Sensitivity to the Word of God - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2024

Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes.
2 Kings 22:11

Sensitivity to the Word of God
Israel had descended into idolatry, led by Manasseh their king, who rebuilt the high places that King Hezekiah had destroyed. The result was that God's house was in disrepair. When Josiah became king, he set about to repair it. Then Hilkiah "discovered" the Book of the Law which had been neglected rather than lost, for after all, it was found in the house of the Lord! Shaphan read it to the king, and it so affected him that he tore his clothes. Inwardly, his heart and conscience had been brought under the power of the Word of God.

Moved by what he had heard, Josiah gathered all the people together. Then, he read all the words of the Book of the Covenant in their hearing. There is no indication that it had the same effect on them. Had they repented, the Lord would have turned from His wrath which He had said "shall not be quenched" (22:17). Josiah made a covenant with the people to obey the words of the Law, and then set about to cleanse the house. Only then could he command the people to keep the Passover to the Lord God, as it was written in the Book of the Covenant.

Similarly, it was when Paul had dealt with the evil at Corinth, that he could turn to the subject of the Breaking of Bread. Let us not neglect self-judgment, "for if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged" (1 Cor. 11:31). It is becoming more and more apparent that the Word of God is being neglected in the house of God today. May the Word of the Lord affect us as it did Josiah, for there is no substitute for this; it is still "living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).

Richard A. Barnett