In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the Word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus King of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing.
– Ezra 1:1
And the very next verse, describes what that proclamation is. But did you hear the language in Ezra 1:1. The Word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled.
Ezra 1:1 shows us God’s sovereignty over every single earthly king.
In other words… God promised through Jeremiah that this would happen and the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus King of Persia. So the big picture here is God had promised that he would restore his people from exile. He would bring them back to Jerusalem. God promised that through Jeremiah, and now it’s happening. And how is it happening? By the Lord’s work in a pagan king, Cyrus king of Persia.
So that Cyrus makes this proclamation. The proclamation is whoever among God’s people who wants to come back to Jerusalem can come and rebuild the temple. And there’s so much we can take away from this, but two things in particular. One, when you look at world events and countries and nations and leaders of nations… Be reminded today that God holds them all ultimately in the palm of his hand. He is sovereign over every single one of them. He is the King of Creation.
Ezra 1:1 reminds us that God is the ruler of all people, nations, and leaders of the earth.
The God we’re about to talk to is the ruler of all people and nations and leaders of the earth. And second, he will accomplish what he has said he will do in his Word. God will be true to his promises. I want you just to think about those realities, especially as you think about the coming year to know on a rock-solid foundation that God is sovereign over the coming year, that we can trust him with every single detail in our lives and every single detail in the world.
And we can know beyond the shadow of a doubt at every moment that God will be true to his Word. So we pray, oh God, oh glory be to your name, the Sovereign Ruler and King over all. And we say, “We trust in you.” Nothing in our lives will happen today or tomorrow, or this week or this next year by accident. You are orchestrating all things ultimately together for our good.
You’ve promised us this and we know that your promise will be fulfilled. So help us to live without fear, without anxiety, without worry over what lies ahead in the next year of our lives. Help us to live with humble confidence in who you are, in how you are working in the world, and how you’re working in our lives. And with humble confidence in your faithfulness to your Word at every moment. And God, we pray that you would use our lives to accomplish your purposes in the world.
Prayer for the Bashkar People
Even as we pray right now for the Bashkar people of Pakistan, 226,000 of them, no known followers of Jesus among the Bashkar. God, we believe you’ve called us to pray for the spread of the gospel to all the peoples of the world. And you’ll use our prayers to bring about the fulfillment of your purposes among all the peoples of the world. So we boldly come before you and plead for your salvation to spread to the Bashkar people of Pakistan.
Oh God, use our praying right now, our resources, our giving, the resources of your church for the spread of the gospel to the Bashkar of Pakistan that disciples might be made and churches planted and multiplied among them. God moved the hearts of kings and rulers and leaders of nations for the spread of the gospel to all the nations that your Word might be fulfilled. We pray all of this according to your Word in Ezra 1:1. In Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
