Whom Will You Worship? 2 Chroncles 19:9a

In his book, Addictions: A Banquet In The Grave, biblical counselor and author, Ed Welch, affirms that a main question that emerges throughout the pages of the Bible is, “Whom will you worship?” This is the question that Judah’s king Asa faced. The nation of Israel split into two sub-kingdoms: the northern ten tribes, referred to as Israel, and the southern two tribes, referred to as Judah. Israel had come up against Judah in battle. Instead of turning to God, Judah’s king turned to the neighboring nation of Syria for help. After all, Asa thought, it seemed to make more sense to rely upon a good Syrian army and bow down at the altar of their king than to pray to the invisible God!

In response to Asa’s lack of faith in God, a prophet by the name of Hanani came to confront him at the urging of the LORD (see 2 Chronicles 16:1-8). Hanani not only reminded Asa that the LORD had already shown himself faithful, but also announced that he would pay a great price of continual warfare for his lack of trust (16:9b).

Another reason the prophet explained that Asa (or anyone) can trust in the true God is found in our Hammer Verse for the week, 2 Chronicles 16:9a: “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.” This is glorious good news for the person who has trusted Jesus Christ as savior! In Ephesians 1:4 we read that God “chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” Because God saved us, we not only are forgiven and declared righteous (that is blameless) in Christ, but we also are transformed into those who can seek to live blamelessly before God. And, when we sin, we are still blameless because of Jesus Christ. The point is that by God’s grace we meet the condition of 2 Chronicles 16:9a.

What this means is that wherever we are and whatever we are facing, the God of this universe, the one who is present everywhere, all-powerful, and all-knowing is giving strong support to us! This should be motivation enough for us to trust in and worship him and not any other thing, person, or god. Let this focus your faith and let it spur you on to prayer, love, and gospel-produced good works for his glory!