Judith 7:23-32: a reflection

23All the people, including the young men, the women, and the children, were gathered together against Ozias, and against the rulers of the city. They cried with a loud voice, and said before all the elders, 24“God be judge between all of you and us, because you have done us great wrong, in that you have not spoken words of peace with the children of Asshur. 25Now we have no helper; but God has sold us into their hands, that we should be laid low before them with thirst and great destruction. 26And now summon them, and deliver up the whole city as prey to the people of Holofernes, and to all his army. 27For it is better for us to be captured by them. For we will be servants, and our souls will live, and we will not see the death of our babies before our eyes, and our wives and our children fainting in death. 28We take to witness against you the sky and the earth, and our God and the Lord of our fathers, who punishes us according to our sins and the sins of our fathers. Do what we have said today!” 29And there was great weeping of all with one consent in the midst of the assembly; and they cried to the Lord God with a loud voice. 30And Ozias said to them, “Brethren, be of good courage! Let us endure five more days, during which the Lord our God will turn his mercy toward us; for he will not forsake us utterly. 31But if these days pass, and no help comes to us, I will do what you say.” 32Then he dispersed the people, every man to his own camp; and they went away to the walls and towers of their city. He sent the women and children into their houses. They were brought very low in the city.

The people of God are under a crushing siege, cut off from water, worn down by thirst and fear. In their desperation, they turn on their leaders and demand surrender, ready to give themselves up to the enemy rather than endure any longer. But their leader, Ozias, pleads with them to hold on: Endure five more days, during which the Lord our God will turn his mercy toward us; for he will not forsake us utterly. He asks them not to give up on God's mercy just yet, but to hold on a little longer.

Notice the temptation the people faced, and Ozias's plea. Under great pressure, at the end of their endurance, they were ready to give up entirely, to surrender before deliverance came. And Ozias urged them not to abandon hope in God prematurely, but to endure a little longer, trusting that God would show mercy and would not utterly forsake them. The temptation was to give up just before help might come; the plea was to hold on.

That temptation is one we know. Under prolonged pressure, when relief has not come and our endurance is spent, we are tempted to give up, to abandon hope, to surrender to despair just before deliverance might arrive. But God calls us, as Ozias called the people, to hold on a little longer, trusting his mercy, believing he will not utterly forsake us. When you are at the end of your endurance and tempted to give up, do not surrender to despair prematurely. Hold on a little longer; trust that God has not forsaken you, and that his mercy may be nearer than you think. Many have given up just before deliverance came; hold on, trusting the God who does not forsake his own utterly, and wait a little longer for his mercy.

Lord, when your people, crushed by siege and thirst, were ready to give up and surrender, their leader Ozias pleaded with them to hold on a little longer, trusting that you would turn your mercy toward them and would not forsake them utterly. I know that temptation. Under prolonged pressure, when relief has not come and my endurance is spent, I am tempted to give up, to abandon hope, to surrender to despair just before deliverance might arrive. But you call me, as Ozias called the people, to hold on a little longer, trusting your mercy, believing you will not utterly forsake me. When I am at the end of my endurance and tempted to give up, keep me from surrendering to despair prematurely. Help me hold on a little longer, trusting that you have not forsaken me, and that your mercy may be nearer than I think. Many have given up just before deliverance came; help me hold on, trusting the God who does not forsake his own utterly, and wait a little longer for your mercy.