Word of Encouragement (05/24/2023)
And they answered Joshua, "All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you, as he was with Moses! 18 Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous." (Josh. 1:16-18)
What we have are the words of the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in response to Joshua’s command to honor their promise to fight with the other tribes until they took possession of the land. (As you know, they decided to stay in the Transjordan area, which was good for the large flocks and herds they had.) This was not their (direct) prayer to God. It was in response to the command God had given to them through Joshua, their new leader after Moses’ death. As they were responding to God’s message, we can see this as a prayer offered to God, though through a mediator. This was not a typical prayer in another sense: even though it had a petition, asking God to be with Joshua (v. 17b), it was mainly a vow, which is a form of prayer. So, we will reflect on this prayer.
In this prayer, the two and a half tribes were vowing to obey Joshua’s command to remember their vow. We should be careful about making a vow because God takes it seriously, and we will not be guiltless if we break it (Num. 30:2ff; Deut. 23:21-23). God is a true and faithful God; He detests falsehood and promise-breaking. But there are times when it is only right for us to make certain promises as a sign of our commitment to the Lord or to the work God has entrusted to us. So, we exchange vows in the name of the triune God at the wedding. We make a vow when we baptize our children to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We also make a vow when we make a profession of faith and are received as a member. Breaking any of these vows can lead to church discipline.
Besides these, there are other times when it is appropriate to declare our commitment to fulfilling our duties as Christians. One is at the Lord’s Supper. It is ideal that we should not only confess our sins but also repent of them before we come to the Table in our preparation for the Supper. A part of our preparation should be to reconcile with those, with whom we have a conflict, either by asking for forgiveness or granting forgiveness; we should at least initiate reconciliation before we come to the Table. We can see why. How can we partake of this sacred meal while we harbor sins in our hearts, unwilling to part with them?
(I’d like to hasten to add that we should not stay away from the Lord’s Supper even when we feel too weak to turn away from our sins. Jesus established the Lord’s Supper because we are weak and in need of spiritual nourishment, to do what God has called us to do, including repentance. It is when we feel frail and disheartened that we should come to the Table to receive our heavenly nourishment. The important thing here is that we acknowledge our sin as sin and desire to be free from it.)
And there are times in our Christian life when we feel that we need to make a decisive move for our spiritual growth—whether it is to make a clean break from our habitual sin or make a certain sacrifice for God or do something extraordinary for our church or fellow saints. It may be just between God and us. But making that kind of promise can push us over the cliff of indecision into the almighty hand of God’s lordship.
In the covenant of redemption, God promised to redeem His fallen people through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is because He kept it as our true and faithful God that we are saved. As those who are saved by God’s covenant faithfulness, it is only right that we grow in our covenant faithfulness to God, who will help us without fail.