SEEK GOD when He will be FOUND
May 6
Bible Reading: 2 Chronicles Chapters 13-15
SEEK GOD when He will be FOUND
"The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. For a long
time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and
without law; but when in their trouble they
turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought
Him, He was found by them. Then
they entered into a covenant to seek the
Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; and
whoever would not seek the Lord God of
Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or
woman. And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their
heart and sought Him with all their soul;
and He was found by them, and the
Lord gave them rest all around." (2 Chron 15:2-4, 12-13, 15)
The prophet
Azariah went to meet King Asa, as he was returning from his victorious pursuit
of the Ethiopians, and publicly conveyed a message from the God of Israel in
the presence of his army. The message was that God’s presence will continue to
be with King Asa as long as he earnestly seeks God from all his heart. The past
history of Israel is clear that whenever they turned to God and sought Him, He
was found by them and God troubled all their adversaries (2 Chron 15:1-7).
King Asa
listened to the word from the prophet, took courage destroyed all the idols and
restored the altar of the Lord that signified worship (v. 8). He then gathered
all the people together (v. 9-10), offered sacrifices for their sins and
trespasses (v. 11) and entered into a
covenant with Jehovah that they would seek God with all their heart and soul
(v. 12). Whoever would not seek God would be put to death (v. 13). The whole assembly took a solemn oath as
they swore to seek God from their innermost being (v. 14-15a). The result was that God was found by them,
and gave them rest all around (v. 15). There was no war until the
thirty-fifth year of the reign of King Asa (v. 19).
The word for us today is that we
should earnestly seek God when He will be found by us. We have many precious promises and
exhortations in the word of God, a few of which are listed below for our
edification:
- But from there you will seek the Lord
your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with
all your soul. (Deut
4:29)
- Seek the Lord and His strength; seek
His face evermore!
(1 Chron 16:11)
- Now set your heart and your soul to
seek the Lord your God. (1 Chron 22:19)
- If you seek Him, He will be found by
you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever. (1 Chron 28:9)
- And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered. (2 Chron 31:21)
- And those who know Your name will put
their trust in You; for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You. (Psalms 9:10)
- The Lord looks down from heaven upon
the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. (Psalms 14:2)
- When You said, "Seek My
face," my heart said to You, "Your face, Lord, I will seek." (Psalms 27:8)
- I sought the Lord, and He heard me,
and delivered me from all my fears. (Psalms 34:4)
- The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. (Psalms 34:10)
