THE PRAYER THAT reminded God who He is

Have you ever had to be calmed down during a heated argument when you’ve said something rash or out of character?

At first glance, it may seem like God momentarily lost His cool when the Israelites made a golden calf to worship. “Leave me alone,” He said to Moses, “so my anger can burn against them and destroy them.”

Moses appeared to be the rational one: “Remember the promise you made to them.”

Does God really need us to remind Him of His promises? Is there ever a danger that our sin will push Him too far and He’ll suddenly snap? No—God is always faithful. He will never fail to honour His Word.

In fact, He chose Moses to lead the people because he understood God’s heart and would pray according to His ways.

In this exchange, God reveals the judgement the people truly deserve for breaking their covenant relationship with Him by worshipping an idol. And Moses takes on the role of mediator (much like Jesus would do for us many centuries later), to turn away God’s wrath.

We can always pray in confidence according to what God has revealed in His Word. For He stays true to every promise He has made. When we know we’ve fallen out of line with it, our hope is in Jesus, the meditator who not only turns aside God’s judgement, but actually takes it on Himself.

PRAYER: 1 Samuel 1:1-18

ANSWER: 1 Samuel 1:19-28