Word of Encouragement (01/14/2025)
“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, 29 whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house, 30 then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind, 31 that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers. (2 Chron. 6:28–31)
Solomon does not just pray that God will forgive His people whenever they confess their sins and ask for forgiveness and deliverance. Yes, as we saw previously, God is merciful; He is “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3). When His people humble themselves by acknowledging their sins and asking for forgiveness, He readily grants it to them. “He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities” (Ps. 103:9-10). But we should not think of God as a confessional, to which we go to get our forgiveness so we can move on with our lives and return when we sin again. God is not there just to ease our conscience by pronouncing forgiveness. After asking the LORD to grant forgiveness, Solomon shares his understanding of what God desires: “...that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers” (v. 40).
Solomon recognized that the Israelites lived in the land of Canaan only by God’s grace. They were able to settle in it and enjoy its rich produce only because God promised it to the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) and their descendants. How blessed they were to live in the land now compared to their former days as slaves in Egypt! What did they do to deserve this blessing? None. It was by God’s unconditional election (Deut. 7:7).
But why did God grant them this blessing? Living in the land and enjoying its abundant produce was not the purpose. Listen to Solomon’s words again: “...that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.” It was not so much about living in the land as how they lived in the land: they were to live in a godly fear of God because they were consecrated from the world as God’s people.
By “fear,” Solomon does not mean a slavish fear of a cruel tyrant. It is a covenantal fear, of which he said, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Prov. 9:10). It is the kind of fear, which recognizes the overwhelming and even terrifying majesty of God but is still drawn irresistibly to His glory and beauty. It is like the fear that big wave surfers have—they are respectful of the big waves that are fraught with danger, but they cannot stay away from them, either. Godly fear compels people to be humble and careful before God for His awesome majesty but does not make them want to run away from or avoid Him because they have tasted the goodness of the Lord. But this is possible only because the precious blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us from sin and guilt so we may approach God with boldness yet not without (godly) fear and trembling. Let us draw ever nearer to God in the name of Jesus Christ and walk carefully before Him!