“And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.” (Ex 32:11-13 AV)
This prayer is uttered by Moses before he descends the mountain to find Israel worshipping Baal. While on the mountain receiving the law at the mouth and finger of God, Moses is told by God what is happening beneath him. He prays this prayer of mercy for the people of God. When I read this prayer, I find a well-reasoned prayer. This prayer is not all emotional and spontaneous in nature. Not that God doesn’t hear such prayers or that such prayers are ineffective. In fact, when Moses descends the mountain to find Israel in the condition which God spoke of, he ascends the mountain and passionately pleads again for the people of God. The second time his prayer involves a great deal of emotion and even suggests an impossibility to rectify Israel’s transgression. Moses offered to surrender his place in glory if it meant the people of God could go there. His second prayer, although very passionate and reactionary, was not as well-reasoned as the first. Both prayers were appropriate given the circumstances. But this prayer is my focus this morning.
In this prayer, Moses states some foundational truths that should appeal to the mercy of God. He points out God’s vengeance would be a motive for the enemies of God to discredit God. It sounds kind of backward, but this is how the world works. One would think if God chastened His own people, the enemies of God have far more to fear. The world simply doesn’t think that way. They believe God deals with His people but leaves the rest of humanity alone. Not so. Moses is pleading on the basis of God’s reputation as a merciful God. The second argument Moses makes is the covenants God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. If God destroys His people, then He will be known as the God who does not keep covenant. If God does not keep covenant, then upon what or whom can humanity come to trust? The arguments which Moses is making are not difficult to understand. They are very effective. His prayer was effective because it was based on reason and on truth.
Emotion is important. Relaying to the LORD how we feel about our pressing needs is therapeutic. It helps us process that part of our being. We need to work out our emotions. We need to talk them out. We need to get them to the surface and process them. Otherwise, our emotions have a way of eating us up from the inside outward. But emotion is no solid basis for a prayer request. Emotion may be a motivator, but it is not a defense. Finding promises and truths that support our request is the way in which we can make prayer to God. Reading this early this morning, I was struck at how Moses was able to seek God’s mercy, and gain it, not be a reactionary and emotionally charged prayer. Rather, he was able to perfectly articulate the basis upon which he was able to trust in the mercy of God. For a man who does not speak well, he sure knew the words to speak to God. Moses got the answer for which he sought God, not because he was overly emotional about it. Rather, he received from God that for which he petitioned Him because there were solid reasons why God could do nothing less than say yes.
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