91 And Saul, yet breathing of threatening and slaughter to the disciples of the Lord, having gone to the chief priest, 2 did ask from him letters to Damascus, unto the synagogues, that if he may find any being of the way, both men and women, he may bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 And in the going, he came nigh to Damascus, and suddenly there shone round about him a light from the heaven, 4 and having fallen upon the earth, he heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why me dost thou persecute?' 5 And he said, 'Who art thou, Lord?' and the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom thou dost persecute; hard for thee at the pricks to kick;' 6 trembling also, and astonished, he said, 'Lord, what dost thou wish me to do?' and the Lord 'said' unto him, 'Arise, and enter into the city, and it shall be told thee what it behoveth thee to do.' 7 And the men who are journeying with him stood speechless, hearing indeed the voice but seeing no one, 8 and Saul arose from the earth, and his eyes having been opened, he beheld no one, and leading him by the hand they brought him to Damascus, 9 and he was three days without seeing, and he did neither eat nor drink.
10 And there was a certain disciple in Damascus, by name Ananias, and the Lord said unto him in a vision, 'Ananias;' and he said, 'Behold me, Lord;' 11 and the Lord 'saith' unto him, 'Having risen, go on unto the street that is called Straight, and seek in the house of Judas, 'one' by name Saul of Tarsus, for, lo, he doth pray, 12 and he saw in a vision a man, by name Ananias, coming in, and putting a hand on him, that he may see again.' 13 And Ananias answered, 'Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how many evils he did to Thy saints in Jerusalem, 14 and here he hath authority from the chief priests, to bind all those calling on Thy name.' 15 And the Lord said unto him, 'Be going on, because a choice vessel to Me is this one, to bear My name before nations and kings—the sons also of Israel; 16 for I will shew him how many things it behoveth him for My name to suffer.' 17 And Ananias went away, and did enter into the house, and having put upon him 'his' hands, said, 'Saul, brother, the Lord hath sent me—Jesus who did appear to thee in the way in which thou wast coming—that thou mayest see again, and mayest be filled with the Holy Spirit.' 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it were scales, he saw again also presently, and having risen, was baptized, 19 and having received nourishment, was strengthened, and Saul was with the disciples in Damascus certain days,
20 and immediately in the synagogues he was preaching the Christ, that he is the Son of God. 21 And all those hearing were amazed, and said, 'Is not this he who laid waist in Jerusalem those calling on this name, and hither to this intent had come, that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Acts 9:1-21
Commentary on Acts 9:1-9
(Read Acts 9:1-9)
So ill informed was Saul, that he thought he ought to do all he could against the name of Christ, and that he did God service thereby; he seemed to breathe in this as in his element. Let us not despair of renewing grace for the conversion of the greatest sinners, nor let such despair of the pardoning mercy of God for the greatest sin. It is a signal token of Divine favour, if God, by the inward working of his grace, or the outward events of his providence, stops us from prosecuting or executing sinful purposes. Saul saw that Just One, 14; 26:13. How near to us is the unseen world! It is but for God to draw aside the veil, and objects are presented to the view, compared with which, whatever is most admired on earth is mean and contemptible. Saul submitted without reserve, desirous to know what the Lord Jesus would have him to do. Christ's discoveries of himself to poor souls are humbling; they lay them very low, in mean thoughts of themselves. For three days Saul took no food, and it pleased God to leave him for that time without relief. His sins were now set in order before him; he was in the dark concerning his own spiritual state, and wounded in spirit for sin. When a sinner is brought to a proper sense of his own state and conduct, he will cast himself wholly on the mercy of the Saviour, asking what he would have him to do. God will direct the humbled sinner, and though he does not often bring transgressors to joy and peace in believing, without sorrows and distress of conscience, under which the soul is deeply engaged as to eternal things, yet happy are those who sow in tears, for they shall reap in joy.
Commentary on Acts 9:10-22
(Read Acts 9:10-22)
A good work was begun in Saul, when he was brought to Christ's feet with those words, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And never did Christ leave any who were brought to that. Behold, the proud Pharisee, the unmerciful oppressor, the daring blasphemer, prayeth! And thus it is even now, and with the proud infidel, or the abandoned sinner. What happy tidings are these to all who understand the nature and power of prayer, of such prayer as the humbled sinner presents for the blessings of free salvation! Now he began to pray after another manner than he had done; before, he said his prayers, now, he prayed them. Regenerating grace sets people on praying; you may as well find a living man without breath, as a living Christian without prayer. Yet even eminent disciples, like Ananias, sometimes stagger at the commands of the Lord. But it is the Lord's glory to surpass our scanty expectations, and show that those are vessels of his mercy whom we are apt to consider as objects of his vengeance. The teaching of the Holy Spirit takes away the scales of ignorance and pride from the understanding; then the sinner becomes a new creature, and endeavours to recommend the anointed Saviour, the Son of God, to his former companions.