[One-Verse Meditation]

Judges 20:26 (NIV) “Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD.”

[Meditation]

Convinced of their own ‘righteousness,’ the Israelites are completely broken only after losing a staggering forty thousand men in two battles. In the face of a crushing defeat that their experience, common sense, and military strength could in no way explain, they finally realize they were wrong.

Now, they no longer ask for strategy. They simply go up to Bethel and weep, sit down before the LORD, and fast. And finally, they offer burnt offerings (to atone for their sin) and fellowship offerings (to mend their broken relationship with God). This was the real prayer, the beginning of true worship, that God had been waiting for. It was a sacrifice of a broken spirit, offered from a place where their own strength and righteousness had been completely shattered.

Only after this complete surrender does their question change: “Shall we go up again to battle… or not?” (v. 28). A genuine prayer, seeking the Lord’s will instead of their own, had begun. In turn, God’s response also changes: “Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.” This is the moment the subject of victory changes from ‘us’ to ‘God.’

This is the mystery of the gospel. It is in the very place where the strong fortress built on my experience, knowledge, and righteousness has completely crumbled—the place where everything I am is negated and I can only sit down and seek the face of the Lord—that God finally begins to work. Therefore, our failure in the Lord is not the end, but a holy starting point where God’s victory begins.

[Prayer]

Lord, help me not to be discouraged in the place of failure where my plans and righteousness crumble. Rather, let me know that this place is the starting point of worship, where I fall down before You to weep and offer burnt and fellowship offerings. Let this be a new day where I go forward relying wholly on You. Amen.
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[Daily Reading]

Judges 20:19-35