Judith 4:9-15: a reflection

9And every man of Israel cried to God with great earnestness, and with great earnestness they humbled their souls. 10They, their wives, their children, their cattle, and every sojourner, hireling, and servant bought with their money put sackcloth on their loins. 11Every man and woman of Israel, including the little children and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, fell prostrate before the temple, cast ashes upon their heads, and spread out their sackcloth before the Lord. They put sackcloth around the altar. 12They cried to the God of Israel earnestly with one consent, that he would not give their children as prey, their wives as plunder, the cities of their inheritance to destruction, and the sanctuary to being profaned and being made a reproach, for the nations to rejoice at. 13The Lord heard their voice, and looked at their affliction. The people continued fasting many days in all Judea and Jerusalem before the sanctuary of the Lord Almighty. 14And Joakim the high priest, and all the priests who stood before the Lord, and those who ministered to the Lord, had their loins dressed in sackcloth and offered the continual burnt offering, the vows, and the free gifts of the people. 15They had ashes on their turbans. They cried to the Lord with all their power, that he would look upon all the house of Israel for good.

When a devastating army threatens, all Israel does one thing: they cry out to God, and they do it with their whole being. Every man, woman, and child puts on sackcloth; they fast, throw ashes on their heads, fall prostrate before the temple, and even drape the altar in sackcloth. It is not a polite, half-hearted prayer; it is a whole people, desperate and humbled, crying out to God together with everything they have.

Notice the earnestness and the humility. They do not scheme first or trust their own strength; they turn to God, and they turn to him lowly, in sackcloth and ashes, admitting they cannot save themselves. And notice the result the text records: the Lord heard their voice and looked on their affliction. Their humble, united, wholehearted cry reached him, and he saw.

There is something to learn here about how we pray in a crisis, especially together. We often pray thinly, as a formality, keeping our composure and our self-reliance intact. This scene shows another way: to cry out earnestly, humbly, with our whole selves, and, where we can, together, a whole community lowly before God. When you face something too big for you, do not pray thinly. Cry out to God in earnest, humbled, and if others will join you, together. The Lord hears the voice of his people and looks on their affliction.

Lord, when I face what is too big for me, keep me from praying thinly and self-reliantly. Teach me to cry out to you in earnest, humbled, with my whole self, and together with others where I can. Hear my voice, as you heard your people, and look on my affliction.