I Beseech Thee

Scripture is filled with the Spirit-inspired prayers of God’s saints. Prayers for blessing, protection, wisdom, and even His Spirit fill the pages of our Bible. One would be wise to study every prayer that God has sovereignly placed within His Word for our learning and edification. The prayers of our Savior must have been like nothing His disciples had ever seen before as witnessed in their request to Him found in Luke 11:1

 “And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.:”

A convicting question would be - “Has anyone ever asked that of me?” Do we know what true prayer looks like, and do we know what we should be asking for from our heavenly Father? I would like to briefly touch on a prayer, a conversation between God and man, found in Exodus 32-33. A prayer most precious in its raw simplicity and desire.

We find Israel in a dire state at the beginning of Exodus 32.

“And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.” 

Due to their rebellious and unregenerate hearts, many Israelites commit spiritual adultery against God by worshiping the golden calf fashioned by Aaron. All of this is happening right at the foot of Mount Sinai where God is meeting with Moses and giving him the Ten Commandments. God’s wrath is greatly kindled against Israel for this abomination and declares that He will wipe out Israel and make Moses a great nation instead. This statement begins a beautiful and intimate conversation between Moses and the great I AM. Here we have an insight into one of the first intercessory prayers found in Scripture in vs 11-13:

“And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?

Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.”

Moses did not desire to be made a great nation. He simply prayed God’s promises to Abraham back to Him. He cared greatly for the name of the Lord and how others viewed God. And we do see later that this intercession was used to illustrate both the intercessory work of Christ on our behalf and also how effectual our prayers are on behalf of others. Through God’s sovereign foreknowledge and ordination, Moses’ prayer led Him to “repent” from destroying Israel in this moment. This selfless intercession by Moses, though convicting and beautiful in its own right, pales in comparison to the words spoken between God and him later in chapter 33.

The beginning of Exodus 33 reveals the severity of what Israel has done in their wicked behavior in forsaking God and whoring after false, demonic gods. In verses 1-3, God declares something that catapults us into seeing the well-spring of Moses’ heart that had led him to intercede in the first place.

“And the Lord said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:

And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:

Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.”

Though not destroyed, God’s judgment upon Israel will be to remove His holy presence from them as they go to claim the promised land. He will instead send an angel to drive out the Canaanites before the nation. This rightly grieves the people as they are fearful of being consumed by God for their wickedness, yet Moses is grieved for a far more deeper reason: God’s presence will no longer be with them. So, Moses once again intercedes on behalf of Israel, but it is far more personal this time as we look at Ex. 33: 12, 13:

“And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.

Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.”

            Moses is once again bringing up the Word of Almighty God. He holds the words and promises of God in the highest regard. We see the depth of Moses’ love for his relationship with God beginning to shine as his prayers turn more into interceding, not just for Israel, but for his own behalf as well. He does not want an angel to replace the holy presence of God as nothing can compare or substitute being in the Lord’s presence. Remember, he has been on Mount Sinai communing and being instructed by the voice of God for so long that the nation of Israel seems to think he might have died! How could he be satisfied with just an angel, though glorious and wondrous in their own right, when he has heard the voice of God who has created all things?

            In verse 14, God quickly informs Moses that His presence will go with him. Once again, Moses has interceded on behalf of Israel yet more indirectly this time. By securing the presence of God for himself, he also secures the presence of God for the whole nation of Israel. And we see in the next verses (v. 15, 16) Moses’ yearning heart for God reveal even more of itself.

“And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.

For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.”

God had just informed him that He would go with him and Israel. Still, Moses reveals more of the motivation behind his intercession for Israel. While Israel only cares about reaching the promised land, Moses only cares about the presence of God. Yet once again, in the proceeding verse, God affirms to him that He will go with him because he has found grace in His sight.

Now we come to the climax, the title of this article. How can Moses contain himself any longer after speaking face to face with the Almighty God for so long? He has been given instruction after instruction on how to lead Israel, but now he wants something specifically for himself from God. The prayer that Moses utters has no apparent practical value at first glance, whether physically or spiritually. We finally come to verse 18:

“And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.”

Throughout Scripture, there are many prayers that receive the limelight for apparent humility or sacrifice and often unintentionally steal the true focus away from the God they were sent to. Yet, this short prayer by Moses appears to often be overlooked by many a Christian. What was the motivation behind Moses’ intercession for Israel? His love for God? His own personal piety? His love for Israel? All of these answers would completely miss the mark and would utterly disregard the magnitude of what Moses just asked his Lord for.

The glory of God, the presence of God is what stirred Moses’ heart. A man who spent decades as a shepherd in the wilderness without the presence of God and seemed to be completely fine living that way now can’t stand the thought of losing His sweet presence. And after receiving God’s promise that He will stay with Moses, he goes further and begs God to show him His glory.

What wouldn’t a husband do to see his wife in person? Would he be content with pictures, letters, or phone calls? I believe we all know the answer. Do we view our walk with God in the same light? When we read Scripture and pray, does it ever cross our mind that we are communing with our loving, gracious Father? Are we content to go through mundane reading of His precious promises to just check off our devotion box for the day? Do we only receive joy for having read and prayed but have yet to see His face in Scripture?

Jesus said in John 14:21:

“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”

            Do we believe this promise? God has revealed Himself within His Word, yet so many Christians do not think to ask God to show them His glory. I pray we will follow Moses’ example by spending enough time with God in prayerful reading of His Word that eventually our natural, unceasing prayer is, “I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory.”