Psalm 103:1-12; 2 Corinthians 1:1-11
Today we come to 2 Chronicles 26-28, where we see Kings Uzziah, Jotham, and Ahaz, the first two of whom were good kings, but Ahaz was not. In truth, all three of these kings were flawed. In our studies of the kings, God is actually revealing us to ourselves. We are also imperfect people, and every morning, we must confront each new day with a rekindled commitment to make every moment count for the Lord. Uzziah was also known as “Azariah” (cf., 1 Kings 15:1). Here, we see that “Uzziah was only sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned for 52 years” (verse 3). Moreover, “as long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success” (verse 5). The first fifteen verses of chapter 26 report great things about Uzziah, but when we come to verse 16, the text says that, “after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall.” Uzziah presumed upon the LORD “to burn incense” (verse 16), which was not his lawful prerogative. “Azariah and eighty other courageous priests confronted him” (verse 17), whereupon Uzziah “became angry – raging at the priests” (verse 19). Raging? How will that help him? Immediately, “leprosy broke out on his forehead” (verse 20), and “he had leprosy until the day he died” (verse 21). It’s never a good idea to act in an unauthorized way. In chapter 27, we see that Jotham, Uzziah’s son, then came to the throne. Jotham “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but the people continued their corrupt practices” (verse 2). In chapter 28, we see that Ahaz then succeeded his father, Jotham, but Ahaz “did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD” (verse 1). Ahaz was an idolater (verses 2, 4, and 23-25) – setting up altars at every street corner – and his wickedness resulted in the Lord’s chastisement on Judah by way of foreign armies, including those of Rezin (Syria), Pekah (Israel), and Tiglath-Pileser (Assyria).
We also come today to Psalm 103:1-12. In this Psalm, David calls upon his soul – and ours – “with all our inmost being to praise God’s holy name” (verse 1). Again, in verse 2, he repeats the call to our souls to “praise the LORD,” and adds “forget not all His benefits” (verse 2). What are His benefits? In addition to our salvation, the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, the joy of the Lord, the forgiveness of our sins, the fellowship of other believers, reconciliation and peace with God, we also notice that He “forgives, heals, redeems, crowns, and satisfies” us (verses 3-5). These benefits are just the beginning. We notice that His love, mercy, and grace are “great; high as the heavens, and as far as the east is from the west” (verse 11). Personally, I am thankful for God’s mercy – “He does not treat us as our sins deserve” (verse 10). By His grace, He blesses us with so many good things that we don’t deserve, and by His mercy, He withholds from us the things that we do deserve. I cannot imagine a merciless life – how awful its prospects must be! How could we ever pay for our own sins?
And then today we open a new book with 2 Corinthians 1:1-11. Paul begins this section with a cornucopia of God’s comfort for us, and Paul calls us to reproduce such comfort in others (verse 5). Our God is “the God of all comfort” (verse 3). Here in the first seven verses, Paul emphasizes and repeats the word “comfort” – driving it home to us – at least nine times in some form. Unfortunately, while we often appear to look after our own comfort needs (i.e., self-comfort), I’ve noticed that Christians are not very good about sharing or receiving comfort. It seems that our culture lays so many expectations of self-sufficiency on us – as if comforting others were not needed or somehow to be shunned or avoided. What rich blessings we forfeit by falling under the influence of these false cultural beliefs – and to our shame! We only hurt ourselves by believing all the cultural rubbish around us.
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