God’s Sovereign Mercy (Exodus 32:14)

And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.
—Exodus 32:14

Exodus 32:14 is one of the most theologically baffling and personally awe-inspiring, encouraging verses in all the Bible. To understand its context, at the beginning of this chapter, God’s people form a golden calf, bow down to worship it, and indulge in idolatry and immorality, while God meets with Moses on the mountain to give his law to him and to his people.

Exodus 32:14 portrays the mystery of divine sovereignty and prayer.

In verse 7, God says to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it.” Then God says, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”

In essence, God is saying, “My people deserve my judgment, and I will pour out my wrath upon them for their sin.” But verse 11 says, “Moses implored the Lord his God and said, ‘O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people?’” Moses calls on God to be gracious, to save his people, and not to pour out his wrath on them. In response to Moses’s intercession, Exodus 32:14 says, “The Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.”

Do you realize what just happened? Moses prayed, and God responded to Moses’s prayer. Moses’s prayer affected what God did.

That is why this passage is theologically baffling. Questions immediately arise: Did God change his mind? Scripture makes clear that the Lord is not a man; he does not change his mind. His will and purpose are fixed. There is much we could explore in this passage—I have preached on it before—but we cannot dive into all of that here.

Exodus 32:14 reveals that our prayers truly matter before God.

What we must see is this: God is sovereign. His purposes and promises are unchanging. Yet his plan unfolds in response to Moses’s prayer. God ordained it all. He is sovereign over Moses, being in the position to intercede. That is the beauty of this passage. God has ordained our prayers—your prayers and mine—to be the means by which his plans and purposes are accomplished in the world.

When we pray, it matters, and God acts. When we implore God on behalf of others, he hears and answers. Some might say, “If God is sovereign, why pray? If God will do what he will do, what difference does my prayer make?” But that is not what Scripture teaches. Our prayers matter. They are the means by which God, in his sovereignty, accomplishes his purposes in the world. This truth should drive us to intercession day after day, praying as though it truly matters.

So let us believe that prayer matters. Just as Moses implored the Lord his God and God answered, when we implore the Lord our God, he answers. Let us pray with faith.

O God, we praise you for the privilege of intercession. It feels bold to come before you, the sovereign Lord of the universe, and to present our requests. Yet you have ordained that when we pray—and even because we pray—you act in response to our prayers. This truth is awesome and beyond full comprehension, but we want to step fully into it.

In light of Exodus 32:14, we ask that you would relent in wrath and show mercy. There are people in our lives who are under your judgment, who have not turned and trusted in Jesus, though we have shared the gospel with them. We pray that today would be the day they turn and trust in you. Draw them to yourself. Relent in wrath. Show mercy. We intercede and implore you: show your mercy.

A Prayer for the Bhoksa People

God, as we pray for unreached peoples, we lift up the Bhoksa people in India—thousands upon thousands, with so few followers of Jesus among them. You have promised to redeem people from every nation, tribe, and tongue, including the Bhoksa.

We ask you to claim those whom you have purposed to redeem. Make your salvation known among the Bhoksa. Let our prayers be the means by which you send laborers to them, cause the gospel to reach them in India, and open their eyes to the truth. Hear our prayers even now, and let the Bhoksa people be reached with the gospel.

Teach us to intercede with faith—like Moses—believing that when we pray, you hear and you answer, according to your sovereign purposes and plans.

We praise you for the privilege of intercession. Teach us to pray with faith, trusting that when we implore you, you hear and you act by your sovereign will and grace.

In Jesus’s name, amen.