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Daily Devotions

Genesis

Genesis 
Day 
Day 252

"Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; Yes, our God is merciful." Psalm 116:5

Text: Genesis 32:1-32

APPRECIATING THE MERCIES OF GOD

Jacob recalled the many years of the Lord’s blessings! Surely, he had not deserved those blessings! God had been most merciful to him! How had he crossed the river Jordan some twenty years back? He carried only a staff then! He had fled Canaan in fear of the wrath of his brother Esau!

How was he returning now? With deep humility, Jacob acknowledged that he had “become two companies”! But of course, he must acknowledge the mercies of God! And even as he appreciated the mercies of God, he pleaded for the same mercy to be extended to him as he faced Esau!


A HUMBLE PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE

With his heart and mind filled with the mercies of God, Jacob cried out to the Lord for deliverance.

“Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother,
from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come
and attack me and the mother with the children.
For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make
your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot
be numbered for multitude.'”
GENESIS 32:11-12

“Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother…”

Deliverance from the hand of Esau! That was the most desperate need of the hour! Would God not continue to be merciful and indeed deliver him?

“I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children”

Jacob may have been a little afraid of Laban, but he was in terror of Esau. He could handle his father-in-law, but Esau was a different kind of an enemy! In Jacob’s mind, Esau was capable of not only attacking him even though he was his brother. He feared that Esau was hard-hearted enough to make war on women and children! He was in terror of such a man!

“You said…”

Once again, Jacob recalled what the Lord God had promised him when he was on his way to Padan Aram.

“The land on which you lie I will give to you
and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be
as the dust of the earth…”
GENESIS 28:13(b)-14(a)

Jacob focused his heart and mind to dwell on the Lord’s word of promise! If ever Jacob needed the Lord to remember His promise, surely this was the moment! Esau and his four hundred men threatened the very existence of his family! Great was the cry that ascended to God from the heart of His servant Jacob!