1 Kings 8:56-61
56 “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. 57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, 58 that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. 59 Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, 60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other. 61 Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”
Solomon begins this prayer by reminding the people of the Lord's goodness to them: "not one word has failed of all his good promise" (verse 56). Then he asks God to incline the hearts of the people to Him (verse 58), and exhorts the people to remain “wholly true” to God (verse 61). Is your heart fully committed to God? Or are you giving your heart to "God and _____"? I confess that I have tended to want God as an addition to the other things in life, rather than as the supreme thing in life. The problem with wanting "God and _____" is that God will not be co-equal with anything. Instead, God will often call us to remove the things that used to be preeminent in our lives, in order for Him to be solely preeminent. One example is that you cannot have God and pornography. One or the other must go. It is easy in the excitement of a religious service to say that God will be our everything, but what happens when we go back to the daily grind of life? That is why Solomon wisely instructs the people to be fully committed to God "as at this day" (verse 61).
Lord, I confess to often having a divided heart; help me to be fully committed to You, at all times.
56 “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. 57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, 58 that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. 59 Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, 60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other. 61 Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”
Solomon begins this prayer by reminding the people of the Lord's goodness to them: "not one word has failed of all his good promise" (verse 56). Then he asks God to incline the hearts of the people to Him (verse 58), and exhorts the people to remain “wholly true” to God (verse 61). Is your heart fully committed to God? Or are you giving your heart to "God and _____"? I confess that I have tended to want God as an addition to the other things in life, rather than as the supreme thing in life. The problem with wanting "God and _____" is that God will not be co-equal with anything. Instead, God will often call us to remove the things that used to be preeminent in our lives, in order for Him to be solely preeminent. One example is that you cannot have God and pornography. One or the other must go. It is easy in the excitement of a religious service to say that God will be our everything, but what happens when we go back to the daily grind of life? That is why Solomon wisely instructs the people to be fully committed to God "as at this day" (verse 61).
Lord, I confess to often having a divided heart; help me to be fully committed to You, at all times.