Skip to main content

Daily Devotion: 2 Chronicles 34:26-27

By

2 Chronicles 34:26-27    "And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the LORD, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard; (27)  Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD."

Manasseh had died. His son, Amon, began to reign in his place for two years. Amon was so wicked that his servants killed him. Now Josiah is reigning as king. The Lord has touched his heart and he begins to clean the dilemma that has occurred in Judah. As his great grandfather, Hezekiah, he started with the House of the Lord. They began to repair the house of God and cut down all the groves of trees where worship of idols occurred. They also cut the idols into pieces to rid the nation of them. When they sent workman to repair the house of the Lord, they found "a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses." The people of Judah had gone so far away from the Lord that they even forgot there was a book of the law in the house of God.

Isn't it amazing how quickly the house of the Lord becomes in disrepair? Within two generations, the state of the nation goes down equivalent to the degree that the state of the church had gone down. In Josiah's day, the church had gone away from the Word of God. What were they using for their guide to worship and standard of living? Be assured there is a correlation between the success of the nation and the state of the spiritual matters of the church. The church must maintain God's standard, not man's. A nation is at its lowest state when man's standard is held as the highest thoughts of the land. But a nation is blessed when God's Word is maintained as the highest standard of the land.

When they began to read the Word of the Lord to Josiah, he began to weep and repent of the evil to which the nation had arrived. He began to seek the Lord and the command of the Lord for the nation. As he did so, God sent His answer to Josiah. "I have heard thee."

As Thanksgiving is just a week away, we begin to think of those things for which we are thankful. Today, may we add to that list the fact that our God is the only true and living God. He hears our prayers. He HEARS. We do not serve an idol made of men's hands. We serve the Risen, Living Lord. Let us never forget that and let us never turn from Him to serve any other. He lives. He hears. He answers. Let us spend time with Him.

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Daily Devotion: Enter With Thanksgiving - Psalm 100:1-5

By
One of the most beautiful Psalms of Thanksgiving is the 100th Psalm. Please turn to it and read verses one through five. With all my heart I believe we are a people and a nation that has truly been blessed by God. Of all those who “give thanks to Him and praise His name” we should be at the top!  It is not uncommon to compile wish lists at Christmas, and draw up a list of resolutions for the new year. But there is another list we often overlook - a Thanksgiving Day list of all for which we are thankful. What would your list contain? Most likely, a good part would be material possessions. I’m convinced that we would find that we have much more for which to be thankful than just our material possessions.  Like you, I’m sure my list would include the major things - life, health, family, friends, and the nation we live in, despite all its flaws. But even more than that, I’m thankful for my salvation, my Church family, and the mercy that God showers upon us each d...
Read more

Daily Devotion: An Important Question

By
In one of the great Psalms of thanksgiving, the writer asked a most pertinent question. “What shall I render unto the Lord for all of His benefits toward me” (Psalm 116:12) ? We may observe two elements in this question. The psalmist acknowledges having received many benefits, or blessings, at the hand of the Lord. For the believer, to be the receiver of blessings from the Lord is a fact beyond question. That is one facet of a proper perception of reality. However, for the unbeliever, or even for the nominal believer, such things come in the course of nature, or as a matter of deserving them. But to fail to see that such benefits and blessings come from the Lord is to lose touch with reality. The other element of the question is that the writer expresses a sense of obligation to the Lord and reveals a desire to do something in response to the amazing goodness of God to him. It is the reflex of the godly heart to desire to do something in response to the perceived go...
Read more