PrayerBits for Thursday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Thursday

Scripture lesson: Exodus 33:12-23 Moses negotiates with God

Time to reflect: This complicated dialog is Moses trying wheedle favors from God. He wants to be more special than he already is. God is evasive, eventually letting out with the frustrated “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious...” Moses persists and wants to see God. God points out that that is not a wise thing. (Don't worry about whether God has a “back.” This just indicates that Moses didn't really see God directly.)

 

Moving through the day: Do you ever try to manipulate God? How do you react to the “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious...”? Do you ever ask inappropriate things of God?

 

Scripture:

Moses said to the LORD, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.' If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people."

  The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

  Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?"

  And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."

 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."

  And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."

  Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."