And the king stood by a 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 [their] heart and all [their] soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. II Kings 23:3
I haven't been reading my Bible as much as I should be lately. And I've felt the effects of it, too. I could blame mood swings on prego hormones, but I know better. I know when I haven't been with my Jesus.
But today, I did. And it was the sweetest time.
I didn't know where to start since I obviously haven't been following any sort of reading plan or anything. So I just picked up my One Year Bible and flipped to July 2nd. Yes, I know today is July 3rd. But I didn't realize that at 5:00 am, and I think the Holy Spirit planned it that way, because what I read today was exactly what I needed to read.
In 2 Kings chapter 22, King Josiah made orders for the high priest to gather the money collected at the temple and use it to pay the people who were repairing the temple and to buy supplies. While they were doing that, the high priest found the book of the law. I imagine it burried and dusty, not having been opened in years. Josiah had already been king for 30+ years and he had never seen it. Imagine finding a book in your grandma's attic...that's how I imagine it.
In verse 10, Josiah's scribe reads the book to him, and Josiah breaks down in tears, tearing his garments and weeping, weeping at how far the nation had strayed from its words. From there Josiah went around the nation tearing down idols and altars and anything else set up in place of the Holy God. He got rid of all of the idolatrous priests and cut down the idolatrous groves. He destroyed anything that was set up against the LORD.
Then he had the high priest read the words of the law to all the people and made a vow that from that day forward, they would serve and honor and follow God with all of their hearts, souls, minds, and strengths.
The two things that really struck me about this passage were first, that Josiah was a good king to start out with. The passages says that "he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left." Besides that, he was rebuilding the temple. This was a good guy! Yet when he truly understood for the first time the HOLINESS of God and the DESTITUTION of man, he rent his clothes in agony.
How often are we going about our lives as good people doing good things, yet never really realizing our depravity without the Lord? He is HOLY. We have no idea what that means, or we'd be weeping, too.
The second thing that struck me was a section of the story where Josiah was going around taking all of the bones from the graves on the mountain and burning them on the pagan altars so as to defile them. He came across one grave, however, that belonged to a man who had come frome Judah to prophesy about the things Josiah was doing that very day. Those bones he left alone.
I'm willing to bet that when that prophet came to town talking about how all of the idolatrous things would be torn down, people just shrugged him off. I bet he struggled with discouragement that nobody listened to him and died never having seen these things come to pass. But God honored him for his faithfulness to deliver the message God had given him to give. And even though we don't know his name, his proclamation is forever recorded in the Book of Life.
That man loved God's Law. Josiah loved God's Law. Not because they gave us rules, but because they gave us life. The law shows us just how inadequate we are and just how much in need we are of a Savior.
Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Psalm 1:1-3
1 comment:
I like what you said about Josiah being a good king but weeping when he saw God's true holiness. Makes me think of all the good kids that grew up in church who still need a good hard look at their depravity. Here's a quote from the Pilgrims Progress about the worth of our good works, or "duties" in comparison to God's goodness.
"Another thing that hath troubled me, even since my late amendments, is that if I look narrowly into the best of what I do now, I still see sin, new sin, mixing itself with the best of what I do. So that notwithstanding my former fond conceits of myself and duties, I have committed sin enough in one duty to send me to hell, though my former life had been faultless."
In other words, in one good work there's enough sin mixed in that we'd be toast if not for God's grace. So much for works righteousness.
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