“When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.”
– 2 Chronicles 12:1
2 Chronicles 12:1 is so sad. My God had given grace and mercy to Rehoboam, and to his people as they sought his face. Earlier in the 2 Chronicles 11:16, we read about those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord, God of Israel, and how God blessed them as they set their hearts. What a phrase, they set their hearts to seek him, and yet, once God had blessed them as they set their hearts to seek him, and Rehoboam and the people became strong, then they abandoned the law of the Lord. What were they thinking?
God, that we would live with humility before you, please guard all of us from pride.
2 Chronicles 12:1 Reminds Us to Live Humbly
As we ask that question, we need to ask that question in our own lives. Don’t we? So easily God can bless us and pride can set in, and we can lose sight so quickly of the reality that the good things we have come from God, that he’s the author of those good things, and he can take away those good things at any moment. God help us to live with humility. And what’s interesting is when you get to the summary of Rehoboam’s life and leadership, 2 Chronicles 12:14 says, “He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord.” It’s the exact same language that was used in Chapter 11 to describe the people when God responded in mercy and blessing, because they set their hearts to seek the Lord. And yet Rehoboam did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord.
2 Chronicles 12:1 Leads Us to Ask for Help
And so we pray in light of these phrases in God’s word. Oh, God help us today, and every single day to set our hearts on seeking you. God, we pray that that would be the phrase that describes our lives today, and our lives all week long. And God our lives, we want them to be marked by that phrase until we see your face, that we have set our hearts on seeking you.
God, that we would live with humility before you, please, please, please, guard all of us from pride. Keep us from pride in every way. We have nothing apart from you. We have no strength apart from you. No wisdom apart from you. No goodness apart from you. Nothing in us is good apart from you. God, everything good in us, around us comes from you. You’re the author of everything good, so we humble ourselves before you in prayer.
This Verse leads Us to Pray for Humility
Even our lack of prayer, oh, God, is a picture of pride. When we don’t pray we’re saying we can do this on our own. We’re abandoning you, and turning to our own strength, and our own ideas, and our own ways. God make us a humble, prayerful people, whose hearts are set on seeking you. Oh God, please may that mark my life. All day long today, may that mark the lives of every single person listening to this right now, that our hearts would be set on seeking you. And that we would walk humbly with you as our hearts seek you. In Jesus’ name, we pray. According to 2 Chronicles 11 and 12, specifically this picture in 2 Chronicles 12:1. 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.
