Articles
Rejoicing or Bored
Rejoicing or Bored
As we begin reading 2 Chron. 29 we find that the people had forsaken the Lord under the kingship of Ahaz. He was a wicked king that had closed the temple of God and effectively stopped the worship of the LORD. He led the people into idolatry and sin. This continued for his years of reign.
Hezekiah was different. He shows that you don't HAVE to be the same as your parents. If parents are WRONG (as Ahaz was) then one MUST choose to be different if he would be RIGHT with God. So Hezekiah chose to be different than Ahaz his father.
He had the priests / Levites sanctify themselves to the Lord. He then had them remove the filth and unclean things from the Temple of God. They then began again the worship of the LORD as had been taught in the law of the LORD.
A whole generation of people is thus reintroduced to the true worship of the true God. The Levites "sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped" (2 Chron. 29:30). "Thus the service of the house of the Lord was restored. And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had prepared for the people, for the thing came about suddenly" (29:35-36). Having gathered together a great assembly of the people we read that "…the people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness, and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with all their might to the Lord" (30:21). The whole assembly rejoiced (30:25). "So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem" (30:26).
One could only wish that this sense of joy and gladness in worshiping the LORD in truth and gladness would continue. It will be with sadness to read of later generations that found all of this a weariness and bother! (Malachi will write that the people would say "what a weariness this is" and then they would "snort at it" (Mal. 1:13). It would be the same temple service and the same God but different hearts. It isn't the 'what they were doing' that needed to be changed but the hearts of those doing it. The people of Hezekiah's day did the same things but did it with gladness and joy.
The zeal, enthusiasm, and joy of finding God often gives way to boredom and resentment. When worship becomes centered on the worshiper and his feelings things quickly go sour. Worship is centered upon God. It is recognizing His holiness and greatness. Such worship can never grow old. IF however we concentrate on our own feelings the heart's love for God grows cold.
At this junction many people begin to want to change what they are doing thinking that the innovation will restore the joy and zeal. It usually is new and exciting but it too quickly grows old. What I need is to renew MY heart daily. I need to reignite the fire in my heart for God. I need to return to my first love.
