Sunday, August 24, 2014
2 Chronicles 19-20 are a powerful and tremendously encouraging account of God’s providential working, as well as, of His loving-kindness to His people. In this account, King Jehoshaphat undertakes the task of bringing spiritual reform to the nation of Judah. He also finds himself and his people confronted by the joint-forces of Moab and Ammon. These foes are so formidable that when he heard that this great multitude was coming against him, Jehoshaphat was filled with fear. However, he responded to the situation with faith and immediately sought the Lord in prayer ending with this unforgettable statement:
“O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” (2 Chronicles 20:12).
This bold confession of faith and dependence upon the Almighty was no doubt the fruit of Jehoshaphat’s determination to seek the Lord. In 2 Chronicles 19:3, we read concerning the king of Judah,
“Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the lands and have prepared your hearts to seek God.”
Jehoshaphat was not a perfect man. He had sinned against God by allying himself with the notorious Ahab of Israel. Nevertheless, he set his heart so seek the Lord. He made determinations and took conscious steps to draw near to God, to know God, to know His ways, to walk in those ways, and lead the people of Judah in them.
In this respect, Jehoshaphat is an example to us. We ought to set our hearts to seek the Lord. We ought to take conscious, deliberate steps to put ourselves in the way of God that we might know Him, that we might know His ways, that we might walk in them, and that by our example we may lead others in His ways. How can we do that?
Well, it begins, of course, by being born again through faith in Christ. This is the beginning because it is only by being born again by the Spirit of God that we have any inclination to truly know God and to walk in His ways. Also, it is only by the empowering of the Holy Spirit that we can know His truth and follow after it.
Understanding that, we set our hearts to seek the Lord by making the conscious determination to do so; by taking ourselves in hand and purposing to seek the Lord.
We go then to His Word because it is there that we meet God. It is in the Word that we encounter Him, that we hear Him speak, that we see Him work, that we understand who He is, what He is like, and what He is purposed to do.
We build on that by listening to what other godly saints have said concerning the God that they have come to know in the Word. God has gifted the church with a treasure of faithful saints who through the centuries have diligently and faithfully sought the Lord and shared the fruit of their searching in written form. The Puritans are one example of such faithful saints. We can build on our own learning from the Word by learning from these godly men.
We build by still further giving prayerful thinking upon the things that we read, reflecting on the truths that God brings to our attention, considering the implications and applications for our lives. And then, by the power of the Spirit, walking in these things, being governed by them in our daily lives — in our thoughts, words, and deeds.
We also set our hearts to seek the Lord by involvement with His people — by service to others — by sharing Christ with those who do not know Him.
Of course, setting our hearts to seek the Lord means not only turning to certain things, but also turning from other things. We must discipline ourselves. We may have to throw back the bed covers, or shut off the TV, or the radio, the computer, the iphone, etc. Seeking the Lord is costly, but the rewards are priceless.
May God continually stir up our hearts to seek Him. Let us take a cue from Jehoshaphat. Let us follow his example in this matter of setting our hearts to seek the Lord.
In the Loves of Christ,
Pastor Guy