A Heart for God

2 Chronicles 29-31

Hezekiah, King of Judah
Descendant of David
He did right in the sight of God
Twenty-five years of age

Young ruler with a wicked father
Inherited a broken kingdom,
a broken temple,
and a broken heart

Father had destroyed,
Murdered his own children,
Turned to idols
Closed the doors to God

His kingdom in ruin,
Enemies surround
Persisted in evil
Buried without honor

Righteous Hezekiah rebuilt,
Brokenness repaired
Priests and Levites purified
Temple reopened

Filled with gladness
Cymbals, music, voices raised
Offerings brought,
Sacrifice with thanksgiving

Giving hearts willing
Kneeling in worship
Their praise was heard

Temple re-established
Hezekiah rejoiced
Letters sent throughout the land
Celebration of restoration

Bodies unclean, hearts pure
Though laws were not kept
Seeking the Lord
Forgiveness and healing

Seven days of celebration
And then seven more
Nothing like it since Solomon
Joy throughout the land

Blessings upon the people
Prayers went up to heaven
God listened from his Holy place
Their prayers were heard

Our God is intimate. He knows us on a deeper level than even our spouses, our parents, or our children.  He knows everything about us and he wants a relationship with us. Amazingly, He wants a relationship with us even when He knows everything about us. He cares for us even when we are doing things wrong or we make mistakes. He loves us even when we are unloveable. He knows the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. He looks at what others cannot see. What an amazing God He is.

 Do you ever try your hardest to be on God’s good side doing what is right, just to fail again and again? Why is that? Why can’t we get our lives together? For all our right living we think our prayers will be heard. We believe that if we have our stuff together, God will love us more. Yet we still seem to make mistakes. We want to be righteous, but our sinful nature gets the better of us. When we think we’re all that and a bag of chips, our pride becomes our downfall. Thankfully, God doesn’t sit around desiring to strike us down as soon as we mess up. He is a loving and forgiving God who wants to give us chance after chance to get things right and grow in our walk with Him. He knows we are going to make mistakes. He uses our mess-ups and our failings to teach us and lead us. When we stumble He is there to pick us back up and set our feet back on the right path. 

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”1 John 1:9

In the story of Hezekiah becoming king, he is fixing the kingdom that His father had ruined. His father had murdered his own children, closed the doors to the temple of God, and turned his back on God completely by worshiping the false gods of their enemies. Hezekiah inherited a mess of a kingdom. It was in bad shape, and he realized that His kingdom would come to ruin if they didn’t turn their hearts back to God. So he started a reformation. He was zealous and on fire to make God the God of the nation once again. He realized the sins that his father had committed, and he confessed and brought the people back to worshiping God. His heart was in the right place. 

Yet, the people were breaking the laws when it came to celebrating the Passover. In their defense, they probably didn’t remember how they should do things. They hadn’t been able to worship or celebrate at the temple in years because Hezekiah’s father had closed the temple doors, so worshiping God was new for many of them. Their fathers and grandfathers had turned their backs to God but Hezekiah was changing their hearts and they were excited to worship the God of their ancestors once again. However, they were “unclean” because they hadn’t followed all the traditions and rules of the law as it was written.

Yet God knew that their hearts were in the right place, they were seeking after Him. Hezekiah prayed that God would forgive anything that they messed up and didn’t get right because he wanted the people to freely celebrate without being discouraged. God heard Hezekiah’s prayer and forgave the sins of the people. They were healed and forgiven. Their praise and their prayers were heard. I love how the last part was written in the scriptures:

“…God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place.” 2 Chronicles 30:27

What an amazing thing it is for us that God hears our prayers when we earnestly seek Him. Even when He is in His holy dwelling place, still sees us and hears us. We can come to Him and ask for the desires of our hearts and He will hear. He knows how to give good gifts and He cares for His children.