PRAYER PRACTICE
Out loud, pray for God to
speak to you through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the
Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God
through the passage.
DAILY READING
DEVOTION / REFLECTION
Protection Within and Without
by Pr. Dave Mann
When studying the Bible, sometimes we come upon difficult passages. Some people have the advantage of being able
to read the Scriptures in the original languages. But the vast majority of us are not so
gifted. The next best thing is to
compare various versions. This will give
us different perspectives of the challenging words. This is especially true when a study Bible
gives some alternative translations for a word or phrase. Personally, I like to compare the ESV, the
NASB, the NIV, and the NLT. There are
two key words in today’s short passage that are worthy of a deeper dive by
comparing different versions.
Ezra is praying for protection from the Lord for the people of God
who have recently returned to Jerusalem from the land of Persia where they had
been in exile. Rebuilding the city of
Jerusalem and the region of Judea was quite difficult and dangerous. Ezra’s prayer reveals his repentant heart,
admitting that the people do not deserve the Lord’s grace and favor. Nevertheless, he leans into God’s mercy,
pleading for protection. But what kind
of protection?
If you consult several versions, you see that Ezra asks the Lord to
give them “a secure hold,” “a peg,” “a
firm place,” “security.” One study
Bible states that the word in Hebrew is actually “nail.” All of these possible translations get at
something that holds things together – in the interior. It is as though Ezra is praying, “Nail us
together, Lord! We need your super-duper
divine glue!” The people of God had been
in exile, under the authority and oppression of a foreign government. Now, they are back in their original country,
more or less on their own, and the internal cohesion of the unity of the people
was at risk. Ezra prays, “Hold us firmly together, O Lord!”
But that is not all Ezra prays for. Toward the end of verse 9, Ezra prays that
God would give them “protection,” “a wall,” “a wall of protection,” “a
protective wall.” Whether Ezra was
praying for a physical wall (to be provided in the next book of Nehemiah) or for
a spiritual wall, that is not crystal clear. But what is clear is that there were threats from the outside. Other ideas and spiritual challenges wanted
to penetrate into the hearts of God’s people and draw them away from following
the Lord. Ezra prayed for protection
from menacing threats from the outside.
Lord God, the need for protection has not disappeared over the
years. We still need Ezra’s prayer for
today. Protect us from threats from
within and threats from without. We do
not deserve it, but we trust in your mercy. In Jesus’ name. Amen
