Thy Word
Scripture references: Psalm 119:105, 2 Chronicles 14:2-4, 9-12, 2 Chronicles 15:1-4, 7-8, 2 Chronicles 16:1-3, 7-11, Proverbs 3:5-8
Introduction:
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path” – Psalm 119:105 ESV
This week, we will be starting a new sermon series on the Psalms. What better way to kick things off than by singing directly from the Psalms. The chorus is taken from the verse above, and it may be familiar to many of us:
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” – Thy Word
As I make my way through the Scriptures…I find a theme that continues to pop up. I sum up this theme with a question: Whose voice are you listening to? Or Whose ‘word’ are you listening to? In the time of the Kings (Israel and Judah), the voice of the Lord was often spoken through the prophets. We see varying reactions from Israel’s leaders when presented with the word of the Lord. We are going to take a look an example today in King Asa…
Devotional:
The account of King Asa in 2 Chronicles starts out promising…
“And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim 4 and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment.” -2 Chronicles 14:2-4 ESV
This is exactly what the Lord commanded to Israel through Moses back in the book of Deuteronomy prior to the conquest of the land. Any reader of 2 Chronicles who is familiar with Deuteronomy is likely pretty optimistic based on how Asa’s story begins. Let’s see how he does when faced with a massive test…
Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. 10 And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 And Asa cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” 12 So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. -2 Chronicles 14:9-12 ESV
Asa and his men are faced with an overwhelming force. What can Asa do other than cry out to God for deliverance? After he cries out, notice how verse 12 starts…”So the LORD defeated the Ethiopians”. The author of 2 Chronicles makes it clear that victory was not accomplished by the strength of Asa, but by the Lord. Asa passes his first major test as king and trusts in the Lord! Will he continue to listen to the Word of the Lord when met by one of His prophets? Let’s see…
The Spirit of God came[a] upon Azariah the son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, 4 but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. -2 Chronicles 15:1-4 ESV
Azariah continues speaking the word of the Lord. A few verses later we read…
8 As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord. -2 Chronicles 15:8 ESV
Asa follows through…allowing the word of the Lord to guide his actions, to light his path. He institutes reforms to centralize worship in Jerusalem and eliminate idolatry in Judah. This is the type of king like David that Israel has needed…
Sadly, we start to see a slow decay in Asa’s story which leads to a tragic end. In fact, the events on the back half of his story are the complete inverse of the first half. If we were to map it out, we see that these events mirror each other with his reforms acting as a ‘hinge’ in the center. It looks something like this:
A: Asa trusts the Lord to deliver him from enemies
B: Asa listens to the Word of the Lord through His prophet
C: Asa institutes reforms
A’: Asa trusts men to deliver him from enemies
B’: Asa rejects the Word of the Lord through His prophet
We just looked at Events A, B and C above…let’s look at Asa’s decline in events A’ and B’…
In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2 Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the Lord and the king’s house and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, 3 “There is a covenant[a] between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” -2 Chronicles 16:1-3 ESV
What just happened here? Asa king of Judah is threatened by the king of Israel (northern kingdom). Instead of crying out to God for help as he had done before against a foreign enemy…he goes to a foreign king for help and makes a covenant with him. Asa is now confronted by a prophet, giving him the opportunity to listen to the word of the Lord and repent…
At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. 8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless[b] toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.” -2 Chronicles 16:7-9 ESV
Asa’s response could have been like David when confronted by the prophet Nathan. Asa could have felt convicted, repented, confessed his sin and turned back to God in this moment. But sadly…he does not take that path…
10 Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time. The acts of Asa, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians. -2 Chronicles 16:10-11 ESV
Instead of letting the word of the Lord guide him and direct him…he rejects discipline and takes out his anger on the Lord’s prophet and the Lord’s people.
Isn’t it interesting that Scripture portrays the word of the Lord as a ‘lamp to the feet’ (Ps 119)…and Asa, after rejecting the word of the Lord…becomes ‘diseased in his feet’. Even in His diseased state…he trusts men and not the Lord for healing. The same God who delivered him from an army of a million men…
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
7 Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your flesh[b]
and refreshment[c] to your bones. -Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV
What can we take away from Asa’s story…
- We need to trust in the Lord for deliverance and guidance.
- We are going to mess up at some point. When that happens, we must let the word of the Lord convict us.
- Accept the Lord’s discipline and do not take it out on others. (Prov 3:11-12)
- Turn back to Him and allow Him to correct your paths and make them straight.
- Allow those wayward, diseased feet to be healed. (Prov 3:7-8)
Let’s sing it extra loud on Sunday…
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path”
Amen.
Sean Wagner