Context No. 3755 of 4322 · Sirach

Sirach 36:1-16: in context

1Have mercy upon us, O Lord the God of all, and look at us with favor; 2and send your fear upon all the nations. 3Lift up your hand against the foreign nations and let them see your mighty power. 4As you showed your holiness in us before them, so be magnified in them before us. 5Let them know you, as we also have known you, that there is no God but only you, O God. 6Show new signs, and work various wonders. Glorify your hand and your right arm. 7Raise up indignation and pour out wrath. Take away the adversary and destroy the enemy. 8Hasten the time and remember your oath. Let them declare your mighty works. 9Let him who escapes be devoured by raging fire. May those who harm your people find destruction. 10Crush the heads of the rulers of the enemies who say, “There is no one but ourselves.” 11Gather all the tribes of Jacob together, and take them for your inheritance, as from the beginning. 12O Lord, have mercy upon the people that is called by your name, and upon Israel, whom you likened to a firstborn. 13Have compassion upon the city of your sanctuary, Jerusalem, the place of your rest. 14Fill Zion. Exalt your oracles and fill your people with your glory. 15Give testimony to those who were your creatures in the beginning, and fulfill the prophecies that have been spoken in your name. 16Reward those who wait for you, and men will put their trust in your prophets.

This is a bold prayer for God to act, to make himself known where he seems hidden, and to gather and restore his scattered people. Have mercy on us, the prayer begins, and it asks God to show new signs, to be glorified among the nations, and to gather all the tribes of Jacob as at the beginning. It is a prayer that God's name would be honored and his people restored.

What stands out is the confidence to pray for great things, to ask God to act on a scale only he can. The prayer does not shrink its requests to what seems manageable; it asks God to fill Zion with his glory and to fulfill the promises spoken in his name. And it ends on the note of hope that runs through all such prayer: reward those who wait for you, and let your prophets be found true. There is an invitation here to pray with the same boldness and hope, asking God to make himself known, to gather and bless his people, and to keep his promises, and then to wait for him.

Do I pray with boldness and hope for the great things only God can do, asking him to make himself known and to keep his promises, and then waiting on him for the answer?

Sources

Sirach 36:1: "Have mercy upon us, O Lord the God of all, and look at us with favor."
Sirach 36:11: "Gather all the tribes of Jacob together, and take them for your inheritance, as from the beginning."
Sirach 36:16: "Reward those who wait for you, and men will put their trust in your prophets."