Day 249: Prayer of Judith

Jeremiah 37:1-21 The events of this chapter probably occurred while Judah was under siege from Babylon. The Babylonian army interrupted their invasion of Judah to do battle with the Egyptians. It was during this break in the fighting that Zedekiah asked Jeremiah to intervene with the Lord. Jeremiah responded that the Chaldeans (Babylonians) would return and raze Jerusalem. When Jeremiah visited his hometown, he was accused of consorting with the enemy, since Anathoth was already behind enemy lines. Beaten and imprisoned, Jeremiah was interrogated by the king but did not back down on his prophecy.

Ch 38:1-28 The prophet was cast into a cistern but was saved from death by the Ethiopian official Ebed-melech. Interrogated by Zedekiah again, Jeremiah restated that the king should surrender to the Babylonians; if he did, he would be treated better and Jerusalem would be spared.

Judith 8:1-27 Judith, a wealthy and devout Jewish widow, criticized the city’s leaders for having taken the oath. Though they were the ones being tested, they in turn put God to the test, seeking a miracle by a five-day deadline. God, however, protected his people according to his own plan. Prayer must always be inspired by faith and trust. God allows sufferings and disappointments for the sake of purification and growth in sanctity; suffering, then, is both a means and an inducement for growing in perfection. “The purpose of penance is to overcome evil, which under different forms lies dormant in man. Its purpose is also to strengthen goodness both in man himself and in his relationships with others and especially with God” (St. John Paul II, Salvifici Doloris, 12). On a practical level, Bethulia (which may be a mythical city) was said to be the final buffer between the Assyrians and Jerusalem. Judith’s wisdom pleased Uzziah, and she derived a plan to resolve the standoff with Holofernes. (CCC 312, 1040)

Ch 9:1-14 The rape of Dinah, the daughter of Jacob (cf. Gn 34), symbolizes all the indignities Israel had suffered at the hands of pagans. The Assyrians were mighty, but God is mightier still; therefore, Judith petitioned God to destroy the forces of evil. Defeat through the prayers of a woman would have been particularly shameful to the Assyrians. 

Proverbs 17:6 Mutual respect and affection  among family members maintains solidarity, harmony, and joy in the family. (CCC 2219, 2199)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• Proverbs 17:5, “He who mocks the poor insults his Maker…”

• YUP!! THAT’S RIGHT!!

• Those that just exalt themselves

• Who are the POOR?

• They can be ANYONE!

• Anyone WHO IS WITHOUT

• Anyone that our world would see as LESS THAN

• Anyone WITHOUT POWER

• BUT…

• Proverbs 17:5, “...he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.”

• We have to ask the question, “How often do I take some kind of pleasure in the suffering of others? How often do I take some kind of pleasure in finding out news or gossip about a person that I don’t like? They made a bad decision.”

• Even when it comes to celebrities, politics, and church leadership

• Maybe there are people that I don’t agree with and I don’t see them as being “on my side”

• If they do something bad and I GET HAPPY ABOUT THAT

• If they FAIL and I GET HAPPY ABOUT THAT

• THAT IS NOT GOOD!!

• That is a WEAKNESS IN OUR OWN CHARACTER when we rejoice in the failings of others, or in the CALAMITY OF OTHERS (have any of you been guilty of this lately, especially with COVID going on and people arguing over whether it’s real or not, or whether the vaccine works or not? I know I have and I am very humbled and contrite after hearing this from Fr. Mike 😞)

• This is a good way to let our hearts be PIERCED BY GOD’S WORD

• Now on to The Book of Jeremiah

• Jeremiah is NOT having a good day

• We jump back to King Zedekiah when yesterday we spent time with King Jehoiakim

• Remember, Zedekiah was placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar

• He is a PUPPET KING (But NOT a MUPPET KING!! Oooh Statler and Waldorf would have a field day with him if he was 🤪)

• He comes to Jeremiah and says, “Hey, tell me. I won’t say anything, but what is going on? What do I need to know?”

• Jeremiah tells him the same thing that he has been telling him the entire time, “You need to surrender to the King of Babylon and Jerusalem will continue to stand and the people will be saved and God will ultimately win. But if you fight, then I gotta tell ya Nebuchadnezzar is going to win and you are going to be DESTROYED.”

• On SO MANY HUMAN LEVELS you can completely understand why the leaders would be upset with Jeremiah

• Especially those who are trying to rally the troops

• Especially those who are trying to get the people to support them and be on the side of fighting

• Honestly, if you thought that was the way to go, you would HATE someone like Jeremiah

• Jeremiah keeps saying, “No! The thing that we need to do, and God even says this, we need to SURRENDER.”

• You would think THAT IS SO BACKWARDS!

• So what do they do?

• First they throw him in prison then they throw him in the cistern

• There’s something about Jeremiah being in the cistern that is SO GOOD (Huh? Que??? 🤨)

• What does that mean?

• The IMAGE of Jeremiah in Ch 38:6, “So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern...letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mire, and Jeremiah sank in the mire.”

• That is so good NOT that it was great for Jeremiah

• BUT…

• The visual of Jeremiah sinking in the mire

• There is something about the Prophet Jeremiah

• HE ALLOWED HIMSELF TO SUFFER WITH THE PEOPLE

• These people were suffering

• The city was suffering

• The whole land of Judah was suffering

• JEREMIAH DID NOT EXEMPT HIMSELF FROM THAT SUFFERING

• He had a chance to SURRENDER to Babylon and done fine

• He could have STOPPED PREACHING

• He even says, “I wish I could do this. I wish I could just stop saying what I have to say. But if I stop saying God’s Word, then it burns in my heart and I have to speak out. I have to cry out.”

• But Jeremiah does not do that

• Jeremiah allows himself to SUFFER WITH THE PEOPLE

• JEREMIAH IS AN IMAGE OF CHRIST IN THAT

• That image of Jeremiah sinking in the mire is an image of Jesus

• An image of Jesus who DOES NOT EXEMPT HIMSELF FROM OUR SUFFERING

• JESUS DOES NOT EXEMPT HIMSELF FROM OUR PAIN

• Jesus enters DEEPLY into our SUFFERING

• Jesus enters DEEPLY into our MIRE

• WHAT A GIFT!!

• Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian hero, rescues Jeremiah and says to the king, “Listen, you can’t do this. He is the prophet.”

• For whatever reason, Zedekiah listens to him and it is SO GOOD

• BUT…

• What’s going to happen tomorrow is the FALL OF JERUSALEM

• Remember, Nebuchadnezzar by this point has already had TWO WAVES of exile going to Babylon

• AND YET…

• Jerusalem still stands

• Jerusalem will not stand much longer

• And so we have to note that

• On the other hand, when it comes to victory, we are finally introduced to JUDITH

• Judith is an INCREDIBLE HEROINE of the Old Testament

• Now hopefully you get a sense of who this woman is and what her character was

• The beginning of Judith Ch 8 is The Character of Judith

• Her beauty will play into the story as we move forward

• BUT…

• She is also, as Scripture says, PRUDENT

• She is DISCERNING IN JUDGMENT

• She is QUITE VIRTUOUS

• Judith is THEBOMB.COM (I prefer to say, “She is all that and a bag of potato chips (preferably the kettle cooked sea salt and cracked black pepper version” 😉)

• She is INCREDIBLE

• Remember yesterday Uzziah said, “Listen, people of Bethulia, I know it’s been 34 days without water. We are going to give God five more days and he is going to save us. But if he doesn’t, that’s fine.”

• BUT…

• Judith says to Uzziah and the elders, “Listen! You can’t give God a timeline!”

• TALK ABOUT PIERCING THE HEART!!

• HOW MANY OF US WANT TO GIVE GOD A TIMELINE ALL OF THE TIME??

• The temptation is to say, “Ok God you need to help me by this point. And if you don’t, whatever the consequences are.”

• We give God some sort of ULTIMATUM

• As if we can BRIBE GOD into helping us

• As if we can CONVINCE GOD, “Here’s the thing, God. I know you know everything. I know you love better, love infinitely, love perfectly. But if you don’t love me the way that I want you to love me in the time I want you to love me according to my rules and my expectations, then NAH. I’m not going to LET YOU BE GOD IN MY LIFE.”

• And Judith says, “YOU CANNOT DO THAT.”

• In response to Judith Uzziah says, “Yeah.”

• Judith 8:28-29, “Then Uzziah said to her, ‘All that you have said has been spoken out of a true heart, and there is no one who can deny your words. Today is not the first time your wisdom has been shown, but from the beginning of your life all the people have recognized your understanding, for your heart’s disposition is right.’”

• YOUR HEART’S DISPOSITION IS RIGHT

• It’s not simply that Judith STUDIED MORE THAN EVERYONE ELSE

• In our world, we have reduced WISDOM to KNOWLEDGE

• And we have reduced KNOWLEDGE to DATA

• “I know a lot of facts. I know a lot of trivia.”

• So the people we hold up as being the WISEST are just the people who KNOW THE MOST, the people who have the MOST FACTS

• AND YET…

• REAL WISDOM IS NOT JUST KNOWING THE FACTS

• REAL WISDOM IS NOT JUST STUDYING 

• We WANT to study!

• We want to know the Lord with all our heart and mind and soul and strength

• So we NEED to use our MINDS

• BUT…

• Judith is not wise because SHE HAS LEARNED SO MUCH

• Judith is wise because HER HEART’S DISPOSITION IS RIGHT

• THIS IS SO INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT

• Uzziah said, “The people have recognized your understanding because your heart’s disposition is right. But the people were very thirsty...and made us take an oath which we cannot break. So pray for us.”

• Judith 8:32, “Judith said to them, ‘Listen to me. I am about to do a thing which will go down through all generations of our descendants.”

• She tells them to be ready

• Go back and read the PRAYER OF JUDITH in Judith Ch 9

• WHAT AN INCREDIBLE INCREDIBLE TRUST IN THE LORD

• NOT ONLY TRUST IN THE LORD

• IT IS A PRAYER OF PRAISE

• One of the things we have are PRAYERS OF PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

• When we PRAISE GOD, we honor him for WHO HE IS

• When we THANK GOD, we thank him for WHAT HE HAS DONE

• This Prayer of Judith is NOT simply intercession

• It is FULL OF PRAISE

• It is FULL OF THANKSGIVING

• How many times in this simple prayer does Judith describe God to God?

• YOU ARE THE GOD OF THE LOWLY

• YOU ARE THE HELPER OF THE OPPRESSED

• YOU ARE UPHOLDER OF THE WEAK

• YOU ARE THE PROTECTOR OF THE FORLORN

• YOU ARE THE SAVIOR OF THOSE WITHOUT HOPE

• You guys, if you EVER EVER want to know how to give God PRAISE, it is THAT!

• Talk to God and tell him WHO HE IS

• YOU ARE THE LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

• YOU ARE THE CREATOR OF THE WATERS

• YOU ARE KING OF ALL CREATION

• Judith’s prayer of intercession is a PROFOUND AND BEAUTIFUL PRAYER OF PRAISE

• Remember, PRAISE GOES UP FIRST! (Do you remember when we first heard this? Oh about 229 days ago! Go read Day 20: Judah and Tamar in The Bible in a Year Study Guide for a refresher 😁)

• JUDITH and JUDAH are VERY SIMILAR

• Fr. Mike guesses that Judith’s name is a derivation of Judah

• Maybe Judith’s name ALSO MEANS PRAISE

• THAT WOULD MAKE A LOT OF SENSE!!

• Her prayer of PETITION, her prayer of INTERCESSION is almost above anything else, A PRAYER OF PRAISE

• FR. MIKE GIVES GOD THANKS FOR WHO HE IS AND PRAISE FOR WHO HE IS

• FR. MIKE GIVES GOD THANKS FOR YOU!!

• Here we are in Day 249 TOGETHER

• GIVE GOD THANKS FOR EACH OTHER!!

• Thank you SO MUCH for being part of this community!!

• Thank you SO MUCH for continuing on this journey!!

• You DO NOT have to have listened to this podcast every day without fail

• Because you’ve made it to Day 249

• WHETHER IT WAS PERFECT EVERY SINGLE DAY

• OR WHETHER THERE WERE SOME STUMBLES IN THERE

• IT DOES NOT MATTER

• BECAUSE YOU MADE IT TO TODAY, DAY 249

• THAT IS NOT SMALL

• THAT IS NOT LITTLE

• THAT IS PRETTY IMPORTANT

• AND SO ARE YOU!!

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

• PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise and glory. We thank you so much. Gosh, Lord, thank you! Thank you for the witness of Jeremiah. Thank you for the courage and faithfulness of Judith. Thank you so much for the fact that we are not the first people to walk this road. That whatever road we are walking today, we are not the first upon this path. That there are so many who have walked before us, who have walked in trial, who have walked in testing, who have walked in darkness, and not knowing where the path would lead, but knowing that you were with them, that YOU ARE WITH US. Lord God, surround us not only with your Grace and your Presence, but also remind us that we are surrounded by those who have gone before us. That cloud of witnesses from Hebrews Ch 12, that cloud of witnesses that cheers us on, that prays for us, and intercedes on our behalf, that gives glory to you, and intercedes for us. We are not the first, Lord God, and we will not be the last. But help us to be faithful. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”