Charles Spurgeon Commentary Genesis 32:20-24

"and ye shall say, Moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept me. So the present passed over before him: and he himself lodged that night in the company. And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two handmaids, and his eleven children, and passed over the ford of the Jabbok. And he took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had. And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day." — Genesis 32:20-24 (ASV)

And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us.

For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me. So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company. And he rose up that night, and took his two womenservants, and his two women servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had. And Jacob was left alone;

This was a very anxious time for him; the heaviest trial of his life seemed impending. He was dreading it more than he needed to, for God never meant the trouble he feared to come upon him at all.

He was trembling under a dark cloud that was to pass over his head without bursting. No tempest of wrath was to break out of it upon him.

However, we must admire Jacob in this one respect, that with all his thought, and care, and planning, and plotting, he did not neglect prayer. He felt that nothing he could do would be effective without God's blessing.

He had not reached the highest point of faith, though he had gone in the right direction a great deal further than many Christians. He now resolved to have a night of prayer, that he might win deliverance: Jacob was left alone;