“Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!” (Num 23:10).
There have been, in the annals of the long war against God, a cadre of enemies who have fought up close and personal. History has marked them out as especially dangerous because of their high privilege — and their horrible descent into the Abyss: Cain, whose parents were formed by the hand of God, yet who murdered the righteous seed in cold blood; Korah, who touched the holy things, but who lifted his fist against the government of God (Jude v.11); Judas, who kissed the door of heaven, but who went “to his own place”; and Balaam, who preached some of the most eloquent sermons found anywhere, and prayed the prayer, “Let me die the death of the righteous,” but who loved more “the wages of unrighteousness” (2 Pet 2:15), and who died with the enemies of God.
What a graphic reminder that beautiful prayers like this, which we do well to pray, must be linked with faith in the One to whom we send them.