READ: Genesis 32:3-12
I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant. —Genesis 32:10
Unlike those who think highly of themselves, Jacob knew that he had been ruined by sin (Gen. 32:10). He thought himself a man unworthy of God’s grace. He had cheated his brother Esau out of his birthright (ch.27), and his brother hated him for it. Now, years later, Jacob was going to face Esau again.
“I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies,” Jacob prayed, using a word for “least” that suggests the tiniest object. “Deliver me, I pray” (32:10-11).
How odd to see those phrases side by side: I am unworthy of Your mercies . . . . Deliver me! Yet Jacob could pray for mercy because his hope lay not in his own worth, but in God’s promise to look with favor on those who throw themselves at His feet. Humility and contrition are the keys that open the heart of God. Someone has said that the best disposition for praying is being stripped of everything. It is crying out of the depths. It comes from the soul that knows its deep depravity.
Such prayers are offered by those who are thoroughly convicted of their sin and shame, but, at the same time, are convinced of God’s grace that goes out to undeserving sinners. God hears best those who cry out: “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). —David Roper
Lord, I am like Jacob, in need of Your mercy.
I have failed You, and I bow at Your feet today.
Thank You for being a merciful God, ready
and able to forgive and restore me.
Thank You for being a merciful God, ready
and able to forgive and restore me.
It is fitting for a great God to forgive great sinners.
Insight
Jacob had good reason to fear his brother Esau. With trickery and deception, Jacob had stolen both Esau’s inheritance (Gen. 25) and his blessing (Gen. 27). Esau’s last recorded words before he met Jacob again (Gen. 32) were “I will kill my brother Jacob” (27:41).
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