2020-9-28

Psalms 98:1-9; 2 Chronicles 17:1-19

Psalms 98:1-9

Key verse: The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. (Psalms 98:2)

Psalm 98 has a very familiar use of phases with that of Psalm 96 and is believed to have a similar background. While Psalm 96 praises the majesty of our Lord, Psalm 98 has the emphasis of His marvelous salvation:
– Salvation is done by God.
– Salvation is made known by God.
– All the ends of the earth have seen God’s salvation.

There is no human work or merits; all that we could do is to praise Him!

2 Chronicles 17:1-19

Key verse: His heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah. (2 Chronicles 17:6)

2 Chronicles 17-20 has the record of King Jehoshaphat, one of a few ‘better’ kings in Judah. Chapter 17 is the first phase of his regime, with the key word of ‘strengthening’ the kingdom of Judah in three ways:

Religion- King Jehoshaphat did the following things that strengthened the faith for the people:
– He sought God and his heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord.
– He removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah.
– He sent his officials and Levites to all the towns of Judah to teach the people the Book of the Law of the Lord.

National Defense – King Jehoshaphat fortified the cities and established armed forces and garrisons.

Economy – He built forts and store cities; all Judah, some Philistines, and the Arabs brought him gifts, silvers, and flocks.

The critical starting point is the heart, and the direction is towards God. May we all determine to follow Him and His words!

Some scriptures for reference:

(Psalms 127:1) Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.
– Although King Jehoshaphat ‘strengthened’ the nation, it’s God that protect and sustain His people. We should be reminded not to rely on our own merits, strengths, or possessions but to look upon Him.

(Proverb 4:23) Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
– King Jehoshaphat’s strengthening effort started with his own heart; so should ours be.

(James 1:8) Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
– We might observe a lot of inconsistency of behaviors of people in the scriptures and in our lives. At one point they are so ‘godly’ and in another time we find them being fishy or even stumbled.

This is a good reminder to us that the daily walk with God requires perseverance. May God help us to imitate Jesus’ example and be a pure-hearted follower of His. —- Ivy Lin