Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

May 24th, 2023 Seek Ye First

Today’s Reading – 2 Chronicles 29 – 31 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers Read – Acts 25 – 28; Psalms 116 – 120; Proverbs 24)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Micah 6:8

Read the “0524 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Read previous posts from this passage – “Living for the Lord – A Formula for Success;” and “Soulwinning in 2 Chronicles“

“3 He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.” (2 Chronicles 29:3)

“33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

Hezekiah is not my favorite king, but he is high on the list. He definitely started out extremely well. As a very young, 25-year-old king, he made it his first order of business to open the doors of the Temple and repair it. By the way, have you noticed from our reading through these chapters in 1st and 2nd Chronicles that the House of God would always fall into disrepair when God’s people got away from Him. And when a good king came along, he placed the repair of the Temple and the reinstitution of sacrifices and observances high on his priority list. Here in chapter twenty-nine, Hezekiah commands the Levites to remove “the filthiness” out of the Temple. That word, “filthiness,” is an extremely strong word which describes the worst kinds of impurity and here is probably referring to idolatry.

Once all of the garbage was out of the Temple, they began to worship the Lord through sacrifices and singing:

“27 And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel. 28 And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. 29 And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped. 30 Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.” (2 Chronicles 29:27-30)

I believe that a pattern can be seen here in the reign of King Hezekiah that we can follow in our lives today. We need to get rid of the all the garbage that this world pumps into our lives, homes, and churches also. And we also need to confess our sins and sinfulness to the Lord recognizing the sacrifice that He made for the sins when He died for us on the Cross of Calvary. Then will also be able to sing, praise, and worship the Lord. But let’s not wait to start this process; let’s get right on it. Just as Hezekiah put God at the highest level of priority when he became the king, we need to start right now to put God and His will first in our lives.