The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord
to walk after the Lord, and
to keep His commandments and His testimonies,
and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul
to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book.
II Kings 23:3.
And all the people entered into the covenant. King Josiah had just heard from his God that he could not stop the ruin of Jerusalem. All we can deal with is what is happening in our own soul. We can lead people but we cannot make them follow God, not even our own children. We lay them in the lap of our LORD. We can invite, intrigue, engage, entertain in sober ways what is holy and what counts in life. Josiah led his people to abolish idolatry, serve God in righteous living, find true repentance. Many of those he led were compliant hypocrites who will stand before God, alone. While Josiah could rein in the wickedness, he couldn't change their very souls.
Judah and Jerusalem overflowed with wickedness. Would our forefathers have thought that America could do the same and evolve into such an evil place? I grew up with broken people who never locked their doors, fearing no break-ins. No more. We all live behind bars and locks and gates. In Josiah's 18 years of exemplary service, he lived from a humbled heart. Yet, he could not change his nation. "The records of God's word teach that all the real godliness or goodness ever found on earth is derived from the new-creating Spirit of Jesus Christ." M.Henry
Through Passion and Passover, revival broke out under the good hand of Josiah. The Mighty Hand of God. God rained on them His Presence, His Favor. Josiah must have been beside himself. But, it only lasted until the traitors cut off the life of Josiah to raise up the next king. Evil reigns again. And the point of the passage is t.h.i.s. ~ We must take care of our own souls to stand next to the pillars in our own lives, make a covenant, keep His Word, carry out His Words. And when we can't; when we don't; when we won't, take care of your soul and repent under the Holy Hand of a very Good God Who is always doing us good. Colossians 1:29.
PRAYER FROM THE PSALMS
O God of Jacob, such is the generation of those who seek your Face not your Hand.
May we be a generation of people who deal with what stirs in our own soul.
May we seek your Face not our own ambition, safety, personal peace.
May our decisions never be made apart from Your Face.
Psalm 24:6
BIOGRAPHICAL READING PLAN - King Josiah: II Kings 23
OVERVIEW: II Kings 23-25
We've read about many kings over the last several days. Some of the kings did what was right in the sight of the Lord, some did not. The last 2 days we read about Hezekiah and Josiah, 2 men who loved and served the Lord.
ReplyDeleteI pray we serve Him and tear down anything we've built in our lives which is not of the Lord. I pray our leaders come to love Him and serve Him and search out in their lives what is not right in His sight.
Is this starting to sound familiar? In one generation, the idols, the Asherah--the abominations were back.
ReplyDeleteIn the span of some 50 years, Manasseh had encouraged evil to slip its insidious venom back into the lives and hearts of Judah. Time to clean house again, and Josiah was God's vessel. He heard the Word through Hilkiah and tore his clothes in mourning. How far they'd fallen from God's good plan. King Josiah swept the towns clean of mediums, and cult priests. And recorded for all time, he has the virtuous credit to his name: "Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him." Josiah was a man of God.
We go astray, and sometimes we just have to clean house. As I write this, we are sorting through some thirty years of stuff, of attachments, of memories as we prepare to put our Houston house on the sales market. We have to let go. We have to look forward. We have to clear out the old for the new. Same is true in our lives. What holds us back is often what we won't untighten our hands to release. Whether it's unforgiveness or even something we esteem more valuable than its rightful place, it all must go for our hands to be open to receive God's fullness.
Help us Lord, to see that everything else only junk compared to the riches of Your fellowship.
Amen Annette!
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