Word of Encouragement (01/04/2022)
Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me” (Gen. 4:13-14).
From today, we will survey the prayers in the Old Testament, starting with the Book of Genesis. In this lament of Cain, we see how deeply sin has corrupted his heart. This warns us against his way of thinking. It serves also as an encouragement when we can see the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
This may not seem like a prayer. Cain is not asking God to do anything. But, as you know, not all prayers are petitions. These words can qualify as a prayer of lament. This lament takes place in Cain’s conversation with God after his sin of fratricide is discovered and God pronounces his punishment. After hearing his sentence, Cain breaks into a lament.
In this lament, he complains about the heaviness of his sentence: “My punishment is greater than I can bear.” What was God’s sentence? “And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth” (Gen. 4:11-12). It was two-fold: to be cursed from the ground and to be a fugitive and wanderer. The former is a reiteration of the curse God pronounced on Adam when he sinned. It also suggests that these curses are tailored to suit Cain’s sin. He was cursed from the ground because it received his brother’s blood from his hand. Why the latter punishment was given is not fully explained but we can venture to surmise. He laments, “...and from your face I shall be hidden.” Since his sin was related to the offerings he and Abel made to God (which is in the presence of God), he was banished from the presence (which, in Hebrew, is “face”) of God. It also shows that our life from the presence of God is a life of restless wandering as a fugitive.
It is interesting to note what Cain does not say in this lament. There is no confession of sin. There is no expression of remorse. There is no promise of repentance. There is only complaint about how unbearable God’s punishment is. It is quite amazing, isn’t it? He killed his brother out of raging jealousy despite God’s warning. Yet, he shows little awareness of the magnitude of his guilt. The only thing he can see is how hard his life is going to be because of God’s punishment. Of course, if he doesn’t see his wrong, any punishment from God will seem too harsh.
They say sin blinds us. But that’s only a half of the truth. While sin blinds us to the truth, it tricks us to see all kinds of falsities and distortions. If we take Cain’s approach to life, we will be the most difficult people to deal with—totally unaware of our problems and wrongs while blaming others, including God, for our miseries. And we will not be able to learn from our mistakes and grow through our failures. We will only grow resentful and bitter because others, including God, cannot change quickly enough for us. Worst of all, we will never experience the sweetness and joy of God’s forgiveness because we will never ask for one.
But if there is a conviction of sin in our hearts, the humility to acknowledge our sin before God and ask for forgiveness, and the desire to turn away from sin, we can be assured that the Holy Spirit is at work in our hearts. We may be motivated by the fear of God’s discipline rather than the sinfulness of sin. But we will grow in our holiness as long as we do not deny our sin or stop coming to God for forgiveness. May the Lord continue to keep our hearts tender and sensitive to the convicting and comforting work of the Holy Spirit!