“Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people, that they would become accursed and laid waste, and because you tore your robes and wept in My presence, I have heard you, declares the Lord.” 2 Kings 22:19
These comforting words from God were conveyed to King Josiah by the prophetess Huldah. Josiah was the son of Amon, a wicked king, and the grandson of Manasseh, an even more wicked king. Josiah, however, followed after God (2 Kin. 22:2).
We read that in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign (when he was 26 years old), he sought to have some things brought from the temple. At the time, it had probably fallen into disrepair, as for the preceding 57 years King Manasseh and King Amon had worshipped other gods, and the Israelites followed their example. So what happened next was a complete surprise: Hilkiah, the high priest, found a scroll containing the Law of Moses, which he brought to King Josiah.
As the scroll was read to Josiah, he tore his robes – a symbol of deep distress and mourning. No doubt he had heard the promises God gave to bless the people if they would follow Him, and the curses that would come if they turned away. He could see the state of the nation in his day, and was upset. No doubt he also knew of what Isaiah and the other prophets had been predicting concerning Israel’s downfall (tradition says that Isaiah was put to death by king Manasseh). And so, like the king of Nineveh, centuries earlier (Jon. 3:6-10), Josiah tore his robes and humbled himself before the Lord.
The same is still true today. Jesus told a parable about a Pharisee and a tax-collector who both went to the temple to pray. The Pharisee prayed in typical Pharisaical fashion, bragging to God about how wonderful he was because of all the good deeds he was doing. But the tax-collector bowed his head and simply said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Jesus said, “I tell you that this man [the tax-collector], rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14). What is your response when you’re convicted about something that you read in the Bible? Do you seek to justify yourself, perhaps by your good works? Or do you come before God in humility, realising that you’re a sinner in need of Him as your Saviour?
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