nothing before God

I bet if I stood outside a church
and threw a stone in any direction
I couldn't find a single person
that hasn't heard of King David.

The shepherd boy
who was called in from the field
to be anointed king
before his seven elder brothers.

The young man who was known
for running toward the battle line
to slay the Giant, Goliath.

The very man who was known by God...
a man after My own heart,
who will do all My will.
Acts 13:22

But what if I tossed that same stone
and asked if they'd heard of King Josiah?
Because here is what the Bible
says of him...
Now before him
there was no king like him,
who turned to the Lord
with all his heart,
with all his soul,
and with all his might,
according to all the Law of Moses;
nor after him did any arise like him.
2 Kings 23:25 NKJV

THAT is a pretty startling statement.
Almost as if it's saying that King Josiah
surpassed in dedication to God
of even... dare I say, King David.

At least, that is, according to
all the Law of Moses.

Now I'm certain that God does not
sit up in heaven,
stacking up all our good and bad deeds
comparing one of us to another.

So it's rather unfair of me
to even compare one king to another.

But I only mention it
because I wonder if anyone
has ever heard of him?
And if so, if they could name
anything he was known for...
Like the things most of us know of David.

Now I'm not gonna write a long list,
but I certainly will say
that this king did not have
and easy go of it.

In fact, he took the throne
at a VERY disadvantageous time...
when evil was rampant
and God's wrath was about to be
poured out as punishment,
because people would not listen to
the warning of the prophets,

And Josiah was only EIGHT years old
when his father, King Amon,
was conspired against,
and killed, placing all the power
in his young hands.

And King Josiah reigned for 31 years.
The details of his life are found in:
2 Kings 22-23, and 2 Chronicles 34-35

But I believe there was one pivotal event
which occurred in the life of King Josiah,
which set him apart,
showing pureness of heart.
It happened in the 18th year of his reign.

He had sent Hilkiah, the High Priest
into the temple of God
​to count the offering
given for repairs and deliver it
to the proper workmen.

While Hilkiah was in the temple
he found an old book...
one that had not been used
in much too long.
And knowing it's importance...
he gave it to a scribe to take to the king.
And the scribe read it to the king.

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

Now you might wonder...
what kind of book might this be
that would make a king tear his clothes?
And what is this Book of the Law?

This, in fact was the Law of the Lord
written by the very hand of Moses.

Do you remember that part above...
about King Josiah being a king like no other
who turned to the Lord
with all his heart,
with all his soul,
and with all his might,
according to all the Law of Moses...
This was the "Law of Moses," part,
written in his very own hand.

And it had been stored away
in the House of the Lord.
Forgotten by all the people
who had turned to their own ways,
who had worshipped foreign gods,
and forgotten the Almighty God
who delivered them from Egypt.

And now King Josiah heard it.
And it moved him so very much
that he decided to read it...
Yes, the king himself read it aloud
before all the people of Judah.
And this is what God said of him...

‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel:
“Concerning the words
which you have heard...
because your heart was tender,
and you humbled yourself
before the Lord when you heard
what I spoke against this place
and against its inhabitants...
and you tore your clothes
and wept before Me,
I also have heard you,” says the Lord.
“Surely, therefore...
your eyes shall not see all the calamity
which I will bring on this place.”’
2 Kings 22:18-20

So are you curious...
what specifically moved him so?
Are you the least bit interested...
because these words are still available
in your bible...
Even at the click of a link below.

Within the very book King Josiah read,
we find at the beginning,
the primary desire,
the heart of our God...
‘You shall not make idols for yourselves;
neither a carved image
nor a sacred pillar
shall you rear up for yourselves;
nor shall you set up an engraved stone
in your land, to bow down to it;
for I am the Lord your God.
You shall keep My Sabbaths
and reverence My sanctuary:
I am the Lord.

Yet all around this king,
since the very day his father was killed
and he was handed the crown,
​all he had seen in Judah
was the flagrant disobedience
to that very heart of God.

But King Josiah had never heard this.
So he read on.
If only the people of had obeyed...
they would have received
all these blessings (v3-13).

But because they disobeyed...
they were in the throws
of suffering all these curses (v14-46).
(All of which can be found in Leviticus 26)

King Josiah was so very moved
by this Book of the Law of the Lord,
that just upon hearing it...
he humbled himself
tore his clothes,
and wept before the Lord.

Not just because this was
the Bible...
not just because this was
the Word of God...
But because these curses
were being lived out
right in front of him... in real time!

This was not just some story.
This was not just a pretty verse
set on a scenic background
of a mountain sunset in a pretty font,
posted on social media.

This was real life to him.
So it moved him to action...
and changed his life forever.

And it brings me to wonder
if there is a time and a place
for each of us like this.

A King Josiah pivotal moment,
where we are living life,
surrounded by specific circumstances
into which God is ready to speak...
through His word,
through a friend,
through a church service,
through a worship song?

Will we, like Josiah, be willing to move,
knowing that it is not just coincidence;
Not just something that "happened"
to kind of work out that way?

Let us be watching and waiting...
for the moment when God will
intervene, intersect, interact with us
in such a way that we too
will have the heart to
humble ourselves and
weep before Him.

Ready to turn to the Lord
with all our heart,
with all our soul,
with all our might
according to all that
the heart of the Lord desires of us.

I pray you will have
moments like that in your life!
I pray that you will have
moments like that in your every day!

But sometimes it will take
like Josiah, a willingness
to also begin tearing down
all the idols, pillars, shrines and altars
that we have built up in our lives.

We we may not see them as
these pagan carved stair gods.
But all of us still have them...
Anything really, that we
have placed higher than,
or more important than God.

For don't we want to be
in that place of blessings...
the first thirteen verses,
rather than the last?

For our God has not changed
since the day He gave those commands.

While He has changed the way
He receives us...
no longer demanding
the ritual animal sacrifice.
But offering instead salvation
by His sacrifice of grace.

Still, He is a God who desires
​that we place nothing
before Him.

Word of God
train me, today...
To turn to You, Lord,
with all my heart,
with all my soul,
with all my might
according to all that
Your heart desires of me;
and not make an idol of any thing
placed before You as my God.