotion and mass hysteria were the main driving force. Jonathan Edwards was realistic enough to understand this reaction. He agreed that a dramatic conversion experience meant nothing unless it resulted in obedience. Revival could overflow into fanaticism. And yet, the presence of the false did not negate the presence of the true. He was convinced that one of the most significant means God uses in church history to advance the cause of Christ had been, and would be, the sending of revivals.

And so, Jonathan Edwards published a treatise defending genuine revival. In it, he cited a number of testimonies, including that of his wife Sarah. 

For just over three weeks, from 19 January to 11 February 1742, Sarah experienced a deeper awareness of the presence of God than anything she had known before. She was overwhelmed by a sense of her own sin before God, and by an intense desire for holiness. She was powerfully impressed with the need to surrender every aspect of her life to God’s will. She was filled with love for all God’s people and gripped with concern for those as yet unconverted. Her intense awareness of God’s love for her, and her reciprocal love for God, was emotionally and physically crushing. She was filled with a passion for God’s glory and longed that everyone in the world should praise him, for that is his due. 

Jonathan wrote down Sarah’s exact account of what had happened, and included it, (without revealing her identity), in his book Some Thoughts Concerning the Present Revival of Religion in New England.

He was uniquely placed to witness whether this was just a transient emotional experience. But Sarah’s extraordinary awareness of the presence and glory of God was not just a passing phase. 

During subsequent years, as the family endured slander, war, uncertainty, bereavement, poverty, and fear, Sarah faced each fresh trial with serenity and peace. She had given birth to her first baby at age 18 and had ten more children by the age of 40. At some points, her own life was in danger. Amid all the challenges of family life, she was able to surrender to God the choice of life or death, comfort or pain, for herself and her loved ones. She was able to “rejoice in sufferings” (Romans 5:3).

Sarah’s enduring delight in God was based on her conviction that God is sovereign in history. She trusted his wisdom and goodness and was confident that nothing happens outside his control. Rather than being over-absorbed with her own concerns, she took comfort in the wider perspective. God’s supreme goal is the glory of his Son, and Christ seeks the glory of his Father (1 Corinthians 15:24). The ultimate success of that goal has been secured at the Cross. The last enemy, death, has already been defeated (1 Corinthians 15:25-6). 

And so, when Sarah’s beloved husband unexpectedly died in 1758, she was able to respond with towering faith: 

The Lord has done it. He has made me adore his goodness, that we had him (her husband), so long. But my God lives, and he has my heart.  

And when, shortly afterwards, she faced death herself, she was calm. She knew that nothing, not even death, can separate the believer from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8: 38-9).

Sarah Edwards: Delighting in God gives an outline of Sarah’s life and includes her own, full description of her revival experience. I hope that this book will encourage readers to pray for a deeper personal knowledge of the love of God (Ephesians 3:17-19), as well as to pray and work for the advance of God’s kingdom in our own day (2 Thessalonians 3:1).

Blessed be His glorious name forever; May the whole earth be filled with His glory (Psalm 72:19)

Sharon James

Sharon James has degrees in History (Cambridge University) and Theology (M.Div., Toronto Baptist Seminary), and a doctorate from the University of Wales. She is married to Bill, who is Principal of London Seminary. They have two grown up children and six grandchildren. Sharon has written several books, including 'Elizabeth Prentiss: More Love to Thee' (Banner of Truth) and 'God’s Design for Women in an Age of Gender Confusion' (Christian Focus).