God's Word Brings Repentance

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Text: 2 Kings 22:18-23 

(22) 18 But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the Lord, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard; 19 Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. 20 Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again. (23) 1 And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. 2 And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. 3 And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

 

This is one of the most interesting passages in the Bible. Not necessarily because the Book of the Law was found, but we learn of an eight year old boy becoming king (2 Ki. 22:1). "...he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem." How difficult it must have been at such a young age to gain the respect of his contemporaries. But "he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord" (2 Ki. 22:2). Quickly we learn of an incident that happened "in the eighteenth year of king Josiah" (2 Ki. 22:3). The high priest (Hilkiah), "found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord" (2 Ki. 22:7). When the scribe (Shaphan) brought the Book of the Law to the king and read it, "he rent his clothes" (2 Ki. 22:11). The king then ordered the priest and others to confirm with the prophetess Huldah if the "wrath of the Lord is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book" (2 Ki. 22:13). The prophetess confirmed that "the Lord...will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof" (2 Ki. 22:16), but that king Josiah would "not see all the evil which [God] will bring" (2 Ki. 22:20). The king made a covenant with God, and "all the people stood to the covenant" (2 Ki. 23:3). This was a call to repentance.

Thomas Brooks said, "Repentance is a grace, and must have its daily operation, as well as other graces. A true penitent must go on from faith to faith, from strength to strength; he must never stand still or turn back. True repentance is a continued spring, where the waters of godly sorrow are always flowing. 'My sin is ever before me'."

The Word of God is provoking to the conscience. It is meant to expose the bad in us and strengthen the good. Josiah was not a bad king, yet he felt the weight of Judah's sin before God. The Bible shows us the weight of our sin and then reveals to us the redemptive work of Christ on the cross. It calls us to repentance even though we may feel we are good. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:25). This is our call to repentance.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, you have called me to repentance through your word. I have fallen short of your glory and am in need of forgiveness. Help me, O Lord, to do what is right in your sight. Amen!