Grief is often expressed with tears, but not always. Silence. Depression. Anger. Resolve. Inaction. All are very real responses in our grieving, but are we ever grieved as followers of Christ by disregard for God and His Word? Do we mourn the fate of the lost? Do I remember being separated from God by my own sin? Am I prompted to pray passionately, or by my inaction, am I resigning the lost to their fate?
“Rivers of tears gush from my eyes because people disobey your instructions.”
Psalms 119:136 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.119.136.NLT
“O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!
Get out of my life, you murderers!
They blaspheme you; your enemies misuse your name.
O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?
Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?
Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies.”
Psalms 139:19-22 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.139.19-22.NLT
Israel spent more years rebelling than obeying in its recorded history. Isaiah sums it up nicely with one verse.
“Sometimes it seems as though we never belonged to you, as though we had never been known as your people.”
Isaiah 63:19 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.63.19.NLT
“The greatest intercessors have always recognized that far more connects them with the common lot of sinners than what distinguishes them—and in any case they do not hesitate to plead with God on behalf of those who will not plead for themselves.”
For The Love Of God: Day 183 • Devotional (The Gospel Coalition)
https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/786/day/183?segment=0
As I read this quote from my devotional commentary last night, what struck me immediately in the last line is that great intercessors- those who pray passionately for others, particularly the lost- do not hesitate to plead with God on behalf of those who WILL NOT plead for themselves. I read it again just to be sure I had not misread it initially. Surely it says CANNOT plead for themselves. Help for the helpless must surely be the intent, but no! They will not. Stubborn refusal. God repeatedly refers to Israel and all who will not acknowledge Him as hard-hearted.
As I read Isaiah’s prayer of intercession, I am struck first by the intensity of his prayer, then by his humility. David prayed “shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?” Isaiah prayed, “I am one with those who hate you.” Even as he speaks as God‘s messenger, he acknowledges his own humanity. He does not pray like the Pharisee, saying, “Thank you, God, that I am not like other people- cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector!” (Luke 18:11) Rather, he prays like that tax collector, saying, “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
“Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down!
How the mountains would quake in your presence!
As fire causes wood to burn and water to boil, your coming would make the nations tremble.
Then your enemies would learn the reason for your fame!
When you came down long ago, you did awesome deeds beyond our highest expectations.
And oh, how the mountains quaked!
For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!
You welcome those who gladly do good, who follow godly ways.
But you have been very angry with us, for we are not godly.
We are constant sinners; how can people like us be saved?
We are all infected and impure with sin.
When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.
Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.
Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with you for mercy.
Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins.
And yet, O Lord, you are our Father.
We are the clay, and you are the potter.
We all are formed by your hand.
Don’t be so angry with us, Lord.
Please don’t remember our sins forever.
Look at us, we pray, and see that we are all your people.”
Isaiah 64:1-9 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.64.1-5.NLT
We are all infected and impure with sin. We are constant sinners; how can people like us be saved?
“Oh, what a miserable person I am!
Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?
Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 7:24-25 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.7.24-25.NLT
Open our eyes, Lord. You do awesome deeds beyond our highest expectations! May Your enemies learn the reason for Your fame.
A Fitting Reply 