Bible Study: May 20, 2026
- Stephen Bell
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Prayer
As always, we'll begin with a prayer. Is there any great thing from the past week you'd like to mention for us to praise/pray about? Perhaps a prayer was answered since our last meeting, or maybe something wonderful happened that you want to praise God for by sharing with us? Afterwards, we can also discuss prayer requests for any challenges and for the people we know who are close to our hearts.
Praise
Psalm 27:4-9
Triumphant Song of Confidence. Of David.
4 One thing I asked of the Lord;
this I seek:
to live in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord,
and to inquire in his temple.
5 For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will set me high on a rock.
6 Now my head is lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
8 “Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!”
Your face, Lord, do I seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me.
Do not turn your servant away in anger,
you who have been my help.
Do not cast me off; do not forsake me,
O God of my salvation!
Passage : Exodus 33:10-23
10 When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise and bow down, all of them, at the entrance of their tent. 11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then he would return to the camp, but his young assistant, Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the tent.
Moses’s Intercession
12 Moses said to the Lord, “See, you have said to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ 13 Now if I have found favor in your sight, please show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight. Consider, too, that this nation is your people.” 14 He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 And he said to him, “If your presence will not go, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth.”
17 The Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have asked, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” 18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you the name, ‘The Lord,’ and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one shall see me and live.” 21 And the Lord continued, “See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; 23 then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”
Ponder
1. What warms your heart from this passage or from the praise/poem? Why?
We asked this last week, and we're going to ask it again this week: do you think that this a prayer between Moses and God? Why or why not? If so, what kind of prayer is it? And what's stadning out to you about it?
In verse eleven it states, “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” And then in verse twelve it says, “Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Legitimately wondering what you make of those verses together? What’s the first thing that stands out for you? It may not be the first thing that stands out for someone else here this evening.
We have heard many times that in this story, Moses wants to see God’s Glory, but have you noticed that before that, he wants to know God’s way first? Why do you think that is? Why do you think that Moses doesn’t just want to jump into the good stuff? The Glory stuff?
The passage seems to show that Moses wants more in his relationship with God, even though he’s already close to God. Does that idea comfort you or challenge you? Or is it a little bit of both? Why?
Moses wants more than face-to-face straight talk with no messengers in between; but he is also aware that can’t happen. Because they couldn’t see God face to face. Yet. But then in the New Testament, something interesting is written by John in his letter [1John1]. “We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us— 3 what we have seen and heard we also declare to you so that you also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” Now, the inaccessible has been made accessible, and the sent ones are witnesses to it. How would you describe the change here and what God did to someone else who doesn’t know these stories?
Purposeful Prayer
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