July 25, 2012

Hezekiah’s Prayer for Deliverance (7/25)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Isaiah 37-39; Psalm 76.

When Assyria invaded Judah, King Hezekiah sought help from the Lord. After receiving assurances from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 37:5-7), he went to the temple and prayed:

“O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to reproach the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated all the countries and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, are God” (Isaiah 37:16-20).

There are a few important points to notice from the Hezekiah’s prayer:
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July 21, 2012

Where is Your King that He May Save You? (7/21)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Hosea 8-14.

“It is your destruction, O Israel, that you are against Me, against your help. Where now is your king that he may save you in all your cities, and your judges of whom you requested, ‘Give me a king and princes?’ I gave you a king in My anger and took him away in My wrath” (Hosea 13:9-11).

God’s people had a chronic history of rejecting Him and looking for other sources of aid, strength, and protection. This passage mentions one of these sources: a king. We find a few reminders here showing us why they were to put their trust in God and not in a human ruler.
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July 18, 2012

He Casts Down the Unassailable City (7/18)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Isaiah 23-27.

The following passage speaks of God’s judgment against the mighty Babylon, reminding us of the need to trust in the Lord.

“Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock. For He has brought low the unassailable city; He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust” (Isaiah 26:4-5).

Man tends to place a lot of confidence in his own strength and accomplishments. The city spoken of here was supposedly “unassailable.” The people of the city may have felt very secure. Opposing armies that might have considered attacking the city may have seen it as a daunting task. But even a city that is thought to be “unassailable” is not totally secure.
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July 7, 2012

A Gracious and Compassionate God (7/7)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Jonah 1-4.

Most Bible students are familiar with the account of Jonah. God called him to go to Nineveh to prophesy of their coming destruction. Jonah fled in a ship to Tarshish. A storm threatened the ship which led to Jonah being thrown overboard and being swallowed by a great fish. After three days and nights, Jonah prayed to God, the fish vomited Jonah up on to dry land, and he went to Nineveh. As a result of his prophesying, the people, including the leaders, repented; and God changed His mind about their destruction. Jonah was not pleased with this.

“But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity’” (Jonah 4:1-2).

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June 28, 2012

The Lord is God Over All (6/28)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from 1 Kings 20-21.

When Ben-hadad and thirty-two other kings besieged Samaria, they were defeated by a force which they greatly outnumbered. They had a theory as to why they were beaten so badly.

“Now the servants of the king of Aram said to him, ‘Their gods are gods of the mountains, therefore they were stronger than we; but rather let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they. Do this thing: remove the kings, each from his place, and put captains in their place, and muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they.’ And he listened to their voice and did so” (1 Kings 20:23-25).

These servants of Ben-hadad were partially correct. The Israelites were victorious because of divine intervention (though not from “gods,” but from the one, true, living God). But their theory that His power was limited to the mountains proved disastrous for them. Despite fighting in the plain with a massive army that vastly outnumbered the Israelites, Ben-hadad and his allies were soundly defeated again.
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June 25, 2012

Defeating a Million Man Army (6/25)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from 1 Kings 15:1-24; 2 Chronicles 13-16.

After Asa became king of Judah, he faced a formidable foe: Zerah the Ethiopian with his million man army.

“Now Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah, bearing large shields and spears, and 280,000 from Benjamin, bearing shields and wielding bows; all of them were valiant warriors. Now Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and he came to Mareshah. So Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up in battle formation in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, ‘Lord, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.’ So the Lord routed the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled” (2 Chronicles 14:8-12).

Asa’s army was not insignificant, but it was greatly outnumbered against the Ethiopians. He placed his trust in the Lord and the Lord delivered him.
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June 24, 2012

The Difference Between Serving God and the Kingdoms of Men (6/24)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from 2 Chronicles 10-12.

When Rehoboam and the people “forsook the law of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 12:1), Shishak king of Egypt came to fight against him. Shemaiah the prophet revealed God’s judgment to Rehoboam: “You have forsaken Me, so I also have forsaken you to Shishak” (2 Chronicles 12:5). At this revelation, the king and his princes humbled themselves and repented, but there would still be consequences to suffer.

“When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, ‘They have humbled themselves so I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some measure of deliverance, and My wrath shall not be poured our on Jerusalem by means of Shishak. But they will become his slaves so that they may learn the difference between My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries’” (2 Chronicles 12:7-8).

As king, it would be easy for Rehoboam to be unable to relate to the plight of his people under an oppressive ruler. Rehoboam’s oppression of the people was the reason why the kingdom was divided and many left from serving him (2 Chronicles 10). But now, under the oppression of Shishak, he would learn what it is like to live under an oppressive king.
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