Unworthy

I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness

and of all the faithfulness

which You have shown to Your servant.

Genesis 32:10

In Genesis 32 we discover the first time that Jacob calls upon the name of the Lord. He is about to have to encounter his brother, Esau. Jacob has found himself between a rock and a hard place. He has Laban behind him, and he has Esau before him, who the last time he saw him, was ready to kill him. So with nowhere to run and fear gripping him, Jacob turns to God.

Jacob cries out, asking for God’s deliverance. He doesn’t ask out of his own merit or out of his own right, for Jacob has come face-to-face with his own unworthiness. Jacob appeals to God from the promise that God Himself had made him. He appeals to God according to the covenant and according to the word of God.

We are beginning to see evidence of the work that God has been doing on Jacob’s heart. He is finally coming to the realization that all that he has is because of the God of his fathers. He has come to know that God has kept the words that he spoke to him at Bethel (Genesis 28:13–15). He now comes before God and reminds God of these words, of this promise, again. He knows that he does not deserve God’s help, but he knows that God honors His word.

Jacob’s deliverance was not based on his righteous acts but on the covenant of God. “For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith” (Romans 4:13). God had promised Jacob that He would see him safely home. He had promised him that his descendants would inherit the land. He had promised him that He would not leave him until He had done all that He had promised him. This promise was made to Jacob, the deceiver. This promise was made before Jacob claimed the God of his fathers as his own.

This is the same confidence we have today. The promises of God are never first made to the saint. They are made to the sinner. When the sinner hears the promise, he then comes before God and appeals to Him according to His word. The sinner comes knowing he does not deserve God’s deliverance, but still he comes.

When the sinner sees that God has kept His word, even though he, the sinner, was unworthy, he realizes that this God is true and faithful. Then he puts all his trust in this God. It is then that this sinner becomes the saint.

Oh, precious one, have you come face-to-face with your own unworthiness?

Have you realized your state as a sinner?

Have you realized that apart from God there is no good in you?

Are you standing between a rock and a hard place?

Then look up to the One who calls you.

Salvation through Christ is not based on our own righteousness but on the grace of God and the promise of His Word, “for by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

My friend, be fully assured that what God has promised, He is able to perform (Romans 4:21). Abraham believed God, and he was credited righteous, as was Jacob, and as are we when we believe.

Oh Father,

How unworthy I am of Your lovingkindness and Your faithfulness. How thankful I am that Your love and faithfulness is not dependent upon mine. You say that even if we are faithless, You remain faithful, for You cannot deny Yourself (2 Timothy 2:13). I have done nothing to earn or deserve Your love, but You offer it freely without cost. My Jesus, you are the mediator of a better covenant (Hebrews 8:6). Through this covenant I am able to have confidence to enter the holy place through Your blood, which means that when I stumble and fall, when I fail You, when I sin against You, I can still run boldly to Your throne and in true repentance seek Your deliverance. Oh Father, I thank You and give You all the glory and praise!

My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,

Amen.