Discover His heart: He listens to our words of repentance no matter how evil our deeds
I’m going to go ahead and say it right here and right now – and living in the south this is pretty risky business – but I really don’t care for country music. There! It’s said. No offense to the multitude of talented country music entertainers, but it’s difficult for me to listen to someone whining verse after verse about how “somebody done somebody wrong” as do many of the songs in this genre. I’ve been there and know that it never really helps to cry in my…coffee. I will agree. However, some of the things people do to each other are just plain wrong, and sometimes they are evil. Today we read about a king in Judah who could have had “Evil” tattooed on his forehead; and it’s sad to say, a murderer of many. I think this could be a theme for a country song…or not.
@ 2 Kings 21
Hezekiah had been a good king, a king who did right in the eyes of the Lord which was something unusual in the history of Judah’s kings; but his son, Manasseh, was a mess. Crowned king at age 12, Manasseh’s was greatly influenced by his grandfather, evil King Ahaz. He rebuilt the pagan shrines, even building pagan altars in the Temple, and sacrificed his own sons to idols. It’s difficult to get one’s mind around the vileness of such behavior when we would do anything in our power to keep our children from harm.
“He practiced sorcery and divination, and he consulted with mediums and psychics. He did much that was evil in the Lord’s sight, arousing His anger.” (2 Kings 21:6) His willingness to trade the Divine prophetic word from God’s prophets for the uninspired lies of the devil who can only guess at the future is rather mind-boggling, but people do it every day when they consort with palm readers and horoscopes. I just don’t get it.
2 Kings tells a sad tale of the life and times of King Manasseh but only reveals a part of it, and we have to travel over to 2 Chronicles 33 to get the rest of the story. “The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they ignored all his warnings. So the Lord sent the commanders of the Assyrian armies, and they took Manasseh prisoner…But while in deep distress, Manasseh sought the Lord his God and sincerely humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed, the Lord listened to him and was moved by his request. So the Lord brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh finally realized that the Lord alone is God.” (2 Chronicles 33:10-13)
How does God do that?! How does He forgive such a vile man of his many sins? And how can we refuse to forgive a repentant someone who has done so much less to offend us than Manasseh did to God? No country song has ever told of anyone’s deeds equal to the evilness of Manasseh’s deeds. Sacrificing his own children on the pagan altars, yet God listened to his prayer.
Repentance and forgiveness brought restoration, not only to Manasseh’s heart but also to Judah. Manasseh rebuilt the city of Jerusalem, removed the pagan altars and, “Then he restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He also encouraged the people of Judah to worship the Lord, the God of Israel.” (2 Chronicles 33:16) When we follow God’s heart and forgive others for their unkind actions, we will bring about restoration not only in our relationship with them but possibly in their relationship with God, not to mention securing our own forgiveness.
“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15) No Who done me wrong song for me, but rather the song of the redeemed – easy listening music!
Moving Forward: Today my heart is so filled with a song of praise about the goodness of God that it has no opportunity to sing any song of woe.
Tomorrow @ Psalms 90-92
Phyllis Benigas 