A Margin Meditation on Psalm 106

[Margin Meditations are things I wrote in the margins of my bible as I journeyed through it from cover-to-cover intentioning to glean something from every page.]

 "Intercession of a faithful few can turn away the wrath of God for the faithless many."

Followers of Jesus, do you believe this is true? There are examples of it ALL over the Bible.

Prayer is not necessarily intercession. It is not difficult to pray for someone or something; prayer is as simple as communing with God.

Intercession is a different sort of thing. We see in Psalm 106 that Moses “stood in the breach before [God] to turn away His wrath from destroying [Israel]” A breach is defined as “a break in a wall made by battering.” To stand in the breach would be to face great danger that the wall protected from, and it would require great courage.

We also see in verse 30 that Phinehas “stood up and intervened” to end a plague that Israel was experiencing because of their idolatry. To intervene means “to come between so as to prevent or alter a result or course of events.” Phinehas placed himself between righteous, angry God and his dying people and changed the course of the plague.

Who were these men to stand between God and the people who had continually and repetitively sinned and rebelled against Him? I will tell you my thoughts…They were men who knew the character and nature of God, who believed that His default is love, not anger. God’s wrath is a responsive attribute, it is provoked and poured out in precise measure to the sin and evil that caused it to arise. But does He take pleasure in administering it? No! However, He does take great pleasure in our turning back to Him. And intercession can stop His wrath as it appeals to the great mercy of His loving nature.

As you watch the year unfold, I want you to remember this meditation. Instead of wrath this year—because of intercession—we get severe mercy; what is going to happen is for the purpose of turning hearts back to the Lord.

And here is one other little gem I found in Revelation relating to this meditation: Unlike His love, grace, power or so many of His other attributes, the Lord’s wrath will end (Rev 15:1), because one day sin will end.

But until that day, may our lives reflect that we truly believe that “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16b)