Invoke God’s Character When You Pray

Parashat Chayei Sarah, Genesis 23:1–25:18

Matt Absolon, Beth T’filah, Miramar, FL

And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.” Genesis 24:12–14

Our past two portions, Vayeira and Chayei Sarah, have highlighted the direct and, dare I say, deliberately calculating way in which our protagonists talk with God. Last week we read that astonishing negotiation between Abraham and God for the righteous living among Sodom and Gomorrah. At the outset of the negotiation Abraham asked a question that constrained the Lord into a moral corner: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Gen 18:25). The brilliance of Abraham’s question is not just that it has a rhetorical tone, but that it also compels the hand of the Lord to respond according to his own character trait of justice.

I imagine the Lord experiencing a similar emotion of delight as I do as a father when one of my own children corners me with a well-thought-out question.

Likewise with the Shunammite woman’s piercing question to Elisha in last week’s haftarah reading: “Then she said, ‘Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, “Do not deceive me?”’” (2 Kings 4:28). In that heart-wrenching moment she posed a question that intentionally placed a moral burden upon Elisha to act with integrity towards her. Her interrogation was not just a plea, but an accusation of bad faith (towards Elisha), clothed in a cry of despair.

In similar manner, in this week’s reading, we see Abraham’s servant, who is generally accepted to be Eliezer, formulate a request to the Lord that at face value seems innocuous, but upon further analysis seems to be constraining God into a corner, forcing God’s hand to act. “By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master” (Gen 24:14b). By steadfast love he means hesed, often translated as “lovingkindness,” that particular love that God has towards his children, just to make it very specific and very personal.

Rav Sh’muel ben Nachmani in Talmud, Tractate Ta’anit 4, names three people whose requests to God were considered inappropriate, Eliezer’s request here being one of the three (Saul and Jephthah being the other two). Eliezer is invoking an “if, then” clause into his prayer. If you grant my request, then I will know you love Abraham. At face value it can seem that Eliezer is manipulating God into granting his request. In the same way one of my wonderful children might say to me, “Abba, if you truly love me, do this (request) for me.” But it’s not that at all.

Rashi, in disagreement with Rav Sh’muel’s assessment, finds Eliezer’s prayer reasonable. “If she is of his family and a fit companion for him, I shall know that thou hast shown kindness to my master.” In other words, through Rebecca, God’s hesed is made manifest.

In Genesis 12 God made a promise to Abraham, a promise that he later restated as an oath at the Akedah, the Binding of Isaac. God said to Abraham, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you…” (Gen 22:16–17). This is the strongest of all possible oaths made in the entire universe because it is an oath that God made upon himself. In other words, God’s very name, his character, his integrity, is bound up in this oath that he swore unto our father Abraham. One Jewish reading places Eliezer as one of the “young men” that Abraham took with him on the journey to Mount Moriah and the binding of Isaac (Gen 22:3). Following this tradition, Eliezer was there to meet Abraham as he returned from the mountain top experience, and Eliezer was reminding God of the promise he had made to bless Abraham and show him lovingkindness or hesed.

In the three prayers that we have read these past two weeks, we see the heroes of the story, our forefathers and foremothers, invoke the character of God in their supplications before him. Abraham invoked the Lord’s characteristic of justice; Eliezer invoked the Lord’s promise of hesed; and the Shunammite woman invoked the Lord’s integrity (via proxy through Elisha). Oftentimes when we are faced with overwhelming challenges in our life, we forget the character traits of our heavenly Father and we fall into despair or doubt. But these great heroes of our people show us a different path. Perhaps the purpose of our challenge is to remind us to lean upon the steadfast love of the Lord and to remember the character traits of the God of Abraham.

A word of teaching; it’s always good to remember the character traits of the Lord and meditate upon them. God is just; he is full of lovingkindness; he is a God of integrity and faithfulness. These character traits of the Lord are just the beginning of the depth of God’s heart. He is kind; He is pure; He is gentle; He is humble; He is lowly; He is a warrior; He is jealous; He is wonderful. We do well to meditate upon these things.

A word of encouragement; just like our forefathers, we too can invoke the character of God in our prayers. Not that God needs reminding, but we undoubtedly do. Seek the Lord in this way and remember that he is a shield for all who take refuge in him (Psa 18:30). He was a shield to Abraham, to Eliezer, and to the Shunammite woman, and he is our shield as well.