Genesis 32:9

9. Jacob said Having made all prudent arrangements possible, he betakes himself to prayer . He has been pursued from behind by his uncle and father-in-law Laban, and by the help of his father’s God he has been redeemed from evil on that side . Now a danger threatens from the opposite direction, an enemy, though a brother . His prayer, under this sore distress, arose to a lofty height of poetic fervor . It was ever afterwards remembered, and repeated by generations of his children until Moses wrote it in this book .

O God of my father Abraham, And God of my father Isaac; Jehovah, who saidst to me, Return to thy land and to thy kindred, And I will do well with thee, I am less than all the mercies, And than all the fidelity, Which thou hast done thy servant.

For with my staff I passed over this Jordan, And now I have become two bands.

Deliver me, now, from the hand of my brother, From the hand of Esau, For I fear him, Lest he come and smite me, Mother upon children. And thou didst say, Doing well I will do well with thee, And I have set thy seed as the sand of the sea, Which is not numbered from multitude.

In this fervent prayer we note with interest the following: 1) He appeals to the God of his fathers. 2) He makes use of the covenant name Jehovah. 3) He pleads the promises. 4) He humbly acknowledges the mercies of God. 5) God’s truth or fidelity is honoured as against the untruthfulness of Jacob. 6) He acknowledges his great temporal prosperity as a blessing of God. 7) He prays for deliverance from Esau. 8) He confesses his fear. 9) He pleads for the mothers and children. 10) He pleads, in conclusion, the promises again.