Look at the Book
2 Chronicles 16:8–9: The Eyes of the Lord
Look for promises in Scripture that rest in the never-changing character of God, and therefore are true for his people throughout all of history, even for us today. God gives us a broader, general principle about himself and his ways using a specific event in biblical history.
- Duration:
- 8m
- Broadcast on:
- 23 Sep 2014
- Audio Format:
- other
In this session of Look at the Book, we focus on second chronicles, 1689, actually verse 9 mainly. Let me pray with you and for us. Father, I pray for myself to be clear and true to your word and that we would have eyes to see and hearts to respond and minds to understand so that this glorious promise would have an impact on us that accords with its true value. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. I left out verse 7 because I just wanted more room on the screen, but let me give you the context. It says in verse 7, "At that time, Hennani," or Hennani, "Hennani," that's the prophet or the seer. "Hennani," the seer, "came to Asa, king of Judah," Asa the king of Judah, "came to Asa," and he said to him, "Because you relied on the king of Syria." So he relied on Syria and did not rely on the Lord your God. He did not rely on God, therefore the king of Syria has escaped you, Syria escaped. So because he relied on man and not on God, he lost the battle and the enemy escaped. Now he continues, "We're not the Ethiopians and the Libyans." So he's harking back now as he chastises Asa. He's harking back to a victory that he got back in chapter 14, "We're not the Ethiopians and the Libyans, a huge army," Let's change colors, "a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen, yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand." So he had once relied upon the Lord and the Lord had respond by giving him a great victory and he goes on, "For because 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. You have acted or done foolishly in this," And he's referring now to all of this here. "You did not rely on the Lord. You relied on man. They escaped." You acted. This was foolish of you not to rely on me in this, and therefore from now on you will have wars. And what I want to focus on is simply this amazing and glorious promise, it's one of my favorites in all the Bible, this promise which is a ground, see that word for there, the Hebrew key, this shows the ground for what? Why is it that because you relied upon the Lord, he gave them? Why did the Lord come into action here? Because a set relied upon the Lord, and the reason is this. And what's so great about this is that whenever you see a ground clause like this that moves from a specific situation to a broader principle, you can really open your ears because this is more general, this is for us because this is the kind of God who exists, and this is the explanation for why it is, the ground for why it is, that when you rely upon the Lord, he comes into action here and gives victories because the eyes of the Lord run to and fro through the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. So let's take those one at a time, those pieces that I circled here. God has eyes, that is, he sees. And not only does he see here, this is what makes it so great, his seeing is an aggressive, an aggressive searching, aggressive searching. And what is he searching for? Everywhere in the world he is searching for the opportunity to do something, to do something, that little word for there, this is the purpose of his search. He's searching to give strong support for those whose heart is blameless toward him. And I have to admit that every time I see this word blameless, I stumble over it because it sounds like the word "sinless" to me. And this word does not, this "shalame" here in Hebrew, does not mean blameless. It's used back in 1 Chronicles 29, 9, I believe it is, that the people did this. They with a whole, the word means whole, with a whole heart they gave to the collection that David was taking. People who are sinless, then who are sinful do this. He can have a whole heart towards God in an action, and that's what God is looking for. So my way of defining these folks, those whose heart is blameless towards God, would be to say those who have a whole hearted trust in God for strong help in the need that we have. So what kind of God is this? A God who sees, who's seeing is an aggressive searching everywhere for what kind of opportunity to show himself strong, for whom people who trust him to show himself strong in their needs. So this verse is about God. And I want us to know this God and trust this God, he is not needy. When you think of somebody like me anyway, if my eyes were running through the whole world, I'd be looking for help. I'd be looking for somebody who could be strong for me, and God isn't needy like that. He's self-sufficient and he's strong. So his eyes are running to find a way to show himself strong. He's not passive or hesitant because he's eagerly, aggressively searching, he's ready and eager to work for those who wait for him, as it says in Isaiah, what, 64 or 4, I think it is, and he's not limited, he's everywhere, he's in the whole earth, there's not a square inch on the planet where he's not there and eager and ready to help the person who now is holy, that's what that word means, holy, trusting in him for help. This is the kind of God we have, and he's pursuing us with goodness and mercy to show himself strong on our behalf. Let's trust him. Thank you. You
Look for promises in Scripture that rest in the never-changing character of God, and therefore are true for his people throughout all of history, even for us today. God gives us a broader, general principle about himself and his ways using a specific event in biblical history.