2 Kings 16:6: “At that time Rezin king of Syria captured Elath for Syria, and drove the men of Judah from Elath. Then the Edomites went to Elath, and dwell there to this day.”

August 10th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Israel and Syria joined together to attack Judah, and as their combined armies approached, it looked like everything would be lost. This marked a major test in the life of King Ahaz of Judah: would he or would he not seek the Lord and trust Him. Ahaz was in Jerusalem, living next door to the temple and the ark of the presence of God. It was only a short walk across the patio from his palace. It would have been so easy to go and seek the God of his father? Certainly David had learned how important it was to seek God, but would his great-great-great grandson Ahaz?

Sadly, Ahaz did not seek the Lord, but asked for help from the Assyrians, and although the attack against Jerusalem was ultimately unsuccessful, Judah sustained a lot of damage, losing many people in the war and their only southern port city on the Gulf of Aqaba in the Indian Ocean. And as a result of seeking help from Assyria, Judah became subject to the king of Assyria, giving him silver and gold from the treasuries and dismantling parts of the temple to appease him. How different things might have turned out if King Ahaz had humbled himself and sought God.

A mother named Mary Farwell wrote, “I was listening to my 5-year-old son, Matthew, as he worked on his Speak and SpellTM computer. He was concentrating intensely, typing words for the computer to speak back to him. He punched in the word God. To his surprise, the computer said, ‘Word not found.’ He tried again and got the same reply. With great disgust, he stared at the computer and told it in no uncertain terms, ‘Jesus is not going to like this!’”  Many people never find the word because they refuse to humble themselves before Him. Will you?

LORD, we chose to humble ourselves before You this day. Please cleanse us and use us in Jesus’ name.