The Unsuitableness of Lofty Claims - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2026

But as for us, Jehovah is our God, and we have not forsaken Him we keep the charge of Jehovah our God we have God with us.
2 Chronicles 13:10-12

The Unsuitableness of Lofty Claims
Doesn't that sound impressive! The speaker's name was King Abijah of Judah, a man whose "heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God" (1 Ki. 15:3). The occasion was the eve of a major battle against the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel. Actually a number of things in Abijah's speech were true. He certainly knew something of Israel's history and God's promises. He had no problem describing how bad others were. He could glibly talk about the special place that God had given to His people, and all the things they were doing right. I suppose he could be forgiven for distorting the facts a bit when talking about his father, Rehoboam.

When he finished talking, God gave his army an amazing victory over the vastly superior forces of Israel. So Abijah's lofty claims and impressive speech paid off after all. Or did they? Summarizing the battle, the text says, "The children of Judah were strengthened, because they relied upon Jehovah the God of their fathers" (2 Chr. 13:18). It was trust in God, not boastful words, that brought the victory.

I get very uneasy reading about Abijah. He is too much like us, using all the right words and phrases, articulate about the failures of others, able to give details of how he and his people had "kept the truth." The church in Laodicea made similar claims: "I am rich, and am grown rich, and have need of nothing." But it is God's evaluation that counts. He still speaks today as He did in the days of Isaiah: "To this man will I look: to the afflicted and contrite in spirit, and who trembleth at My word" (Isa. 66:2). And He still gives the victory to those who rely upon Him.

Grant W. Steidl