Human Response 386: Do Evil and then Pray for Help

Judges 10:6, 10 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashteroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the Lord, and served him not…. And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.

The children of Israel repeat the cycle once again: sin, repent, pray, delivered. They did evil again by having other gods. In their subsequent misery and oppression suffered at the hands of their enemies they cried unto the Lord in repentance and prayer, admitting their sin against the Lord and pleading for help. As it turned out, as usual, the Lord in mercy delivered them again by sending a Deliverer.

The story may be getting old as the cycle repeats, but it is really no different for us in our daily cycle of living. And I do mean daily, not years. We do evil by going after the gods of this world and forsaking our Savior every time we sin. We suffer the miserable consequences inflicted by the Enemy. We turn to the Lord in repentance and prayer, asking for forgiveness and help. God in mercy grants forgiveness and deliverance by sending His Son, the Great Deliverer. This happens once in Baptism, and then countless times through the Gospel in our daily lives.

We are not different from, or better than, Israel. We cannot say “That was them and not me.” Their story is our story. The Holy Spirit is showing us a picture of our lives: do evil, suffer misery, cry out, be saved. That pattern will repeat for all sinner-saints until we die and receive the Final Victory, which is permanent. “God so loved that He sent.”