Tag: In God We Trust

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Big Deal!

Daily Reading

Isaiah 36-41

Daily Thought

Isaiah was prophet to King Hezekiah, a good king who “did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God” (2Chronicles 31:20). He restored Judah to faith and worship, and stood against Assyria, the mighty nation that had defeated the northern kingdom of Israel. Assyria presented to Hezekiah and to Judah a question they must answer, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? In whom do you now trust’” (Isaiah 36:4-5). 

That same question is asked of each generation, including ours.

Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, presented Hezekiah with a reasonable argument. Assyria has demonstrated her strength. Lots of little nations depending on lots of little gods have fallen. “Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?” (Isaiah 37:12-13). Your God will fail you, too.

Sennacherib made Hezekiah an offer: Trust me. “Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern” (Isaiah 36:16). Sounds good, but Sennacherib continued, “until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards” (Isaiah 36:17). My land. Trust Sennacherib, you belong to Sennacherib. You belong to whom you trust.

Rather than listen to these reasoned words of a faithless man, Hezekiah put Sennacherib’s words before God and worshipped. The little gods destroyed by Assyria “were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone” (Isaiah 37:19), so big deal! “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth” (Isaiah 37:16). Worship gave Hezekiah perspective. He would answer the question. He would trust in the one God, his God, the God of the heavens and the earth. Big deal, indeed!

After the one God defeated the Assyrians, Isaiah added this postscript regarding Sennacherib, “as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword” (Isaiah 37:38). Another little nation depending on a little god has fallen.

‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: ‘On what do you rest this trust of yours? In whom do you now trust?’” It is a good question.

Daily Prayer

My Creator, You are Lord of all. You establish justice and promote righteousness. You have made Your ways known, Your Laws are clear and they are good. I may choose to follow them. Or not. You give me freedom to decide the path I walk, the choices I make, the direction of my life.

At the end, God, I know I will stand before the King of kings and Lord of lords, the God of all the kingdoms of the earth. Thank You for Your Son, who paid the price for my sins on my behalf. He has given me his righteousness, so that I may stand with confidence before You. There is no other choice but You.

Amen

Daily Question

What do you do that demonstrates you trust God?

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Under God

Daily Reading

2Kings 1-3

Daily Thought

Elijah, the classic prophet of God, was nearing the end of his mission. “Do you know,” Elijah said to Elisha, “that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” (2Kings 2:3). Elisha would be his successor.

Three times Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay put,” to test him, and three times Elisha did not stay put, but followed. Elisha had set his mind, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you” (2Kings 2:2, 4, 6). At the very end, fifty sons of the prophets watched Elijah part the Jordan River, then walk across on dry land with Elisha. Some time later, the fifty watched Elisha, like Elijah, part the Jordan River and return alone. The mantle of the prophet had passed to the next generation. 

Two miracles followed. The first was simple and basic. The water of Jericho was bad, literally “evil.” Spend time in a third-world country and you know what evil water can do to you. It could not be drunk and it would not nourish crops. Symbolically, Elisha threw salt in the water, but what healed the evil was “the word that Elisha spoke” (2Kings 2:22). Elisha wore the mantle of Elijah.

The second miracle was of an odd sort. Elisha came out of Bethel, and “some small boys jeered at him, saying, ‘Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!'” (2Kings 2:23). Small boys may be better translated young men, and there was at least 42 of the them. “Go up, you baldhead!” would be an insult today, and it was meant to be then. “Go up” means “Keep on going,” and so this gang of youth was telling Elisha he was not welcome in Bethel. “Get out of town, Baldy!” They wanted nothing to do with a prophet. They wanted nothing to do with the word of the Lord.

“Can the liberties of a nation be sure when we remove their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God?” ~Thomas Jefferson, 1782

“God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?” ~Benjamin Franklin, Constitutional Convention of 1787

“Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly implore His protection and favor.” ~George Washington, October 3, 1789

“In God We Trust” ~still the National Motto of the United States of America. But must be more than a motto.

Elisha cursed them and two female bears tore into the boys. His name is Elisha, heir of the prophet Elijah, and he speaks the word of God. Listen to him.

Daily Prayer

My Lord and Creator, I believe fully in You, loving You with all of my being. I will stand for You and confess You before men. You are King of kings and Lord of lords. I pray, God, that I will be a bright light, that my faith will not be hidden, but will shine in the darkness. That by all my actions people will know that You are God.

May I live the way all should live, under God, knowing and proclaiming that you are the source of all of life and all that is good. God, I pray that the land in which I live will acknowledge You and trust in You. I pray that we will be a good people under a great God.

Amen