2 Chronicles 7:14-20
14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 17 And as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules, 18 then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.’ 19 “But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
This is both a promise and a warning from God. The promise is that God will forgive our sin and heal our land. The warning is that this is a conditional promise, meaning that it depends on our own response to God. We have to begin by humbling ourselves, praying, and seeking God. That is our proper relationship to God, where we recognize His greatness and our weakness. No healing can take place in our lives until we humble ourselves before God. This is similar to the first 3 steps of the 12 steps, where we admit our weakness and our need for God. Once we do this, we open ourselves up to receiving His help. If we give God His proper place in our lives, then He will forgive us, and will even bless us and our land. But, if we turn away and serve other gods (verse 19), then God will reject us as we reject Him.
Lord, You are God and I am not. I humble myself before You, and ask for Your forgiveness.
14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 17 And as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules, 18 then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.’ 19 “But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
This is both a promise and a warning from God. The promise is that God will forgive our sin and heal our land. The warning is that this is a conditional promise, meaning that it depends on our own response to God. We have to begin by humbling ourselves, praying, and seeking God. That is our proper relationship to God, where we recognize His greatness and our weakness. No healing can take place in our lives until we humble ourselves before God. This is similar to the first 3 steps of the 12 steps, where we admit our weakness and our need for God. Once we do this, we open ourselves up to receiving His help. If we give God His proper place in our lives, then He will forgive us, and will even bless us and our land. But, if we turn away and serve other gods (verse 19), then God will reject us as we reject Him.
Lord, You are God and I am not. I humble myself before You, and ask for Your forgiveness.