SEEK HIM: HE WILL BE FOUND!
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Opening Prayer
King Jesus, rule in my thoughts and actions today. You deserve my devotion; I want to serve you with all that I am to bring you glory.
Read 2 CHRONICLES 15
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2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 15
1 The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded.
2 He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law.
4 But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them.
5 In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil.
6 One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress.
7 But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”
8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’s temple.
9 Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
10 They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign.
11 At that time they sacrificed to the LORD seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder they had brought back.
12 They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul.
13 All who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman.
14 They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns.
15 All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.
16 King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
17 Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life.
18 He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.
19 There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.
Reflect
‘… may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, ‘The Lord is great!”1
It is not clear how chapters 14 and 15 fit together: does chapter 15 summarize all Asa’s first 35 years or begin after the events of chapter 14? What is clear is that for most of his life, Asa listened to God, acted for God, led the whole people and, indeed, led a good number of those from the estranged northern kingdom who recognized his devotion to the Lord, into what appears to be a time of genuine full commitment to God (vv. 9—15). Asa’s willingness to depose his grandmother (v. 16), who clearly did not follow the Lord and had probably had a negative influence from the beginning of Abijah’s reign,2 illustrates the strength of his commitment.
It is worth having a closer look at Azariah’s prophecy (vv. 1—7), proclaimed not just to Asa but to the whole people. Azariah knew that Asa was dedicated to serving the Lord but didn’t take that for granted: ‘The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you’ (v. 2). The ‘if’ remains (echoing and probably quoting David’s words to Solomon3)! Azariah was aware of how often kings and people of Israel and Judah had already forsaken their faith, but his words were meant as an encouragement more than a warning, and Asa certainly took it that way: “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” When Asa heard these words … he took courage’ (vv. 7, 8).
Apply
Not all ways of worshipping God reflect what he desires. Give your worship patterns a check-up and set aside anything that does not actually encourage your whole Christian life.
Closing prayer
Holy Spirit, thank you for the privilege of worshiping in spirit and truth. Help me offer my worship undistracted, wholehearted, and focused on the One who deserves all of my praise and thanksgiving.
1 Ps 70:4 2 2 Chr 13:2 3 1 Chr 28:9.
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