Ezra's Prayer

Poor Ezra is absolutely devastated by what he has learned.  Years earlier the Jewish people had been hauled off into exile.  Jehovah had allowed this as punishment for turning to other gods and failing to worship Him as the one true god.  Ezra and a small contingent of his fellow Israelites have been allowed by King Artaxerxes of Persia to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.

Ezra has learned that those returning to their homeland have begun to intermarry with the locals.  This was strictly forbidden, not because God is opposed to “true love,” but because intermarriage led to worship of the god of the spouse and forsaking worship of Jehovah.

Ezra is horrified that the sin that caused them to go into exile has reared its head among the returning remnant.  His prayer is recorded in Ezra 9, and ends with:

                O Lord, God of Israel, you are righteous!  We are left this day as a remnant.  Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.

As I look at the culture around me, and at what we the people of the United States have become, I feel that we should echo this prayer:

                O Lord God…you are righteous!  Here we are before you in our guilt…..

It is devastating to realize the decline in our culture which has happened in my lifetime, and that these are changes which many in our country applaud.  We want our “rights,” freedom to choose our own destiny, freedom to give a higher priority to our desires than we give to God Himself, freedom to shake our fist in His face…..and that is terrifying.

In Romans 1:18-32, there is a description of what happens to a culture which rejects God so repeatedly and thoroughly that He gives up on them.  Here is where we are, my fellow Americans.

                Since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.  They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.  They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.  They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.  Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

It does not matter who wins the coming election.  We as a nation are in a lot of trouble.

                Here we stand before you in our guilt……

Our Eyes Are Upon You

Jehoshaphat was one of the good guys among kings of Judah.  He removed objects of idol worship from the land, sent priests throughout the land to teach the people God’s commandments and how to properly worship him, and consistently sought the advice of godly prophets.  Much of his reign was peaceful.

However, at one point, an army consisting of members of three different surrounding nations advanced to make war with him.  Jehoshaphat’s army was smaller and no match for his enemies.  In II Chronicles 20, his prayer on this occasion is recorded.  “All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord” in the temple in Jerusalem and listened to Jehoshaphat’s prayer, as he pleaded for God’s help.

His prayer ends with this sentence: 

We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.

This seems so appropriate to me today.  I am dealing with some situations personally in which I really don’t know what to do.   It also seems that we as a nation currently don’t know what to do about numerous issues, not the least of which being the upcoming election.

Jehoshaphat believed a prophet who declared there would be deliverance without the Judean army having to fight.  As Jehoshaphat led the people in worship, some of the priests stood up and began to sing praises to God.  Men were appointed to go out at the head of the army declaring, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”

As they went into battle the next day, they discovered the opposing armies were dead.  They had turned on each other and wiped each other out.  The army of Judah did not have to fight, because the battle was God’s.

So how about this for a motto and a way to begin every day?

We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.