Daily Devotions
Genesis
"Then I called upon the name of the Lord: 'O Lord, I implore You, deliver my soul!" Psalm 116:4
Text: Genesis 32:1-32
REMEMBERING THE GOD WHO APPEARED TO HIM
In his hour of desperate need, Jacob recalled how God had first appeared to him. Two decades and more had passed by, but that memory of God served him well. How clearly he remembered how God spoke to him.
“I am the Lord God of Abraham your father
and the God of Isaac…”
GENESIS 28:13
Surely, there must have been special significance why God had appeared to him on that day! Surely one of the significant applications was to be found in prayer! How should Jacob address the Lord in his hour of need?
“O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac…”
GENESIS 32:9
With all his heart, Jacob cried out to the Lord who had intimated to him, how he may relate to Him and how he may address Him!
Jacob took one more bold step of faith! He pleaded an important truth! Surely he had returned to the land of Canaan because the Lord had given him instruction to do that!
“The Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to
your family, and I will deal well with you’:”
GENESIS 32:9
Had not God said that? Had not Jacob believed in the Lord’s Word? With all his heart, Jacob pleaded with God to remember the word that He had given to him. Surely, He had not called him to return home only to be slain by his brother Esau?
PRAYING IN ABJECT HUMILITY
It certainly was not enough to merely call upon God and address Him appropriately! How should he speak to the Lord? How should he address Him? As he spoke to the Lord, he was overwhelmed with a great sense of total unworthiness.
“I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies
and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant;
for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now
I have become two companies.”
GENESIS 32:10“I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies…”
Yes, God had been most merciful to Jacob! With deep humility, Jacob acknowledged that he was totally unworthy of the mercies of the Lord!
“And of all the truth which You have shown Your servant…”
Jacob, in his own way, had learned how to appreciate all that God had spoken to him. Each word that God had spoken to him may indeed be described as wonderful “truth”. Who was Jacob but a mere servant! Yet God had dealt so bountifully with him!