“And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company. And he came and stood before him, and he said, ‘Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel. So accept now a present from your servant.'”
– 2 Kings 5:15
These words in 2 Kings 5:15 come from Naaman, from Syria, as he confesses his realization that there is only one God overall. And this is the confession of faith that dominates the Bible like Old Testament, Deuteronomy 6, the Shema, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord, your God, the Lord is one.” This is the great commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” This is the proclamation about Jesus. He is Lord. Jesus is God.
There is only one true God overall in a world of idols, in a world of false little g gods. There is only one true capital G God. And we who know this must one, live to worship him alone, to not bow down to other idols in this world, including idols of success, prosperity, sex, fame, sports, busyness, money. So many different idols in this world.
God, help us to live with supreme love for you, wholehearted, undivided love for you.
2 Kings 5:15 Reminds Us God Alone is Lord
People that we’re prone to give affection to that ultimately only God deserves our supreme affection in a way that affection for others flows from affection for Him. That even gratitude for good things flows from glory that we’re giving to Him. The essence of idolatry is enjoying gifts while ignoring the giver of those gifts.
There is one God. And so we say in prayer together, this confession, oh, God, you alone are the Lord. All the gods of the nations are idols. All of them are vain, futile, and empty. You alone are God. You alone are the Lord, and we worship you alone as God. And we pray that our lives will be marked by love for you with all our hearts and all our soul and all our mind and all our strength because you alone are worthy of all our heart and all of our soul and all of our minds and all of our strength.
You are worthy of all of our affection. You are worthy of all of our devotion. God help us to turn aside from people, things, pursuits, possessions in this world that would seek to steal our hearts and our minds and our devotion away from you. God help us to live with supreme love for you, wholehearted, undivided love for you. And God help us to proclaim this message to people around us today. To tell others there is one God, His name is Jesus, and He’s worthy of all our worship.
This Verse Leads Us to Pray for the Unreached
And to proclaim this message to the ends of the earth. God, for Bahraini Arabs. God, we pray for Arabs all across Bahrain and spread out in other countries like Oman. We pray for the spread of the good news of the one true God, whose name is Jesus, across Bahraini Arabs. Oh God, we exalt you alone. And we pray that the fruit of our lives will be more people saying what Naaman from Syria said, “Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but the Lord Jesus.” In His name, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
