Light pink candle - The Joy Candle
“What was I thinking when I marked this up?” Dale and I are listening to the Bible this year, along with Paul David Tripp’s devotional, Everyday Gospel. I like to listen and also read along in the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) I have used for several years. There are different highlighter colors marking specific passages, along with the occasional notes I’ve written in the margin during past readings and studies, but the trifecta is when there is a verse or passage that is highlighted with notes beside it as well as starred two or three times! I try to rack my memory to recall why this specific passage was so important at that time of my life…and then it comes flooding back, a season when I was struggling to worship God alone, trusting in Him as my sole Provider and Protector. Instead I had become satisfied with my own accomplishments and what little control I could exert over my surroundings and relationships. I need to continually be saturated in God’s Word, and all of it, not just the parts that are easy to stomach. I need to be challenged to change and to recognize when my heart has once again gone astray.
In today’s reading, young King Josiah sends a priest into the temple treasury to look for some stored silver he needs to pay for temple repairs, but in the process finds a priceless treasure, changing the course of his life and his kingship!
* Read 2 Kings 22-23
King Josiah’s story chronicles the details of his righteous reign as the youngest king of Judah. At eight years old, he began to seek God and by his teens, he initiated drastic religious reforms, purging idol worship from the land and restoring the Temple in Jerusalem. When the Book of the Law was discovered during the Temple repairs, King Josiah’s deep sorrow and commitment to God’s commands led him to tear his clothes in lament and recommit himself and the entire kingdom to a covenant with God, making him one of the most faithful kings in Israel’s history. “Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength according to all the law of Moses, and no one like him arose after him. (2 Kings 23:25)
In spite of several generations of idolatry and rebellion against the Lord God, somehow Josiah arose as a righteous king who not only appeared outwardly to be righteous but turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses. As we learned earlier this week, Josiah’s grandfather, Manasseh, was the most wicked, vile king who sat on Judah’s throne. And his father, Amon, wasn’t much better. Yet Josiah’s heart was soft towards the Lord from a very young age. When he was informed of the book of the Law, most likely the book of Deuteronomy, he was completely undone. It was as if he finally had words to express what he had been missing all these years. He knew he felt uncomfortable when he saw the pagan sacrifices and worship on the high places, but now he had the understanding and authority to do something about it!
After King Josiah had cleansed the land from all of its pagan shrines and priests, he returned to Jerusalem and proclaimed that they would observe the Feast of Passover together as a community. Remember, Passover had not been observed since the time of the judges and no king, not even David, had reinstituted the celebration of this commanded festival, until Josiah. I imagine that it might be similar to gathering all of one’s extended family for a reunion after not being together for generations. This was huge!
Though King Josiah was righteous himself and certainly helped turn the hearts of many in Judah back to the Lord, it was not enough to turn God’s wrath from these people who had done such evil. All the provocations with which Manasseh and previous kings had insulted and mocked God would not not be erased; however, God promised through the prophetess Huldah that Josiah would die in peace and not experience His planned discipline of His people. God would purge his people of their deeply rooted unfaithfulness and, unfortunately, only exile would accomplish this, which we will dig into later this week.
* Sing Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee(See page 61 for lyrics)
* Reflect
* Have you ever been listening to a sermon and heard something from God’s Word that sounds faintly familiar? How do you respond to unearthed truths or commands?
* Pray for the childlike faithfulness of King Josiah, to have ears to hear truth and courage to obey with joy!
