David Brainerd (April 20, 1718—Oct. 9, 1747)

David Brainerd, missionary to Native Americans in New England, died 260 years ago today. It is widely believed today that Brainerd suffered from tuberculosis, which was at that time called consumption. Though he died young (age 29) and was a missionary for only the last four years of his life, Brainerd wields an influence that extends far beyond his short life.

David Brainerd was born in Haddam, Connecticut. Orphaned at 14, young Brainerd was more given to soul-searching and performing religious duties than to frolicking with friends. He came at times under conviction of sin and hoped that he was converted, but he didn’t have assurance. After years of struggling to obey God’s law and failing, at age 21 Brainerd’s eyes were opened and God brought him to a saving understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He saw Christ’s sacrifice of Himself as the propitiation for all his sins. All he had to do was believe, and God granted him the faith. The lessons Brainerd learned about his own wicked, deceitful heart during the years of conviction would come into play in his ministry with people who had never heard the Gospel and had never considered themselves sinners.

Brainerd entered Yale to prepare for the ministry, but he was expelled during his junior year. A student overheard him say to a friend that a certain tutor at the school had “no more grace than this chair.” That was all it took, and Brainerd’s hopes for a pastorate were dashed. A law in Connecticut required that all pastors be trained at Harvard, Yale, or a European divinity school. Brainerd testified in his journal that it would be hard seeing his friends receive their degrees when he wasn’t allowed to finish. But the Lord subdued his spirit, and he was content with his situation.

Brainerd still wanted to serve God and continued his preparation for the ministry. He received a license to preach in 1742 and soon afterward, under the auspices of the Scottish Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, became a missionary to Native Americans. Traveling on horseback, and sometimes on foot, he ministered to tribes in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. During this time Brainerd was not a well man. He already had the tuberculosis that would eventually claim his life, and being exposed to the elements so often hastened his death.

At first he had little results from his ministry to comfort him. Adversity would reveal things in his heart that repulsed him, and he longed for more holiness and more of the sense of God’s smile on him. Sometimes he was favored with a greater sense of God’s presence, giving him much cause for rejoicing.

After a while he began noticing what he could describe only as a moving of the Spirit among the Indians. Many were becoming concerned for their souls, having been shown the heart-wickedness they were never aware of before. Brainerd had been preaching the doctrines of grace, beginning with the need for salvation: our great and incurable sin before a holy God. The people finally became convinced that they could do nothing to please God or appease His wrath, and the Lord opened their eyes the way He had done with Brainerd years earlier. Looking back on nearly a year of success, Brainerd could only give glory to God for the change wrought in people who, only nine months earlier, had been worshiping false gods and living savage, immoral lives.

David Brainerd was enabled to establish a congregation and a school among the Indians and secured the services of his brother John to oversee the congregation. But his failing health caused him to decide to take a trip in hopes of improving his condition. He visited his congregation once more, but he was never to minister among them again. Brainerd eventually traveled to Northampton, Massachusetts to see Jonathan Edwards, who had preached at Yale when Brainerd was a student. Edwards took in the ailing young preacher, and his daughter Jerusha acted as Brainerd’s nurse until he died.

During his last few months Brainerd sometimes became distressed that he was no longer able to participate in the work of preaching and ministering in the community. Once again he felt the coldness of his own heart and wished for more of God’s presence. He also wished that God would take him and relieve his suffering through death. In those days there was no real treatment for what was bringing Brainerd down, nor was pain medication available.

However, Brainerd learned some spiritual lessons through his illness, things he already believed but that seemed to crystallize under this final adversity. Sometimes we don’t thoroughly believe what we believe until that belief is put to the test. In one journal entry he says, “Towards noon, I saw that the grace of God in Christ is infinitely free towards sinners and such sinners as I was. I also saw that God is the supreme good, that in His presence is life. I began to long to die that I might be with Him in a state of freedom from all sin.” Less than three weeks before his death another spiritual struggle compounded the physical pain he felt. His mind registered an accusation: “you are filthy, not fit for heaven.” Brainerd continues, “Hereupon instantly appeared the blessed robes of Christ’s righteousness which I could not but exult and triumph in.” Brainerd saw that Christ’s grace is all-sufficient; sufficient to lead him from sin to salvation, sufficient to lead him from trial to trial, sufficient to lead him from earth to heaven.

Jonathan Edwards testified that it was his privilege to host this dying saint and to observe his faith. Edwards was so impressed that he edited Brainerd’s diary for publication. I have heard that this book has never been out of print and is a missionary classic that influenced Henry Martyn and William Carey.

Why is a man who ministered a short time in obscurity and died young so influential 260 years later? It is because of the spirituality revealed in his diary. Here is a man learning to be content. Redirected by God through expulsion from college, serving in the wilderness under hard conditions instead of a comfortable pastorate, enduring bad health and seeming lack of success; in all these things David Brainerd learned to submit to God in all of His dealings with His servant. Through it all he learned to delight in God. Brainerd desired two things: to be like God and to be with God. On October 9, 1747 God gave him his desire.

The Life and Diary of David Brainerd is still available. My copy is a paperback from Baker Book House, 1995. It is included in the two-volume Works of Jonathan Edwards by Banner of Truth. It is also available as an audio book.

In addition to the diary I found a good lecture on Brainerd which is available as an mp3 download.

Feel free to inform us of any biographies or other resources on Brainerd.

David Brainerd (April 20, 1718—Oct. 9, 1747)