“Therefore, thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He shall not reach this city, nor shoot an arrow at it, nor come before it with a shield, nor cast up siege-works against it. He shall return by the same way he came, without entering the city, says the LORD. I will shield and save this city for my own sake, and for the sake of my servant David.’”
Sometimes preachers and others who speak of faith seem to describe a magical power to make things happen. Just believe and it will happen for you! “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” Jesus said to the synagogue official who pleaded for his daughter's life. If you say to this tree be uprooted and cast into the sea, it will happen for you! One can only imagine how many children have tried and been disappointed. Snake handlers in rural Appalachia, recalling Mark 16:18, are periodically bitten by their copperhead captives; they explain their apparent loss of faith as a momentary doubt that crossed their minds. Faith, for them, is mind control. (Fortunately, they had the antivenin close by, just in case.)
As beautiful as those teachings might be, they need an antivenin like verse 34 from today's scripture,
"I will shield and save this city for my own sake and the sake of David my servant.”
Faith is never about me; faith is never given to prove my integrity, much less my ability to concentrate my psychic powers. The Lord saves his people for his own sake -- or the sake of his name -- and for the sake of David, my servant. (Or Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, etc.)
When we put our faith in God, we trust the Lord will work out his own purposes, and that they will be good for everyone.
Hopefully we bring that generous detachment to the prayers we offer for our preferred baseball team. We hope no one is injured and that good sportsmanship prevails. If the game was an even competition between skilled players at their best, and the fans were satisfied with the results, we might suppose the Lord's purposes were fulfilled.
Realizing that God will shield and save this city for his own sake and the sake of David his servant allows us a kind of distance between ourselves and our preferences. I might desperately want my loved one to recover their health, but I also want God's name to be glorified. And I will glorify God in any case.
At the same time, we should not hesitate to beg, implore, and entreat the Lord with all our longing for those things we ardently wish. We go before the Lord naked and vulnerable, impelled by our desperate needs without reluctance or shame, and confident of a hearing in the Awful Presence of God.
We should pray like the Shunammite woman who grabbed hold of the Prophet Elisha, forced him into her house, and commanded him to go upstairs and heal her son! He owed her that much and he knew it. Or the Syro-phoenician woman who forced her way into Jesus's presence and demanded that he heal her daughter. The mothers' lack of self-restraint demonstrated their surrender to a God whom they know is Good. They believed and their prayers were heard.
Perhaps we pray best as we approach the Lord in Gethsemane. We might urge him to flee the city while he can! "Please, save yourself!" we say to our Beloved. But we also beg him to stay and wait for his tormentors to arrive, because that is the way of our salvation. Indeed it was for this that he came.
To pray with faith is to pray without pretense or hesitation. We're not trying to prove anything as we bear our needs before the Lord. We bare our hearts to his scrutiny, and our unworthiness. And we pray, "for the sake of your name, and for the sake of your servant Jesus."
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.