5 And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: 6 He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do. (Acts 10:5-6 KJV)
William Burkitt’s Commentary
Observe here, 1. That although God sent an angel to Cornelius, to acquaint him with his will; yet the angel was to direct him to the apostle, who was to instruct him in the faith. This, no doubt, God did, to put honour upon the ministers and ministry of the gospel; as also to let us understand and know, that we are not to expect extraordinary ways of teaching, when God affords us the use of ordinary means. Send to Joppa, and call for Peter, he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.
Observe, 2. What an exact knowledge Almighty God has of particular persons, and particular places; he tells Cornelius, by the angel, in what town Peter was, in Joppa; in whose house he lodged, in Simon the tanner’s; in what part of the town the house stood, by the sea-side.
It is matter of consolation, yea, of great consolation to the people of God, to know and remember that God knows them; He knows their persons, their purposes, their performances, their places of abode; he knows who they are, what they do, and where they dwell. So dear are the holy servants of God unto him, that he loves the very street in which they lodge, the house in which they dwell, the walls of their habitation are continually before him, and he delights perpetually to look upon them:
Oh let holiness to the Lord be writ in legible characters upon the walls of our houses! Zec 14:20. Then will God dwell where we dwell, and the beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him.