Edward Payson

Edward Payson was born on July 25, 1783, in Rindge, New Hampshire. His father was a minister, and the family was devout. He was a thoughtful child with a quick mind and a tender conscience. He studied at Harvard College, where he graduated in 1803. He then spent some time teaching school and studying theology. His spiritual life in those early years was troubled. He was intellectually gifted but had a dry faith, and he struggled with doubt and a sense of emptiness.

In 1807 he was called to be pastor of the Second Congregational Church in Portland, Maine. He was twenty-four years old and began a ministry that would last twenty years. He took on a heavy load of preaching, visiting and study. He was known for his deep seriousness and for the way he gave his whole self to the work. He prayed for hours each day, and he often locked himself in his study to wrestle in prayer. He said that the sermon that is prayed over is the sermon that is likely to be blessed.

Under his ministry, Portland saw several revivals. In 1815 and again in 1822 and 1826, there were awakenings in his congregation, and hundreds were added to the church. He preached with clear thought and tender feeling and had a gift for describing the inner life of the soul. His sermons were direct. He spoke of the sinfulness of sin and the love of Christ, and many of his hearers were brought to tears. He knew how to speak to the heart.

His health, however, was always poor. He suffered from headaches, from stomach trouble and from a weakness of the nerves. In his later years, he was afflicted with severe pain, the exact nature of which has been debated. He seems to have suffered from a long illness that wasted his body. He was often in great agony, and he spent months bedridden. He was also prone to depression, and he fought against it through prayer and Scripture.

He married Ann Louisa Shipman in 1811, and they had several children. His eldest daughter, Elizabeth, grew up to be the author of the well-known novel Stepping Heavenward. His family life was warm, but it was also marked by the shadows of his illness. He was a loving father who longed to see his children follow Christ.

In his last months, he lay in bed unable to move. Yet his faith burned brighter than ever. He dictated letters to friends, speaking of the joy that he found in suffering. In one letter, he said that he was walking through the valley of the shadow of death and that it was as bright as the gate of heaven. He told those who visited that he was floating in a sea of glory, with nothing to do but to lie still and rejoice. His testimony was recorded and published after his death, and it moved many.

He died on October 22, 1827, at the age of forty-four. A memoir of his life was published and became a classic. His life shows that a person who spends his strength in prayer may be sustained when his body fails. He was weak in body and strong in faith.