2 CHRONICLES 34:26-28 – ““But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants.’” And they brought back word to the king.”
THEME OF THE DAY: THE HEART TO WHICH GOD RESPONDS. The king described in today’s scripture is Josiah who was a very good king in Judah. Read of his reign and how he was used by the Lord to bring revival to God’s people in 2 Kings 22-23. He is also described in 2 Chronicles 34-35.
Josaiah stands out from normal leaders. What is absent in most leaders, notably secular leaders, is genuine humility. I found this to be especially true in the military. Pride, according to the world, is a virtue to embrace, celebrate, and foster. Sadly, it too often occurs in our churches. However, pride is not a virtue, but a deadly vice. Pride destroys everything it touches; relationships, organizations, reputation, ministry, marriages, and we could think of other areas where it brings its deadly and fatal poison. Rightly so. Pride is sin. It is the mother of all sin and can only be rooted out by the power of the Lord in the heart of a person who is a teachable and sensitive person before Him. Josiah was that teachable and sensitive person and models for us the heart that God works in and the resulting life God will use. As we read today’s scripture, there are three qualities in a heart God responds to as seen in King Josiah.
First, the king displayed a tender heart – “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was tender.” A tender heart is like soft clay; easily molded, pliable in the hands of the Potter to be shaped according to His will (Isaiah 64:8). Here is where all spiritual growth begins – a tender heart open to God’s Word and that from conversion to glorification.
Next, we see in King Josiah a humble heart – “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me”. What brought this low state in the king’s heart? He heard the Word of God, and in hearing, he saw himself and God’s people for what they were because he saw God for who He is. Let me explain. Humility is the chief virtue in the Christian life. Without it, there is no love which is the chief virtue manifested in the Christian life. Humility is not thinking less of oneself. It is seeing oneself in light of who God is. That is genuine humility that lasts and changes us. The tender-hearted king heard the Word of God and was humbled by and before God.
A third quality in the heart God responds to as seen in King Josiah is a repenting heart – “when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me”. Torn clothes and weeping are signs of sorrow and repentance. And repentance is a turning from ways displeasing to God to ways that please Him (that is a simple definition of repentance).
King Josiah displays the type of heart God delights in, and will create in us, if we seek Him with all our hearts (Jeremiah 29:13).
PRAYER: Father, make me teachable before You. May I not grow indifferent or cold to Your Spirit and Word.
REFLECTION: A tender, humble and repenting heart is a great delight to the heart of our God.