Genesis 16:1-16 NKJV
16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. 3 Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. 4 So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The Lord judge between you and me.”
6 So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.
7 Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”
9 The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.” 10 Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” 11 And the Angel of the Lord said to her:
“Behold, you are with child,
And you shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
Because the Lord has heard your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild man;
His hand shall be against every man,
And every man’s hand against him.
And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”
13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Man, by his inborn, fallen, sinful nature, is bent in on himself — not fearing, loving, or trusting in God — constantly at enmity with God all the days of his life, according to his flesh. So it’s not surprising that man is very quick to rely on his own devices (or at least what his flesh believes to be devices).
Sometimes even believing/baptized children of God can coerce themselves into thinking that they can help God — when in reality it was simply the selfish inclinations of man’s flesh not being content with the will, or providential speed, of God. Abram and Sarai (as well as Hagar) fall into this line of thinking. Listen to these words of Valerius Herberger, an early Lutheran theologian from the late 16th /early 17th century:
“Whoever would contemplate Genesis 16 to his own profit and good must do so with a pure, modest, chaste, and demure heart. When Sarah was seventy-five years old, she urged Abraham, then eighty-five years old, to marry her maidservant Hagar. Here we have a prime example of human reason. Whenever God tarries in His helping, we suddenly think ourselves capable of solving the problem and finding the answer. But He regularly makes a fool of our presumption. Therefore “wait for the Lord; be of good cheer, and do not despair, and wait for the Lord” [Ps. 27:14]. When God makes us a promise, He is sure to keep it, even if, as sometimes happens, it does not immediately come to fruition.” (The Great Works of God, translated by Matthew Carver, pg. 15, CPH)
Heberger held that Abram and Sarai were so deeply in the midst of their piety — longing to see the Savior and Redeemer of the world, Jesus Christ — that they simply went astray. Here’s the prayer he wrote based on this text:
Let us pray: O Lord Jesus, help me to walk in fear, and with godly Job and wise David to practice godliness and devotion when I begin any idea, plan, or endeavor. Govern me by Your Spirit that I may not wander from You, but always keep me on the path that is straight and pleasing to You. Amen.