Forty Days And Forty Nights
Forty Days and Forty Nights
Forty days and forty nights
Thou wast fasting in the wild;
Forty days and forty nights
Tempted, and yet undefiled.
Sunbeams scorching all the day;
Chilly dewdrops nightly shed;
Prowling beasts about Thy way;
Stones Thy pillow, earth Thy bed.
Shall not we Thy sorrow share,
And from earthly joys abstain,
Fasting with unceasing prayer,
Glad with Thee to suffer pain?
And if Satan, vexing sore,
Flesh or spirit should assail,
Thou, his vanquisher before,
Grant we may not faint nor fail.
Keep, O keep us, Savior dear,
Ever constant by Thy side;
That with Thee we may appear
At th’eternal Eastertide.
WHEN JESUS was tempted, He was probably in the Judean desert—a cruel, hot, barren place with craggy canyons. In biblical times, wild jackals and other beasts may have roamed the area. David hid out in caves there when he ran from King Saul.
This hymn gives a feeling for Jesus’ surroundings as He fasted in the desert. Day in and day out, it must have been very uncomfortable. Yet Jesus had a greater purpose; comfort was not important. He was preparing for a crucial showdown with the devil that would set the tone for his whole ministry.
The Bible says that we can count on Jesus because “he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15). His strength to overcome temptation is available to us as we face temptations. He has been there before us and has won the battle. That assurance can help us not to “faint nor fail.”
For forty days and forty nights [Jesus] fasted and became very hungry. During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:2-4
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