Numbers 14:11-19: a reflection

11The LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? How long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them? 12I will strike them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” 13Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear it; for you brought up this people in your might from among them. 14They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you LORD are among this people; for you LORD are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. 15Now if you killed this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying, 16‘Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.’ 17Now please let the power of the Lord be great, according as you have spoken, saying, 18‘The LORD is slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation.’ 19Please pardon the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your loving kindness, and just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

After Israel's rebellion, God speaks of destroying them, and Moses steps into the breach to intercede. His prayer is a model of intercession. He appeals to God's own name and reputation among the nations; and then, remarkably, he pleads God's own revealed character back to him: The LORD is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love. Moses pleads for mercy not on the ground of the people's deserving, but on the ground of who God is.

Notice the basis of Moses' intercession: God's own character and mercy. He does not argue that the people deserve to be spared; they plainly do not. Instead he appeals to God's steadfast love, his slowness to anger, his willingness to forgive, and asks God to act according to that great mercy. Moses prays back to God the mercy God has revealed about himself, and pleads for pardon on that ground.

That teaches us how to pray for others, and for ourselves. When we intercede for people who have sinned, including ourselves, we cannot plead their deserving, for they deserve judgment; but we can plead God's mercy, his steadfast love, his willingness to forgive. This is the ground of all our praying for pardon: not our worthiness, but God's revealed character of mercy. When you pray for others who have failed, or come confessing your own sin, do not plead deserving, which you do not have; plead God's mercy, as Moses did, asking him to act according to his steadfast love. Pray back to God his own revealed mercy, and ask for pardon on that ground, for that is where forgiveness is found.

Lord, when you spoke of destroying rebellious Israel, Moses interceded, pleading not their deserving but your own revealed character: that you are slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity; and he asked you to pardon according to the greatness of your steadfast love. Teach me to pray like that. When I intercede for others who have sinned, including myself, I cannot plead deserving, for we deserve judgment; but I can plead your mercy, your steadfast love, your willingness to forgive. This is the ground of all my praying for pardon: not my worthiness, but your revealed character of mercy. When I pray for others who have failed, or come confessing my own sin, help me not to plead deserving, which I do not have, but to plead your mercy, as Moses did, asking you to act according to your steadfast love. Help me pray back to you your own revealed mercy, and find forgiveness there.