Tobit 3:1-6: a reflection

1I was grieved and wept, and prayed in sorrow, saying, 2“O Lord, you are righteous, and all your works and all your ways are mercy and truth, and you judge true and righteous judgment forever. 3Remember me, and look at me. Don’t take vengeance on me for my sins and my ignorances, and the sins of my fathers who sinned before you. 4For they disobeyed your commandments. You gave us as plunder, for captivity, for death, and for a proverb of reproach to all the nations among whom we are dispersed. 5Now your judgments are many and true, that you should deal with me according to my sins and the sins of my fathers, because we didn’t keep your commandments, for we didn’t walk in truth before you. 6Now deal with me according to that which is pleasing in your sight. Command my spirit to be taken from me, that I may be released, and become earth. For it is more profitable for me to die rather than to live, because I have heard false reproaches, and there is much sorrow in me. Command that I be released from my distress, now, and go to the everlasting place. Don’t turn your face away from me.”

In the depths of his grief and distress, so weighed down that he longs to die, Tobit turns to God in prayer; and even there, in the depths, he holds to who God is. O Lord, you are righteous, he prays, and all your works and all your ways are mercy and truth. He does not, in his sorrow, turn on God or deny his goodness; he confesses that God is righteous, that his ways are mercy and truth, even as he pours out his grief and asks to be released from his distress. In the depths, he holds to God's goodness.

Notice that Tobit, even in the depths of despair, held to God's righteousness and mercy. He was deeply grieved, longing even to die; yet he did not, in his sorrow, abandon his trust in God's goodness. He confessed that God is righteous, that his ways are mercy and truth, even while pouring out his distress. His grief did not overturn his conviction that God is good; in the depths, he held to who God is, righteous and merciful, even as he brought his sorrow to him. He clung to God's goodness in the darkness.

That holding to God's goodness in the depths is worth taking to heart, for in our own deepest sorrows, we can be tempted to abandon our trust in God's goodness. When we are deeply grieved, weighed down, even longing for release, we can turn on God, doubting or denying his goodness; but Tobit, in the depths, held to God's righteousness and mercy, confessing that his ways are good even as he brought his sorrow to him. When you are in the depths of sorrow, do not abandon your trust in God's goodness; hold to who God is, righteous and merciful, even as you pour out your grief to him, as Tobit did. Cling to God's goodness in the darkness, confessing that his ways are mercy and truth even in your deepest sorrow, and bringing your grief to him rather than turning from him, as Tobit prayed in his distress, holding to God's righteousness and mercy even as he longed for release from his sorrow.

Lord, in the depths of his grief and distress, so weighed down that he longs to die, Tobit turns to you in prayer; and even there, in the depths, he holds to who you are. O Lord, you are righteous, he prays, and all your works and all your ways are mercy and truth. He does not, in his sorrow, turn on you or deny your goodness; he confesses that you are righteous, that your ways are mercy and truth, even as he pours out his grief. In the depths, he holds to your goodness. Show me that Tobit, even in the depths of despair, held to your righteousness and mercy. He was deeply grieved, longing even to die; yet he did not abandon his trust in your goodness. He confessed that you are righteous, that your ways are mercy and truth, even while pouring out his distress. His grief did not overturn his conviction that you are good. Take that holding to your goodness in the depths to my heart, for in my own deepest sorrows, I can be tempted to abandon my trust in your goodness. When I am deeply grieved, weighed down, even longing for release, I can turn on you, doubting or denying your goodness; but Tobit, in the depths, held to your righteousness and mercy. When I am in the depths of sorrow, keep me from abandoning my trust in your goodness; help me hold to who you are, righteous and merciful, Lord, even as I pour out my grief to you, as Tobit did. Help me cling to your goodness in the darkness, confessing that your ways are mercy and truth even in my deepest sorrow.