Genesis 18:16-33; Psalm 18:16-30

Genesis 18:16-33
One of the three men whom we met in the first part of Genesis 18 was clearly God since He knew Sarah's thoughts. As they leave, Abraham goes along with them. The other two men are angels.
As they travel toward Sodom and Gomorrah, the Lord reveals to us, the reader, what He is doing. Apparently, the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah was so grave (v. 20), that God had determined to judge them. Of course, God knows everything, and He certainly knew the extent of their sin, and He knew what He would do. But because of the great future God had for Abraham and his descendants, God revealed His intention to him.

The two men (angels) now turn to go to Sodom, and the Lord speaks with Abraham. This is an Old Testament interaction of God with an individual, but it's really quite unique. James 2:23 calls Abraham the "friend of God." v. 22 tells us that "Abraham still stood before the LORD." He intercedes for the people of Sodom which included his nephew Lot and his family. He first asks God to spare the city if he can find 50 righteous people. This proves impossible, and Abraham humbly and respectfully continues his prayer, finally asking God to spare the city if he can find 10 righteous people. And God, in His mercy, agreed to spare the city if 10 righteous people could be found. We will see in Chapter 19, that even this was not possible though surely Lot's family alone numbered at least 10!

The lesson we can learn from Abraham's prayer is this: God is just, and He will judge sin, but we can be thankful that He is also merciful. He took no pleasure in destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. We also see that in some way which we don't fully understand, prayer changes things! God is omniscient (He knows everything), and we are not, and so we can't exactly comprehend how prayer can change anything, but the Bible clearly teaches that it does. And so, as Hebrews 4:16 tells us, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Psalm 18:16-30

David continues His praise to Lord who has done so much for him!

For our meditation: 
"As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the LORD is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him."