Ep035: Psalm 9: Judge of the Nations

Hi. I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Today we look at Psalm 9. The most striking thing about this psalm is a vivid description of what has happened to the evil nations who were enemies of the poet and his people.

The nations stumbled and fell (v. 3)
They were filled with terror (v. 20)
They fell into the pit they dug (v. 15)
They were trapped in the snares they set (v. 15)
They were destroyed (v. 5)
Endless ruin overtook them (v. 6)
Their cities were uprooted (v. 6)
They went to the grave (v. 17)
Even the memory of them perished (v. 6)

It sounds like someone dropped a nuclear bomb on them, and there’s nothing left — not even a memory. So what caused this unhappy outcome for the nations? It was God. He was on his throne judging.

But wait, wasn’t the poet talking about the God of Israel, who only had one temple, located in Jerusalem? Wasn’t the poet writing in the ancient near east, where each nation had their own local gods? And weren’t these local gods competing with each other to protect their people and harm their enemies? Who is this international, world-judging God the poet praises?

Israel never saw their God as just a local deity. They worshipped the creator-God of the universe, the salvation-God of his people, the judge of all the earth. He chose Israel as his special nation, but he also judged Israel. In the end, he didn’t even bother to protect his temple in Jerusalem — he let invading Babylonians pillage and destroy it, which convinced the Babylonians that this God of Israel was just another ineffective local god. And it threw the Isralites into a crisis of confusion and doubt.

There’s another striking thing about Psalm 9: this nation-judging God takes special interest in people who are afflicted and downtrodden. He creates social justice for the disadvantaged, he raises them up with dignity and honor, he gives them their share of God’s creation resources, he protects them from evil politicians and corrupt judges, he provides a stronghold to hide them from military conflicts. The poet says, “The needy will not always be forgotten, nor will the hope of the afflicted perish” (v. 18). Part of our job on earth is to join God in his social justice initiatives.

Let’s pray.

Jesus, when you told us to love and pray for our enemies, we hoped that your insight you would set the world at peace and bring your kingdom of love. But we have discovered, as you discovered on your way to be crucified, that the haters go on hating, traitors betray the innocent, empires crucify the unlucky, religions suppress the truth, and the rich and powerful have their way.

With the poet, we call on you as the judge of all the world, as one who values justice in persons and in nations. As China persecutes the church, as Boko Haram terrorizes central Africa, as the Saudis bomb Yemen, as America withdraws from Syria, and Canada says a weak, “Peace, peace,” we ask you, God, to judge the nations. Destroy what must be destroyed, tear down the power structures and fantasies they have built, until the rulers stand naked before you, their creator-God and judge.

With the poet we say “Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken the ones who seek you” (v. 10). We know your name, we call you the judge of all the earth. We seek you in our prayers and lives. When all the world around us seems chaos and injustice, we wait for you, God. Be our stronghold in times of trouble. Arrange our affairs with justice.

Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Ep034: Are you Drunk or Praying?

Hi, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me.”

In our survey of Old Testament stories, today we look at the family of Samuel the prophet. Samuel’s father, Elkanah, had two wives. One was Peninnah who had sons and daughters. The other wife was Hannah and she had no children. This made Hannah very sad, even though Elkanah said to her, “Why are you so downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” For Hannah, the clear answer was, “Not really,” but she held her tongue, because there are some things men just don’t understand.

Each year when the family visited the temple in Shiloh, Peninnah provoked and irritated Hanna. One year, Hannah took her bitterness and anguish to God, weeping and praying at the temple. She said, “God, look at my misery. Remember me, don’t forget me. If you give me a son, I will raise him to serve you.” Eli, the priest, saw her praying and thought she was drunk. (Did I mention that sometimes men just don’t get it?) Eli said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.”

Hanna said she wasn’t drunk, she was praying. Eli said, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.” Not long after, the Lord remembered Hannah: she conceived and gave birth to Samuel, which means, “God has heard.”

Some lessons on prayer from this story:

1. First, dysfunctional families are not a modern invention, though bigamy like Hannah experienced is not the norm today. Like Hannah, you may need to pray through bitterness and pain and irritation that attends your family relationships.

2. Second, the ability to have children is a gift from God, but he doesn’t give that gift to everyone. And not everyone who has received children from God is happy with the result. Whether you have no children, good children, or bad children it is important to bring your feelings on the topic to God.

3. Third, if your priest or minister misunderstands your situation and maybe even thinks you’re drunk, give the poor pastor a chance. They’re only human, but if they are true servants of God, they will see their mistake and bless you when they hear your prayer.

4. And finally, bookmark your Bible with Samuel’s name, with the promise that “God has heard”. Our God is a listening God. He hears your weeping and in his time he will bring you joy.

Let’s pray.
Our father, so often what we want most in life is something you aren’t giving us. Our comforters may say, “Am I not better than 10 sons?” but they do not understand the importance of what we ask. Others mistake our prayers for too much wine or for lack of faith. Give us grace to live patiently with our troubles, and to live graciously with those who don’t understand them. And give us patience to keep praying until you intervene, until we find the faith and wisdom and courage to change ourselves, or to receive changes from you.
Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Ep033: Psalm 8: The Majesty of Humanity

Hi. I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Today we look at Psalm 8. Since we don’t know who wrote the psalm, I will refer to the author as “the poet.”

The first and last lines of the poem are exactly the same: “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.” If I wrote a poem that started majestically like that, I would continue with a vision of magnificent mountains, stunning oceans, rippling rivers, wild forests, and grand canyons. But this poet took a completely different direction. He or she made humans central to the theme.

Building up to this theme, the poet says, “When I consider the heavens you made, the sun and moon and stars, the vastness of the universe, it makes humans look minute and insignificant.” But then verse 5 turns smallness into largeness. The poet says, “People may be small, but look! You made them just a little lower than the heavenly beings — little lower than the angels, a little lower than God himself.”

And he caps this observation with the word “glory.” Verse 2 says, “You have set your glory in the heavens.” That’s easy to agree with. Then verse 5 says, “You have crowned the humans with glory and honor.” There it is, God’s glory in the grand creation of the universe, God’s glory in the special creation of the human race. This human glory looks back to the climax of creation, Day 6, when God created man and woman in his own image. God gave them the gift of all the earth. He delegated to them the job of ruling and looking after creation. That is the glory of the human race, that is what it means to be the image of God — to receive from him the gift of the earth, to accept our job as God’s rulers and caretakers and representatives in the world.

Let’s pray.
Our father, how glorious is the universe you made. And how glorious are the people you created in your image. We see our species in its glory when it obeys to the mission you assigned.

When the UN creates World Heritage sites that preserve natural beauty and human history.
When national parks protect and honor animals and birds and all created things.
When governments are peaceful and well-ordered, when they care for the poor and honor all humans, when they create just laws and reward good behaviour.

But we also see our species in all its ugliness when it disobeys the mission you assigned.

When we pollute and overuse and destroy creation to satisfy greed and desire
When governments harass and oppress and make war on people, not seeing your image in them, not honoring the glory you gave them.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. But what a mixed bag of glory and corruption we have brought to the task of representing you and caring for your creation. We thank you for Christ, who like us, became a little lower than the heavenly beings, so that he could begin your project to restore people and creation to the glory you intended.
Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Ep032: Samson’s Revenge

Hi, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me.”

Continuing our survey of Old Testament stories, today we look at with Samson, a leader of Israel when the Philistine army oppressed the Israelites and occupied their land.

Samson was a Nazrite, dedicated to God from birth, and he had superpower strength as long as he didn’t cut his hair. He used his strength to harass and annoy the Philistine oppressors. He was also a womanizer with a volatile temper, and he preferred Philistine women over the local Israelite girls.

At one point when he was engaged to a Philistine, things went badly wrong at the wedding feast, and the bride ended up marrying one of his companions. For revenge, Samson used his strength to collect 300 foxes. He tied them together tail to tail in pairs, attached a torch to each pair of tails, and sent them into the Philistine fields of corn and olives and grapes.

Later, Samson met his match when he fell in love with the Philistine lady, Delilah. She begged him to tell her the secret of his strength until he couldn’t resist. Then she cut off his hair while he was sleeping, and called the Philistines to capture him. Samson wasn’t aware that his hair was cut, that his Nazrite vow was broken, and that God had left him. He started using his great strength to avoid capture, but he was weak. So the Philistines threw him in prison, gouged out his eyes, and set him to grinding corn.

Then the Philistines leaders celebrated their victory over Samson and his God by holding a great feast in the temple of their god, Dagon. They brought Samson to the feast in chains and put him on display. Samson leaned against the pillars of the temple and prayed, “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, give me strength just once more, and let me get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” Then he pushed on the pillars, collapsing the temple, and killing himself and 3000 Philistines. It looks like God answered his prayer for revenge.

Let’s pray.

Our father in heaven, Samson’s story reminds us of our world today. Like him, many leaders of your people — priests and pastors and prophets and television personalities — have corrupted their ministries with sexual sin and personal vendettas and the love of money. Why do you let this go on, God, don’t you want to protect your name from those who promise to serve you, but end up serving their own appetites and their own anger?

And God, we see your story in the life of Samson. For in the end, Samson accepted his own death in order to deliver your people from their enemies. Is there another saviour you appointed, who chose his own death to save your people?

We pray that you will help us not to follow Samson’s example of service to you. You honored him with the strength of your spirit, and sent him to deliver your people. But as he used the gift you gave him, he walked deeper and deeper into personal sin and chaos. As we serve you, help us to grow in righteousness, that our death may be honorable and that we may receive a rich welcome into your kingdom (2 Peter 1:11).
Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Ep031: Psalm 7: Evil is a Boomerang.

Hi. I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Today we consider Psalm number 7, which is titled, “A song of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjamite.” We don’t know anything about Cush except what we infer from this psalm.

I find Psalm 7 remarkable in three ways.

First, David uses a variety of names for God. He twice calls him “Jehovah my God”, three times “Jehovah”, once “the Most High”, “God Most High”, “O righteous God”, and “Jehovah Most High”. The first words in the psalm are “O Lord my God” and the last words are “Jehovah Most High.” How good it is if our prayers and our life are bookended by God. God at the beginning, God at the end, and God in all parts of the middle.

The second remarkable thing about Psalm 7 is that David appeals to God on the basis of his, David’s, righteousness. David complains to God that his pursuers want to shred him like a lion and rip him to pieces with no one to rescue him. David responds to this threat by saying to God,

“If I done evil to one who is a peace with me,
if I am guilty,
then let my enemy catch up with me
let him trample my life to the ground,
let him make me sleep in death.
Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness.”

If your background is North American evangelical (like mine), you probably recoil at the thought of pointing out your righteousness to God. But David has no such reluctance.

The third remarkable thing about Psalm 7 is how it describes evil as a boomerang. Listen to how it works:

“He who digs a hole . . . falls into the pit he has made,
The trouble he causes recoils on himself;
His violence comes down on his own head.”

One of the strongest arguments against doing evil is that you reap what you sow! One of God’s most terrible judgements is to let our evil take its natural course, until it comes full circle to hurt or destroy us.

Let’s pray.

Our father, David calls you Jehovah my God. There is a relationship here. We have adopted you as our God, you have adopted us as your children. In the dysfunction and violence of our human relationships we turn to you, our God. You are God Most High. Protect us by judging of the peoples of the earth.

Arise, O Lord, wake up, O God.
Attend to your relationship with us.
Notice that we have tried to serve you in righteousness and honor.
See that we have listened to your word and obeyed your laws.
Do your work as judge.
Put a restraining order on our enemies, lock them up in prison.
Respond to their anger with your anger.
Let their evil boomerang on themselves.
Let them fall into the hole they have dug
Let their violence land on their own heads.

As for us, you are our shield, God Most High.
You are a righteous judge.
You save the upright in heart.
We will sing praise to your name, Lord Most High.
Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Ep030: Opening to God: Book Review.

Hi. I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Today is Book Review day! We will look at “Opening to God: A Guide to Prayer” by Thomas H. Green.

The author, Father Green, was a Jesuit missionary to the Philippines, where he taught and was a spiritual director at San Jose Seminary in Manila. He wrote a number of books on prayer.

When I first read his book “Opening to God,” I had been praying for a number of years. But in my prayer life, I felt like a lost soul in a foreign country. The Protestants I had read on prayer were helpful, but their advice was mostly, “Go here. Try this. Do that. Camp out with this approach for a while.” In my confused wanderings, “Opening to God” was a revelation, because it painted for me the vast and beautiful landscape of prayer and described the process of maturing in prayer. At last I had some sense of where I was and where I might be going and what roads might lead to maturity. Father Green introduced me to the country of prayer and provided a simple map to guide my travels.

Because I found the book so helpful, I loaned it to a friend and waited excitedly to hear her story about how it transformed her prayer life. When she returned the book, she said, “Do you remember telling me that if an author doesn’t grab your interest in the first 40 pages, you quit reading?” She said, “I used your suggestion. I quit this book after 40 pages.” I was crushed. I was devastated. She used my 40-page rule on one of my favorite books? I was sorry I had told her my rule.

Now, many years later, I can see why my friend might have disliked the book. It does get a bit technical in a theological sort of way. It addresses problems that interest me, like how Vatican II changed the way Roman Catholic novices learned to pray. But my friend was just too normal. She doesn’t have a nerdy, technical bent, so parts of the book didn’t interest her.

If you are learning to pray, this book is well worth a try. Here are four reasons to read it.

First, Father Green has a wonderful praying heart, which he expresses in simple language, and illustrates with great stories.

One of my favorite stories is his conversation with a student who was taking a prayer retreat. The student said to him, “Before we start, I’d like to ask one favor.” “What is that?” Father Green asked. The student said, “Whenever you start talking, I get nervous and forget what I wanted to say. So please don’t say anything until I have finished sharing.” Father Green reports that he heroically held his tongue and learned to listen (p. 27). From this experience Father Green explains that listening is at the heart of prayer. Sometimes we have to stop our incessant chatter and just listen to God.

Second, there are two broad approaches to prayer — prayer that asks God for stuff, and prayer that expresses a relationship with God. This book is one of the clearest descriptions I have ever read about prayer as relationship with God.

The third reason to read this book is that it invites use to use our imagination in prayer. A very important part of my prayer over the years has been to put myself into Jesus’ stories. I become Nicodemus visiting Jesus at night, I become the woman at the well, I become the man born blind. And listening to Jesus speak to them, I hear him speak to me.

And finally, this book has some of the best quotes ever on prayer.
For example, it asks, “When I pray, how do I know it is God I am talking to and not just myself?” (p. 48).
About knowledge: “True knowledge of God always goes hand with a painful self-knowledge.” (p. 8).
About listening: “To the beginner, there is . . . a puzzle and a mystery in listening to God. To the proficient pray-er it is no longer a puzzle, but it will always be a mystery.” (p. 34).

That’s “Opening to God” by Father Thomas Green. Read it, it will be good for your prayer life. Or at least skim it and enjoy the good stories and quotes.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Thomas H. Green. Opening to God: A Guide to Prayer (Ave Maria Press: Notre Dame, Indiana, 1977)

Ep029: Psalm 6: How Long, O Lord, How Long?

Hi. I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Psalm 6 is titled, “A Psalm of David.” We are not sure whether this means that David wrote the psalm, or whether someone else wrote it “in the style of David.” Since the Psalms are Hebrew poetry, I will refer to the author as “the poet” instead of calling him or her “David” or “the psalmist.” You can think of your journey through life as an extended poem that you are writing. The Psalms are an invitation to share your poem with another poet.

In Psalm 6, the poet feels vulnerable, exposed, unprotected, hopeless.

He says, “O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.” He feels that God is angry and wants him to shape up. But he can’t. He’s stuck.
The poet says, “I am faint, my bones are in agony, my soul is in anguish.” Her body is tired, her bones ache, her insides are constant pain.
She says, “No one remembers you when he is dead, who praises you from the grave?” The poet’s thoughts turn to death. Her life feels like a one-way spiral into the grave.
She says, “I am worn out with groaning, I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears, my eyes grow weak with sorrow.” Eyes are made to see, but all hers do are weep. The poet can’t see beyond her current pain.

Author Anne Lamott writes of a similar experience, “. . .I felt like my heart had been so thoroughly and irreparably broken that there could be no real joy again . . . I just had to lie in the mud with my arms wrapped around myself, eyes closed, grieving. . .” (Operating Instructions: A Journal of my Son’s First Year. New York Anchor Books, 1993).

Hasty Words describes depression as “The assassin inside me” (Hasty Words, Darker Side of Night. Self-published, 2013. See also https://hastywords.com).

Author Nina LaCour writes, “The sun stopped shining for me. . .” (Hold Still. Speak: New York, 2009)

Yes, that was the poet’s experience in Psalm 6. Then suddenly, out of the blue, the psalm resolves into hope. “Away from me all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping, the Lord has heard my cry for mercy, the Lord accepts my prayer.” Where did the poet find hope? Did he order it from Amazon? Did it come unbidden? Was it an answer from God for the pain and tears?

Let’s pray.
Our Father in heaven, Jesus the Savior knows our depths of depression, for he was despised and rejected by men. He felt rejected by you, his father, when he said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Today, we bring you our feelings of hopelessness and depression.

Don’t be angry at us. Have compassion on our darkness.
Don’t turn away from us. Look at our tears.
Don’t hide from our misery. Expose and defeat the assassin inside us.
Don’t keep your distance, God. Stand with us in our pain.

We believe that you listen, God.
We believe that the sun still shines.
We believe that life is a gift worth living.
We believe that our sadness is not forever.
We believe that you will walk with us through depression.
We believe that your mercy will bring us hope and freedom.

Accept our prayer, O God. Hold us gently in your arms. May your heart of love mingle with our heart of sadness, until our sickness is healed and our life restored. Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Ep.028: Samson’s Birth Announcement

Hi, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me.”

Continuing our survey of Old Testament stories about prayer, today we consider the birth announcement for Samson the strong-man, one of the judges of Israel.

The Israelites who lived in the promised land persistently ignored God and disobeyed his laws. So God let their enemies–the Philistines–oppress them for 40 years (Judges 13:1). This is similar to Israel at the time of Jesus, which was occupied by the Roman army. In our day, Israel is still a favorite target of local military powers.

During the Philistine occupation, an angel visited an Israelite woman who couldn’t have children. The angel said, “You are going to have a son. Don’t drink wine, and when the boy is born, don’t ever cut his hair. He will be dedicated as a servant of God to deliver Israel from the Philistines.”

After the angel left, the woman told her husband Manoah, “An awesome looking angel told me I will have a son and that I’m not supposed to drink wine. And he said we can’t ever cut the boy’s hair because he will be dedicated as a servant of God to deliver Israel from the Philistines.”

How do you think Manoah received the good news? He prayed. That’s probably a good thing. But listen to his prayer. He said, “God, pardon me, but can you send that angel back to explain how to bring up the boy we’re going to have?” God answered his prayer. The angel returned and found Manoah’s wife alone in a field. She ran to get Manoah who followed her to meet the angel. Manoah said, “Are you the one who spoke to my wife? Tell us how we’re supposed to raise the boy.”

And the angel said, perhaps somewhat pointedly, “Just do everything I told your wife when I visited her.” Then the angel repeated his earlier instructions.

An interesting story. Let’s start with two observations.

1. First, Israelite society in Bible times was strongly patriarchal, and the author of this story reflects that. For example, even though the woman is the central character, the author never tells us her name. She is just, “The wife of Manoah.” When she tells her husband about the angel’s visit, he asks God to send the angel back, saying in effect, “Clearly these instructions are too important for me to get second-hand from a woman. You’d better repeat the instructions so I can hear them.”

2. Second, God simply ignores the politics of patriarchy. He has no problem bypassing the man and sending the angel to the woman. Even after Manoah prays to be included, the angel doesn’t go to Manoah–he goes straight to the woman again. She has to find Manoah who follows her to the field to meet the angel. Who is leader and who is follower in this awkward scenario? And what does the angel say to Manoah? “Just do everything I already told your wife.” Do we catch a hint of rebuke here? Is the angel saying, “The instructions haven’t changed since the last time I gave them.”

Now, let’s look at a couple lessons for our prayers.

1. First, God is serious about communicating good news to his people. He sent an angel to bring good news to Manoah’s wife. When Manoah had trouble accepting the news from her, God sent the angel back to deliver the news to him.

2. Second, God works both inside and outside our cultural expectations. He bypassed patriarchal norms by going to Manoah’s wife. He honored patriarchal norms by sending the angel again for Manoah’s benefit. God still speaks inside and outside our cultural expectations. Whether our Christianity is conservative evangelical, charismatic, liturgical, Bible-believing independent, or social gospel liberal, God makes himself present to all who seek him in spirit and in truth. He speaks to us in a language we understand, through scripture as we understand it, and through our community and through our whole experience of life.

Let’s pray. Our Father in heaven, we live our lives in a place and time and human culture that we can’t escape. But we confess that our thoughts are too small for you, our theology is too narrow, our faith is too weak, our culture is too confining. Send your angel to us, tell us the good news of your salvation, lead us out of our narrowness into the wider culture of your kingdom. Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Ep.027: Psalm 5: Good Morning God

Hi. I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Psalm 4 was an evening prayer. Today’s prayer, Psalm 5, is a morning prayer. It starts with three verses of introduction, followed by 9 verses of alternating suggestions for how God should deal with the wicked and how he deals with the righteous.

It starts, “Give ear to my words O Lord . . . Listen to my cry for help . . . In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” This is the morning rhythm of prayer. Waking, we tell God what is on our mind for the day. Perhaps we feel weak and we dread the assault of our enemies, or perhaps today is filled with hope and promise. Checking in with God in the morning prepares us to wait expectantly for him through the day. God might show up at any time, but we won’t notice if we aren’t attentive.

Following the introduction, the psalmist describes his enemies and suggests how God should deal with them. “The arrogant cannot stand in your presence, you hate all who do wrong, you destroy those who tell lies.” And later in the psalm, “Declare them guilty, O God. Let their intrigues be their downfall. Banish them for their many sins.”

The psalmist also describes the righteous and tells God how to deal with us. “By your great mercy I will bow down toward your holy temple. Lead me in your righteousness . . . make a straight path before me. . . let all who take refuge in you be glad.”

Let us pray.

Our Father, in the morning our alarm wakes us rudely. We stumble to the bathroom to brush our teeth and put on makeup. And we turn our thoughts to you, because we need your presence today to protect us from our enemies, to give us favor and success in our endeavors. We will wait expectantly for you. Help us recognize your presence when you visit us. Help us hear your voice when you speak to us.

We ask you to destroy our enemies, God.

Destroy the enemy within, the voice that says we are worthless and unworthy, the fear that paralyzes, the brooding introspection that depresses, the arrogance that criticizes friends and colleagues, the malice that repeats gossiping stories.
Silence the enemies we meet today — family members who shame us, coworkers who are rude and dismissive, clerks who are sullen and disrespectful.
Banish the arrogant voices in our culture. May all lying, self-promoting politicians be trapped by their intrigues. May all advertisers who promote mediocre products promising infinite happiness come to an unhappy end. May all entertainers who create meaningless drivel be filled with their own empty words.

But may all who take refuge in you, Lord, be glad. In the winding and confusing journey of life, make a straight path for us. When we don’t know where to turn, guide is into wise choices, faithful relationships, true vocations, and holy community. Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Ep.026: Snake on a Stick

Hi, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me.”

As Moses was leading the Israelites to the promised land, the desert lacked many conveniences they were accustomed to. In today’s story, the people are complaining again to God and Moses. They said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!’”

Clearly, God and Moses haven’t studied management theory on “How to Meet and Exceed Customer Expectations.” If their monthly survey of the people asked, “How likely are you to recommend this experience to your friends and family?” the people would give them a net promoter score of zero.

But God wasn’t trying to increase his approval ratings. His goal was to teach the people to quit complaining. So he sent poisonous snakes into the crowd and people started dying. This got their attention, so they said to Moses, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

God gave Moses a solution. Put a bronze snake up on a pole in the middle of the crowd. Anyone who lis bitten can look at the bronze snake and live.

Odd, isn’t it? Create an image of a poisonous snake, post it in a public place, and look at it and live? I would have thought a better solution would be to get rid of the snakes.

Here are three quick comments on this passage

1. Most of us want our lives to be comfortable, well-fed, and and well-watered. Maybe even a glass of wine occasionally. And we think that God, if there is a God, should commit himself to making our world a better place — surely he could alleviate war and hunger and injustice. But that’s not the program God has designed for our world. Life is a desert journey. Is this really what we signed up for?

2. Second, the solution is not to complain. In an Agatha Raisin novel by E. M. Beaton, Agatha’s neighbour complains to her about everything that is wrong with the Cotswold village in which they live and the people who live there. The author says, “Mrs Hardy’s words seeped like poison into [Agatha’s] brain” (M. C. Beaton, “Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage.” New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997.)

Complaining is like that. We create our own snakes that poison our view and narrow our vision. God has a different plan. If we receive this desert journey as a gift, it will strip away our shallow complaints and bring us face to face with the truth.

3. And third, the solution is to face squarely the things that bite us. God’s salvation for us complainers is to look away from ourselves, to a place where we see our problems displayed and objectified. A snake on a pole or a man on a cross can expose our sins and heal the poison that infects us.

Let’s pray.
Our Father, we are habitual complainers. We have summoned the snakes that poison our bodies and destroy our relationships. We see the devastation complaining has brought. So we turn our eyes to the snake on the pole. Make us healthy and thankful. Amen.

I’m Daniel on the channel “Pray with Me”.