Incomprehensible Things
"I will establish My covenant with [Isaac] as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him."
GENESIS 17:19
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Incomprehensible Things
Abraham, not to mention ourselves, never understood. Still less did he have the courage to ask for or to have in mind a promise so great and so rich. To be sure, he longs for a son and is content with the fact that Ishmael is born to him by the maid. . .. God, however, makes use of a different way, one that is more acceptable, even though it is unexpected, and gives him a son, not only from his own flesh but also from the aged, barren, and dead Sarah. . .. Nor is this enough. To this promise there is attached the promise of the forgiveness of sins and of eternal life. How could Abraham have thought of these things, or how could he have had the courage to ask for them? Thus we are weak, and our heart does not understand the boundless mercy of God. . .. We are frightened from both sides, by the immensity of the evils that confront us and by the magnitude of the future favor which we must seek to obtain. . .. Yet we must learn that we should pray even in the most desperate evils and hope for the unexpected and the impossible. … For we have a God who is able to give more than we understand or ask for. Even though we do not know what we should ask for and how, nevertheless the Spirit of God, who dwells in the hearts of the godly, sighs and groans for us within us with inexpressible groanings and also procures inexpressible and incomprehensible things.
GENESIS 17:19
+
Incomprehensible Things
Abraham, not to mention ourselves, never understood. Still less did he have the courage to ask for or to have in mind a promise so great and so rich. To be sure, he longs for a son and is content with the fact that Ishmael is born to him by the maid. . .. God, however, makes use of a different way, one that is more acceptable, even though it is unexpected, and gives him a son, not only from his own flesh but also from the aged, barren, and dead Sarah. . .. Nor is this enough. To this promise there is attached the promise of the forgiveness of sins and of eternal life. How could Abraham have thought of these things, or how could he have had the courage to ask for them? Thus we are weak, and our heart does not understand the boundless mercy of God. . .. We are frightened from both sides, by the immensity of the evils that confront us and by the magnitude of the future favor which we must seek to obtain. . .. Yet we must learn that we should pray even in the most desperate evils and hope for the unexpected and the impossible. … For we have a God who is able to give more than we understand or ask for. Even though we do not know what we should ask for and how, nevertheless the Spirit of God, who dwells in the hearts of the godly, sighs and groans for us within us with inexpressible groanings and also procures inexpressible and incomprehensible things.
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2026
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