In 2 Kings 20, we find the prophet Isaiah coming to Hezekiah with unpleasant news. Hezekiah is told that the Lord said he should set his house in order because he would soon die. Upon hearing the news, Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed this prayer: “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight” (2 Kings 20:3). What a testament to a life well lived!

Many, facing Hezekiah situation, would ask the Lord to forget all the sinful things that they had done. However, Hezekiah called on the Lord to remember his way of life, how he had lived with a loyal heart before Him and walked in His paths. The prayer of this righteous man was answered and his life was extended for 15 years. May we live our life in such a way so that when trials come, we can ask the Lord to remember our loyalty to Him!

The text of 2 Kings 17 tells of the reason why Israel fell as the Lord “removed them from His sight” (2 Kings 17:18). First, they fell because they imitated the evil of those around them (vss. 7-8). Second, they fell because they practiced idolatry (vss. 9-12). Third, they fell because they rebelled against God (vss. 13-16). Forth, they fell because they sacrificed their children (vss. 17-18).

Many today fall for the same reasons. They imitate those in the world around them, doing sinful things. They practice idolatry, putting other things before the Lord. They rebel against the will of the Lord, refusing to heed His voice. They sacrifice their children through abortion, abuse, and neglect. Let us learn from the fall of Israel and be cautious not to make the same mistakes!

King Joash (Jehoash) instructed the priests to “repair the damages of the temple, wherever any dilapidation is found,” saying that they should “do it quickly.” “However the Levites did not do it quickly” (2 Ki.12:5; 2 Chron. 24:5). So, the king commanded that a chest be set beside the altar in which the people would place their contribution for the repairs of the temple. After gathering “money in abundance,” the king and the chief priest Jehoiada, “gave the money, which had been apportioned, into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house of the Lord, and to masons and stonecutters, and for buying timber and hewn stone, to repair the damage of the house of the Lord, and for all that was paid out to repair the temple” (2 Ki. 12:11-12). It is noteworthy that the king and chief priest “did not require an account from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to be paid to workmen, for they dealt faithfully” (2 Ki. 12:15). What a great statement concerning these workers – “they dealt faithfully”! Their trust in the integrity of the workmen was well placed, for when the workmen “had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada” (2 Chron. 24:14).

Unfortunately, words such as honor, integrity, and trustworthy are used very sparingly today as there seem to be fewer and fewer to whom these words apply. What about you? Do others have the same trust in you that the Joash and Jehoiada had in these workmen – that you deal faithfully? Like Paul, we must be concerned with “Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men” (2 Cor. 8:21 KJV). Let us ever strive to live honorably before both God and man!

Note: 2 Chronicles 24:1-14 is the parallel account of 2 Kings 12:1-16.

Because of her involvement with the events concerning Naboth’s vineyard, the Lord had said, “The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel” (1 Kings 21:23). These words come to pass when Jehu came to Jezebel at Jezreel. “He looked up at the window, and said, ‘Who is on my side? Who?’ So two or three eunuchs looked out at him. Then he said, ‘Throw her down.’ So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses; and he trampled her underfoot. And when he had gone in, he ate and drank. Then he said, ‘Go now, see to this accursed woman, and bury her, for she was a king’s daughter.’ So they went to bury her, but they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands” (2 Kings 9:32-35).

Some of the earlier posts on this blog have dealt with the faithfulness of the Lord to keep His word. When people speak of God’s faithfulness, they often talk about the sure nature of His good promises. This is true, provides hope, and needs to be remembered. However, as we consider this example, let us note that God also keeps his “negative” promises. Just as he had said that the dogs would eat Jezebel, they did. He will also keep His promise that, “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). God’s faithfulness is seen in His keeping of His word, whether in reference to His goodness or to His severity (Rom. 11:22).

Today, you read of the Syrians besieging the city of Samaria, and of the resulting dire situation of the city’s inhabitants. The Lord caused the Syrians to flee from their camp, ending the siege of the city. However, when this occurred, no one in the city was yet aware of the fact that the Syrians had gone. Four leprous men decided that they were probably going to die one way or another, so they decided to surrender themselves to the Syrians. When they came to the camp, they found it abandoned and began to enjoy the goods that the Syrians had left behind when they fled. After a while, they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent…” (2 Kings 7:9). The abandoned Syrian camp meant good for all of Samaria. They realized that on this day of good news, they were not doing right if they kept silent and refrained from telling others of the good that they had found.

What about us? As the people of God, we have found “unsearchable riches” in the good news of the gospel. Are we doing right if we remain silent and fail to tell others? They could enjoy the same salvation, blessings, and promises that we enjoy if we share with them the good news that we have found. Do not remain silent about the good news of the gospel. If you do, you are not doing right!

The prophet Elijah served the Lord earnestly, faithfully, and courageously during his time upon the earth. During the past several days, you have read of his courage in the face of opposition, his faith in prayer, and the victories that the Lord gave him over his adversaries. This great servant of the Lord was granted by the Lord not to have to face death. What an awe-inspiring sight it must have been when, as Elijah and Elisha “continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11). In fact, so awesome was the sight that Elisha “cried out, ‘My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!’…And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces” (2 Kings 2:12). What a wonderful conclusion (on earth) to a life lived in service to the Master!

David had sinned in numbering Israel and Judah. As a result of his sin, “The Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of the people died” (2 Sam. 24:15). After the Lord relented from the destruction, He sent the prophet Gad to David. Gad said to David, “Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite” (2 Sam. 24:18). When David offered to buy the threshing floor from him, Araunah told David that he could simply have whatever he needed. “Then the king said to Araunah, ‘No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.’ So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver” (2 Sam. 24:24). David was unwilling to offer to the Lord that which cost him nothing.

What about us? Many today seem to only be willing to offer God that which costs them nothing. However, God calls us to “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1). When you think of your service to God, what are you offering Him? Are you offering him that which has no personal cost? Or, like David, are you unwilling to offer to God that which costs you nothing?

Given all we have read the last several days concerning David, today I would encourage you to meditate on the words of the song “David spoke to the Lord…on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul”

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.

“When the waves of death surrounded me, The floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry entered His ears.

“Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken, Because He was angry. Smoke went up from His nostrils, And devouring fire from His mouth; Coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet. He rode upon a cherub, and flew; And He was seen upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness canopies around Him, Dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. From the brightness before Him Coals of fire were kindled.

“The Lord thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice. He sent out arrows and scattered them; Lightning bolts, and He vanquished them. Then the channels of the sea were seen, The foundations of the world were uncovered, At the rebuke of the Lord, At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

“He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me; For they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the Lord was my support. He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.

“The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not wickedly departed from my God. For all His judgments were before me; And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them. I was also blameless before Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity. Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in His eyes.

“With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd. You will save the humble people; But Your eyes are on the haughty, that You may bring them down.

“For You are my lamp, O Lord; The Lord shall enlighten my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

“For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? God is my strength and power, And He makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of deer, And sets me on my high places. He teaches my hands to make war, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

“You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your gentleness has made me great. You enlarged my path under me; So my feet did not slip.

“I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them; Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed. And I have destroyed them and wounded them, So that they could not rise; They have fallen under my feet. For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose against me. You have also given me the necks of my enemies, So that I destroyed those who hated me. They looked, but there was none to save; Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them. Then I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth; I trod them like dirt in the streets, And I spread them out.

“You have also delivered me from the strivings of my people; You have kept me as the head of the nations. A people I have not known shall serve me. The foreigners submit to me; As soon as they hear, they obey me. The foreigners fade away, And come frightened from their hideouts.

“The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let God be exalted, The Rock of my salvation! It is God who avenges me, And subdues the peoples under me; He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me; You have delivered me from the violent man. Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name.

“He is the tower of salvation to His king, And shows mercy to His anointed, To David and his descendants forevermore.”

2 Samuel 22:2-51 (cf. Ps. 18)

The reading today reveals that there was a famine in the land for three successive years. Thus, David sought the face of the Lord to inquire as to why they were suffering from this famine. “The Lord answered, ‘It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites’” (2 Sam. 21:1). This is the only Biblical reference to Saul’s slaughter of the Gibeonites, which Saul did “in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah.” The problem was found in this – Saul did so, even though “the children of Israel had sworn protection to them” (2 Sam. 21:2). The oath of protection was not made in the days of Saul; instead the Lord is referring to the covenant made hundreds of years prior to Saul’s reign, in the days of Joshua. You’ll remember that then, before he realized he was being lied to by the Gibeonites, “Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live” (Josh. 9:15). To atone for the breaking of this covenant, David honored the Gibeonites’ request, giving them seven of Saul’s descendants so they could “hang them before the Lord” (2 Sam. 21:3-6).

In this text, we learn much about the keeping of covenants. We note that God expected the covenant Joshua made to be kept. Though many years had passed, there were still consequences of not keeping this binding agreement. In the same events, we also find David acknowledging the need to keep the oaths that one had taken. When giving the Gibeonites seven of Saul’s descendants, “The king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul.” The reason being, “Because of the Lord’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul” (2 Sam 21:7; cf. 1 Sam. 20). Furthermore, David fully kept that covenant he had made with Jonathan when, in showing the kindness he promised, buried the bones of Saul, Jonathan, and the seven descendants which had been hanged. Once the transgression of the covenant with Gibeon was atoned for, “God heeded the prayer for the land,” ending the famine (2 Sam. 21:14).

The reading today gives us more insight into the wicked heart of Absalom. As we have previously noted, he “stole the hearts of the men of Israel” from his father David by telling each man what he wanted to hear (2 Sam. 15:6). However, his wickedness did not stop there. Asking for the advice of Ahithophel, Absalom was told, “Go in to your father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the house; and all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.” Absalom followed Ahithophel’s evil advice: “So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel” (2 Sam. 16:21-22). Not only did Absalom commit such immorality in the sight of the people, but also showed an evil heart in his reaction to Ahithophel’s further advice. “Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, ‘Now let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. I will come upon him while he is weary and weak, and make him afraid. And all the people who are with him will flee, and I will strike only the king. Then I will bring back all the people to you. When all return except the man whom you seek, all the people will be at peace.’” When hearing a plan to take the life of his father, “The saying pleased Absalom…” (2 Sam. 17:1-4). Of course, the wicked desire of Absalom for his father’s life and throne did not go unpunished — he was killed by Joab and his men.

We should learn from Absalom that a man’s lust for evil things will ultimately bring about his ruin!