Trusting God’s Sovereignty (2 Kings 9:3)

Then take the flask of oil and pour it on his head and say, ‘Thus says the Lord, I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and flee; do not linger.”
—2 Kings 9:3

I read this first because this chapter, 2 Kings 9, is filled with events happening just as God said they would. So King Jehoram dies just as God said. So does Jezebel, his mother. And Jehu becomes king just as God said. It’s the constant refrain throughout this chapter.

And as we read through it, we see pictures, truths, realities that are so foundational for our lives: that God is sovereign over all things, that God is ultimately in control, which sure is good news as we read through 1 Kings, 2 Kings, just the digression of sin and evil among God’s people, to know that things are not ultimately out of control, that God is ultimately sovereign and in control, that his Word is true, and that what God has said will come to fruition. That God’s Word will prove true in time, and that God’s justice will reign in time.

2 Kings 9:3 illustrates why God’s people can trust him completely.

And all these truths are reasons to put our trust in God as we read his Word day in and day out, and we meditate on it morning and evening to know that we are reading the Word of the God who is sovereign over all things, who is in control, And two, the God whose Word is true and whose Word will prove true in our lives and in the world. And so we pray together based on this chapter and really all of the Bible.

Oh God, we praise you as the one who is in control. As we look at sin and evil around us in this world, as we look at struggles we’re walking through in this world, thank you for the reminder in this moment that you are sovereign, that you’re in control, and you are good, and your Word is good, and your Word is true. And so we say we trust in you. We trust that you are holding the world, and you are holding our lives in your hands.

2 Kings 9:3 encourages us to trust God’s good purposes in all things.

And according to your Word, you are working all things together for the good of those who love you and have been called according to your purpose, that you are bringing about good purposes in it all. Oh God, we trust that. We trust you, and we praise you for the rock, the truth of your Word, the reliability of your Word that we have to stand on in our lives today, and that we get to read morning and evening and meditate on and remember that you are true, your Word is true, your promises are true, and nothing, absolutely nothing in this world can change that.

Oh God, we pray you’d help us to encourage others today with the truth of your Word. Amidst all our conversations today, we pray that your Word would saturate our mouths, that we would speak good news to other brothers and sisters in Christ, just encouragement from your Word that’s true. God, we pray for boldness to share the gospel with people who don’t know the truth of your Word and the goodness and the promises and the mercy and the eternal life that is found in it.

A Prayer for the Tiemacewe Bozo People

And God, we pray for the spread of your Word to the ends of the earth, all over the world. Oh God, we pray specifically today for the Tiemacewe Bozo people of Mali, for this small people group, almost, if not 100 percent, Muslim, needing to hear the good news of your love in Jesus.

God, we pray, even thinking about how the name of their ethnic group comes from the term for a straw house. God, we pray that your Word would spread to them so that they might build their houses, their lives on the rock of your Word. May it be so, we pray. Even as we pray you’d help us to live standing on the rock of your Word today. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.