[You may listen to an old recording of this song here. The free PDF lead sheet is available here.]
A widow came before the judge
To ask for his assistance.
That lazy rascal turned away,
Unmoved by her insistence.
refrain
You are God's children;
He wants what's best for you.
All you have to do is ask.
Pray without ceasing;
Seek, and you will find.
Knock, and the door will open wide.
That lady kept on coming back;
It broke down his resistance
Till he complied with her request,
Worn out by her persistence.
(refrain)
The Lord's not like that worthless judge;
He longs to give assistance.
And He will never turn away;
He's moved by your insistence.
(refrain)
Although you keep on coming back,
You do not meet resistance.
God never tires of listening
To your prayers of persistence.
(refrain)
About This Song:
I used to really marvel at Jesus's parable about the widow and the wicked judge in Luke 18:1-5:
1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'
4 "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually come and attack me!'"
(NIV)
But then Jerry Rankin, at that time the President of the International Mission Board, shared a meditation about this parable, and I saw it in a new light. The point is that God is the very opposite of the wicked judge.
Whereas the judge had no relationship with the poor widow who needed his help and finally agreed to help her because she had worn him down, God has a personal relationship with each of His children. Like any earthly father, He wants His children to have the best He has to offer.
The refrain comes from 1 Thessalonians 5:17:
Pray without ceasing.
(NIV)
and Matthew 7:7:
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."
(NIV)
Unlike the wicked judge, God respects our persistence. We don't have to beg Him for His help, but we do need to ask in the right spirit--"Not my will, but Yours."
I write Christian novels as well as songs. The two most recent ones are shown below and their pictures are links to the Amazon pages. The eighteen-book picture is a link to my Amazon Author Page.
I'll be back again next Wednesday. Please join me then. Better still, sign up to receive these weekly posts by email.
Best regards,
Roger
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