S154P8 – Sincerity in prayer: Abraham
Gen. 18:22-25
So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD. Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”
Wisdom comes in many flavors and is difficult to define one way. It can demand a kind word or a stiff rebuke, grace or wrath. The wisdom we see shown by God in this story is something we should seek to learn. Any child who has done wrong in the sight of a parent knows what it is like to seek mercy instead of punishment. Whether children or adults, people will try to bargain between the two with all sorts of authority figures. It is for the one standing in the office of judge to determine which course is just because justice can demand difficult decisions. The hand which is too light can do as much damage as the hand which is too heavy; they are two sides of the same coin. Abraham would see firsthand the wise justice of God’s heart.
Abraham’s prayer comes from a man who assumed or hoped that there was someone to be redeemed in those treacherous cities. If even there were only fifty righteous people there, he wanted God to spare everyone for their sake. Abraham would even get God to agree to spare the cities for the sake of only ten righteous ones. The problem was that there were no ten righteous people there. Abraham prayed for God to spare them, but justice required destruction of those cities. The time for mercy had come and gone. They had reached the time for judgment, and that could not be changed. The wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah was so great that God sent fire from the sky to destroy that valley and everything in it.
The destruction of this valley was so great and complete that not even the plants growing in the ground were spared. That is how wicked these cities were. We cannot know whether we ever will encounter people so far gone, but we can know one thing. While our soft hearts may desire for the wicked to be spared for a chance to change, we also must pray for God’s justice to prevail. That might look different than what we would choose, but we only know in part. Our ultimate desire should be for God’s will and his justice no matter what that result looks like. Father, give us wisdom as well as compassion when we pray, that we would want to see your will done above all.