WEBVTT 00:00:08.519 --> 00:00:12.359 Chapter 16, really we'll be in chapters 14 through 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:20.239 16. But we'll start in chapter 16, verse 11. 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:28.100 2 Chronicles, that's in the Old Testament. 1 00:00:28.100 --> 00:00:31.480 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles kind of cover 00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:34.780 the same material. They talk about the different 00:00:34.780 --> 00:00:40.640 kings of Israel and Judah. By the time we get 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:43.000 just a little ways into Kings and Chronicles, 00:00:43.079 --> 00:00:47.659 we see that things are not good, that the nation 00:00:47.659 --> 00:00:51.399 of Israel has been split into two. The two groups 00:00:51.399 --> 00:00:55.700 are referred to as Judah and Israel. Judah was 00:00:55.700 --> 00:00:58.219 comprised of the tribe of Judah, and Benjamin 00:00:58.219 --> 00:01:01.859 and Israel were the other ten tribes. And Israel 00:01:01.859 --> 00:01:04.040 never had a good king. You go back and you read, 00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:06.079 all of their kings were bad. Not a single one 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:09.099 of them were good. Judah had a few good kings, 00:01:09.299 --> 00:01:12.459 and one of the good kings that they had was King 00:01:12.459 --> 00:01:14.920 Asa, and that's who we're going to talk about 00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:17.420 today. I'm sure you all probably know all about 00:01:17.420 --> 00:01:20.640 King Asa. And if you don't, then good news, we're 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:22.260 going to learn about him today. We don't know 00:01:22.260 --> 00:01:24.480 much about him. There's very little said about 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:27.299 him in 2 Chronicles, and even less than that 00:01:27.299 --> 00:01:30.719 in Kings when it talks about him. But even in 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:33.700 a story like this, maybe there's some... a little 00:01:33.700 --> 00:01:36.540 something we can take from this story today so 00:01:36.540 --> 00:01:39.340 let's read through these verses then we'll pray 00:01:39.340 --> 00:01:43.459 and we'll get started second chronicles chapter 00:01:43.459 --> 00:01:51.079 16 verse 11. note that the events of asa's reign 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:54.120 from beginning to end are written in the book 00:01:54.120 --> 00:01:58.319 of the kings of judah and israel in the 39th 00:01:58.319 --> 00:02:01.950 year of his reign Asa developed a disease in 00:02:01.950 --> 00:02:04.709 his feet, and his disease became increasingly 00:02:04.709 --> 00:02:09.650 severe. Yet even in his disease, he did not seek 00:02:09.650 --> 00:02:13.449 the Lord, but only the physicians. Let's pray. 00:02:14.330 --> 00:02:16.430 God, we come to you this morning. We thank you 00:02:16.430 --> 00:02:18.770 for your good word, and I pray, God, that your 00:02:18.770 --> 00:02:21.770 Holy Spirit would be with us this morning. I 00:02:21.770 --> 00:02:24.770 pray that you would help us to... Be free of 00:02:24.770 --> 00:02:27.629 the worries and the distractions and the thoughts 00:02:27.629 --> 00:02:29.750 of the world, dear Lord, that are competing for 00:02:29.750 --> 00:02:32.669 our attention now. I pray, God, that your Holy 00:02:32.669 --> 00:02:35.110 Spirit would just give us a sense of peace today, 00:02:35.189 --> 00:02:37.650 that we would listen to you, that you would open 00:02:37.650 --> 00:02:41.110 our ears and open our heart, dear Lord. I pray, 00:02:41.169 --> 00:02:43.189 God, that we would hear these words today, that 00:02:43.189 --> 00:02:45.250 we would be a people who would seek you this 00:02:45.250 --> 00:02:47.789 morning, dear Lord. I pray that you would take 00:02:47.789 --> 00:02:50.090 away any pride or fear that's within me, dear 00:02:50.090 --> 00:02:52.590 Lord, that any word that comes from my mouth 00:02:52.590 --> 00:02:55.650 today would be for you and for your glory. So 00:02:55.650 --> 00:02:58.129 I pray, God, that in these few minutes that you 00:02:58.129 --> 00:03:00.509 would just meet us where we are, dear Lord, and 00:03:00.509 --> 00:03:02.569 help us to be a people who would seek you and 00:03:02.569 --> 00:03:07.789 trust you. In Jesus' name I pray it. Amen. Now 00:03:07.789 --> 00:03:09.889 some of you may be saying, what in the world 00:03:09.889 --> 00:03:12.330 does King Asa and his feet have to do with anything? 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:16.500 Well, there's a little more to the story as we 00:03:16.500 --> 00:03:20.669 see the story of King Asa unfold. Now, you can 00:03:20.669 --> 00:03:22.969 go back this week and read in more detail the 00:03:22.969 --> 00:03:27.469 whole story. It's very short, but we see a change 00:03:27.469 --> 00:03:32.129 in Asa's life and a change in his people's life 00:03:32.129 --> 00:03:35.409 as the story progresses by the time we get to 00:03:35.409 --> 00:03:38.569 the verse that we see. Now, King Asa had reigned 00:03:38.569 --> 00:03:41.129 for a long time, 41 years, one of the longest 00:03:41.129 --> 00:03:44.729 reigning kings in Judah. And he certainly was 00:03:44.729 --> 00:03:47.330 a godly man. He was a man who feared the Lord 00:03:47.330 --> 00:03:51.229 and a man who did what was right up until right 00:03:51.229 --> 00:03:54.550 here at the end we see a little blemish that 00:03:54.550 --> 00:03:58.129 is attributed to him. Now if we turn back to 00:03:58.129 --> 00:04:03.990 2 Chronicles chapter 14, we see that Asa is about 00:04:03.990 --> 00:04:07.870 to... go into battle with the Kushites. The people 00:04:07.870 --> 00:04:11.050 of Kush are coming against his people, and they're 00:04:11.050 --> 00:04:13.669 outnumbered almost two to one. It's almost twice 00:04:13.669 --> 00:04:17.470 as many of them. And so they are in big trouble. 00:04:17.730 --> 00:04:20.750 How are Asa and his soldiers going to be able 00:04:20.750 --> 00:04:24.410 to defeat the Kushites? Well, they're probably 00:04:24.410 --> 00:04:27.889 not going to be able to based on human strength 00:04:27.889 --> 00:04:32.439 alone. So look at what Asa does in 2 Chronicles 00:04:32.439 --> 00:04:41.019 14, verse 11. 2 Chronicles 14, verse 11. Then 00:04:41.019 --> 00:04:44.759 Asa cried out to the Lord his God, Lord, there 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:48.339 is no one besides you to help the mighty and 00:04:48.339 --> 00:04:51.899 those without strength. Help us, Lord our God, 00:04:52.180 --> 00:05:00.149 for we depend on you. In your name we have come 00:05:00.149 --> 00:05:03.810 against this large army. Yahweh, you are our 00:05:03.810 --> 00:05:08.769 God. Do not let a mere mortal hinder you. So 00:05:08.769 --> 00:05:12.350 the Lord routed the Cushites before Asa and before 00:05:12.350 --> 00:05:16.910 Judah, and the Cushites fled. So here we see 00:05:16.910 --> 00:05:20.870 earlier on in Asa's reign as king, he was in 00:05:20.870 --> 00:05:24.649 a bad situation. He was up against a situation 00:05:24.649 --> 00:05:28.759 that was really unwinnable. He did not have much 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:31.579 hope. He did not have enough strength to be able 00:05:31.579 --> 00:05:35.420 to defeat the enemy army, and his only hope was 00:05:35.420 --> 00:05:39.519 to seek the Lord. And that's exactly what he 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:43.259 did. When everything was looking like it was 00:05:43.259 --> 00:05:45.699 stacked against him, when there was no way for 00:05:45.699 --> 00:05:47.939 him to win, when there was no way for him to 00:05:47.939 --> 00:05:50.660 be delivered, he did the one thing that you and 00:05:50.660 --> 00:05:54.069 I need to do. Perhaps we've done that. at some 00:05:54.069 --> 00:05:56.430 point in our life. Perhaps we've done that at 00:05:56.430 --> 00:05:59.790 many points in our life. That we acknowledge 00:05:59.790 --> 00:06:03.430 that we are in a bad situation. That we acknowledge 00:06:03.430 --> 00:06:06.529 that whatever we are up against is too hard on 00:06:06.529 --> 00:06:11.589 us. It's too hard for us to take on our own strength. 00:06:12.170 --> 00:06:16.209 And Asa acknowledges that. He says, God, I... 00:06:16.490 --> 00:06:19.670 do not have the strength. But Lord, would you 00:06:19.670 --> 00:06:23.449 hear my prayer? Would you hear my cry? God, would 00:06:23.449 --> 00:06:27.949 you help us? And guess what God did? As so many 00:06:27.949 --> 00:06:31.750 times in Scripture we see, God is with his people, 00:06:31.850 --> 00:06:35.350 and even when they are outnumbered and overmanned 00:06:35.350 --> 00:06:39.310 in every way, we see it time and time again that 00:06:39.310 --> 00:06:43.470 when God's people will seek God, That God will 00:06:43.470 --> 00:06:46.490 come to their aid and God will deliver them. 00:06:46.810 --> 00:06:49.870 That there is nothing that is too big for God. 00:06:49.949 --> 00:06:51.810 Now there are things that are too big for you 00:06:51.810 --> 00:06:54.910 this morning. There are things in your life just 00:06:54.910 --> 00:06:57.189 like what Asa was facing. Maybe you're not up 00:06:57.189 --> 00:06:59.829 against an enemy army, but there are things in 00:06:59.829 --> 00:07:02.310 your life that are too heavy for you right now. 00:07:03.069 --> 00:07:04.970 Tragedies that have occurred in your life, health 00:07:04.970 --> 00:07:07.189 problems that have occurred in your life, trouble 00:07:07.189 --> 00:07:09.529 at work, whatever it is, there are things in 00:07:09.529 --> 00:07:11.750 our life that are too hard for us and they are 00:07:11.750 --> 00:07:15.089 too big for us, and we do not have the strength. 00:07:15.509 --> 00:07:18.370 But they are not too big for God this morning. 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:21.699 They are not too big for God. Whatever you are 00:07:21.699 --> 00:07:25.000 up against, God has the strength to deliver you. 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:28.180 God has the strength to walk with you through 00:07:28.180 --> 00:07:32.600 this if you would just seek the Lord. And Asa, 00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:35.560 being a good king and a godly man, he did the 00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:39.720 right thing. He called out to God, and God delivered 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:43.709 him. God delivered his people. And this brought 00:07:43.709 --> 00:07:47.509 about a bit of a revival amongst God's people. 00:07:47.610 --> 00:07:49.970 Now, this is a theme that we see throughout the 00:07:49.970 --> 00:07:53.170 Old Testament among God's people. They'll live 00:07:53.170 --> 00:07:55.610 in sin or they'll get theirself into trouble. 00:07:55.769 --> 00:07:58.990 And then it's almost as though it's a last resort. 00:07:58.990 --> 00:08:01.449 Like, oh, we tried everything else. Let's call 00:08:01.449 --> 00:08:05.790 out to God and maybe he can help. And shocker. 00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:09.680 When people finally decide to turn to God, God 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:12.899 always helps if they genuinely and earnestly 00:08:12.899 --> 00:08:16.759 seek him. And so they had this big deliverance, 00:08:16.759 --> 00:08:19.040 this big win that God had blessed them with, 00:08:19.139 --> 00:08:22.379 and so this gets the people on fire. So these 00:08:22.379 --> 00:08:25.439 people begin to really seek the Lord, and we 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:28.639 see that when we flip to 2 Chronicles chapter 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:33.340 15. 2 Chronicles chapter 15, verses 1 through 00:08:33.340 --> 00:08:38.490 4. Listen to what these verses say. The Spirit 00:08:38.490 --> 00:08:43.350 of God came on Azariah, son of Obed. So he went 00:08:43.350 --> 00:08:47.090 out to meet Asa and said to him, Asa and all 00:08:47.090 --> 00:08:50.909 Judah and Benjamin, hear me. The Lord is with 00:08:50.909 --> 00:08:55.490 you when you are with him. If you seek him, he 00:08:55.490 --> 00:08:58.909 will be found by you. But if you abandon him, 00:08:59.210 --> 00:09:03.210 he will abandon you. For many years Israel has 00:09:03.210 --> 00:09:05.470 been without the true God, without a teaching 00:09:05.470 --> 00:09:08.509 priest, and without instruction. But when they 00:09:08.509 --> 00:09:12.269 turned to the Lord God of Israel and their distress 00:09:12.269 --> 00:09:18.070 and sought him, he was found by them. So this 00:09:18.070 --> 00:09:20.149 guy comes to Asa and says, look, this is what 00:09:20.149 --> 00:09:22.529 the Lord says. This is what the Lord wants you 00:09:22.529 --> 00:09:26.789 to know. If you will seek me, you will be delivered. 00:09:27.009 --> 00:09:29.830 If you will seek me, I will be with you. But 00:09:29.830 --> 00:09:32.029 if you don't seek me, if you abandon me, then 00:09:32.029 --> 00:09:34.820 you'll be abandoned. Now, there is nothing in 00:09:34.820 --> 00:09:36.960 this world that we can do apart from the Lord. 00:09:37.139 --> 00:09:39.519 We can try our best, and we can make it a little 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:41.820 ways, and we can think we're doing pretty good, 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:45.000 but if it has not already occurred to you, it 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:47.759 is going to occur. At some point in your life, 00:09:47.820 --> 00:09:51.350 you're going to be overwhelmed. It's going to 00:09:51.350 --> 00:09:53.769 be too much. There's going to be something you 00:09:53.769 --> 00:09:56.690 go through that you cannot make it another step, 00:09:56.850 --> 00:09:59.529 that you cannot go another day, that you are 00:09:59.529 --> 00:10:02.570 ready to give up. And it's in those days that 00:10:02.570 --> 00:10:05.929 even in a little story like this, a little story 00:10:05.929 --> 00:10:08.549 that we may have read and passed over many times 00:10:08.549 --> 00:10:11.529 and not thought of it, it's little stories like 00:10:11.529 --> 00:10:14.649 this that are reminders to us, that are calling 00:10:14.649 --> 00:10:18.799 us to remember to seek the Lord. It reminds us 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:21.179 of what happens when we seek the Lord, and it 00:10:21.179 --> 00:10:24.379 reminds us of what happens when we abandon the 00:10:24.379 --> 00:10:28.080 Lord. And that's what he says here. Look, if 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:29.720 you seek the Lord, he'll be with you, but if 00:10:29.720 --> 00:10:32.700 you abandon the Lord, he'll abandon you. And 00:10:32.700 --> 00:10:35.019 if the Lord is not with us, we find ourselves 00:10:35.019 --> 00:10:37.879 in trouble. And he even gives an example. He 00:10:37.879 --> 00:10:40.419 said, look, when Israel would seek God, things 00:10:40.419 --> 00:10:42.299 would be good, but when they wouldn't, things 00:10:42.299 --> 00:10:44.460 would be bad. And what does it say at the end 00:10:44.460 --> 00:10:47.440 of the verse here? It says in verse 4, But when 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:50.000 they turned to the Lord their God of Israel in 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:53.879 their distress and sought him, he was found by 00:10:53.879 --> 00:10:57.620 them. Here's this idea. There's this theme that 00:10:57.620 --> 00:11:01.720 we see in this short little story of Asa. And 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:06.460 the theme is to seek God. When Asa was up against 00:11:06.460 --> 00:11:10.519 the Cushites, he sought God. Here we see that 00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:14.259 Asa and the people are called to seek God. They 00:11:14.259 --> 00:11:16.779 are given an example of Israel, that when they 00:11:16.779 --> 00:11:21.539 would seek God, he was with them. And so we're 00:11:21.539 --> 00:11:24.919 starting to see a theme in the life of Asa and 00:11:24.919 --> 00:11:27.740 in the life of the people. And it's a good theme. 00:11:28.100 --> 00:11:30.360 It's a theme that starts at the beginning of 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:33.259 the story. Asa sought God. All right, everybody's 00:11:33.259 --> 00:11:35.379 excited about the Lord. There's a bit of a revival. 00:11:35.559 --> 00:11:38.620 And now the people are going to seek God. Let's 00:11:38.620 --> 00:11:41.600 read a little further in 2 Chronicles 15, verse 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:47.419 12. Then they entered into a covenant to seek 00:11:47.419 --> 00:11:50.720 the Lord God of their ancestors with all their 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:55.600 mind and all their heart. That pretty much sums 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:58.899 it up. Even Jesus says something similar. What 00:11:58.899 --> 00:12:01.840 is the most important thing for us? It is to 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:04.220 seek the Lord our God with all our heart, our 00:12:04.220 --> 00:12:07.220 mind, our soul, and strength. It's to love him. 00:12:07.710 --> 00:12:10.289 Jesus said, and to love our neighbor, this same 00:12:10.289 --> 00:12:13.590 idea we see repeated even in the New Testament, 00:12:13.669 --> 00:12:16.970 even among Jesus. And when the people hear this 00:12:16.970 --> 00:12:18.909 word, when the people hear this command, this 00:12:18.909 --> 00:12:22.850 call to seek God, what do they do? They receive 00:12:22.850 --> 00:12:26.929 it excitedly. And they said, look, we are going 00:12:26.929 --> 00:12:30.450 to seek God. We make a covenant now that we will 00:12:30.450 --> 00:12:33.870 be a people who seek the Lord. Things are going 00:12:33.870 --> 00:12:37.190 good. as they often do when we seek the Lord. 00:12:37.830 --> 00:12:39.970 If you ever made a decision in your life where 00:12:39.970 --> 00:12:42.889 you didn't seek the Lord, oftentimes those things 00:12:42.889 --> 00:12:46.549 fail. But I can just about guarantee you that 00:12:46.549 --> 00:12:49.149 every time that you have earnestly and genuinely 00:12:49.149 --> 00:12:53.309 sought the Lord and listened to what he told 00:12:53.309 --> 00:12:55.009 you, not just seek him and he tells you what 00:12:55.009 --> 00:12:56.330 you don't want to hear, sometimes that happens 00:12:56.330 --> 00:12:58.169 too. You ask him about something, he don't tell 00:12:58.169 --> 00:12:59.350 you what you want to hear, and you kind of go 00:12:59.350 --> 00:13:02.129 your own way. Those situations always end bad. 00:13:02.269 --> 00:13:05.730 But when we earnestly and genuinely seek God 00:13:05.730 --> 00:13:08.909 with all of our heart and listen to him, those 00:13:08.909 --> 00:13:12.710 situations always turn out for the better. They 00:13:12.710 --> 00:13:15.669 always turn out to the good because God knows 00:13:15.669 --> 00:13:19.370 better than we know. And we think we know. We 00:13:19.370 --> 00:13:21.970 want to do things our way. We want to seek our 00:13:21.970 --> 00:13:25.210 own will. But if we really want to find peace 00:13:25.210 --> 00:13:28.419 and success, And joy in our life, that comes 00:13:28.419 --> 00:13:32.759 when we seek the will of God, when we seek him 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:34.980 for help, when we seek him for our strength, 00:13:35.019 --> 00:13:38.500 when we're not trusting in the world or in our 00:13:38.500 --> 00:13:41.120 abilities and the things that we know and the 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:43.480 things that we can do. We're not trusting in 00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:46.139 other people around us, but we are seeking God 00:13:46.139 --> 00:13:49.779 and trusting him. And Asa had done that. And 00:13:49.779 --> 00:13:53.240 here we see God's people had done that. Let's 00:13:53.240 --> 00:13:56.919 continue on a little further. 2 Chronicles chapter 00:13:56.919 --> 00:14:02.080 15, verse 15. All Judah rejoiced over the oath, 00:14:02.299 --> 00:14:05.639 for they had sworn it with all their mind. They 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:08.659 had sought him with all their heart, and he was 00:14:08.659 --> 00:14:13.080 found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:19.620 every side. Everything's going great. Maybe that's 00:14:19.620 --> 00:14:22.879 the case for some of us today. Maybe we seek 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:25.690 the Lord. Maybe we've been seeking the Lord for 00:14:25.690 --> 00:14:28.190 years. Maybe we listen to what he's saying. Maybe 00:14:28.190 --> 00:14:30.929 we trust him. Maybe we know he's our strength. 00:14:31.570 --> 00:14:35.830 Maybe we know that he is our deliverer. But we 00:14:35.830 --> 00:14:38.950 need to be reminded of stories like these, that 00:14:38.950 --> 00:14:40.970 we need to seek the Lord. You say, well, I'm 00:14:40.970 --> 00:14:43.289 doing good today. Well, praise the Lord. You're 00:14:43.289 --> 00:14:45.389 doing good today. There are seasons in our life 00:14:45.389 --> 00:14:48.370 where we do good. But we need even little stories 00:14:48.370 --> 00:14:51.669 like this to remind us to continue to seek the 00:14:51.669 --> 00:14:55.559 Lord. And now we arrive back at the verse that 00:14:55.559 --> 00:14:58.879 we started at. King Asa is looked at as a good 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:02.659 king. He sought the Lord's help. The Lord delivered 00:15:02.659 --> 00:15:05.720 him. He led the people right. They listened to 00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:08.460 God's command. They were excited. They said, 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:11.419 we're going to seek God. God's going to be with 00:15:11.419 --> 00:15:14.220 us. God took care of them. God gave them peace. 00:15:14.340 --> 00:15:17.019 God gave them rest on every side. All was good 00:15:17.019 --> 00:15:20.100 when they would seek God. And then we get to 00:15:20.100 --> 00:15:24.299 chapter 16. where it says the verses we started 00:15:24.299 --> 00:15:28.879 at. In verse 12, chapter 16, verse 12. In the 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:32.679 39th year of his reign, Asa developed a disease 00:15:32.679 --> 00:15:36.059 in his feet, and his disease became increasingly 00:15:36.059 --> 00:15:40.919 severe. Yet even in his disease, he did not seek 00:15:40.919 --> 00:15:45.960 the Lord, but only the physicians. He didn't 00:15:45.960 --> 00:15:49.120 seek the Lord. Now this is a man who knew what 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:51.799 it meant to seek the Lord. This is a man who 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:54.179 had sought the Lord and the Lord had been with 00:15:54.179 --> 00:15:56.700 him and delivered him. This is a man who led 00:15:56.700 --> 00:16:00.080 his people into seeking the Lord. And yet at 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:03.440 the end of his reign, he got a foot disease and 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:07.320 he did not seek the Lord. Instead, it says that 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:12.419 he trusted in the physicians. Now you go back 00:16:12.419 --> 00:16:14.220 and read a few verses before, there's another 00:16:14.220 --> 00:16:17.919 part to the story as well. That there was a king 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:21.179 who was coming against him. There was a king 00:16:21.179 --> 00:16:23.299 who was coming against Asa. Now you would think 00:16:23.299 --> 00:16:26.779 that Asa would say, Hey, not worried about this. 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:29.120 I've been here before. I'm not worried about 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:30.899 a king who's going to come against me. I'm not 00:16:30.899 --> 00:16:33.360 worried about another army. I'm going to call 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:36.100 out to God because God has delivered me greatly. 00:16:37.500 --> 00:16:39.960 But do you know what Asa does in the story a 00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:43.039 few verses before this? When the enemy is coming 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:46.379 against him, He goes and seeks another king for 00:16:46.379 --> 00:16:51.279 help. He doesn't seek the Lord. It's as if somehow 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:54.679 he's forgotten. It's as if somehow he's forgotten 00:16:54.679 --> 00:16:57.019 that it's the Lord who delivers him. It's the 00:16:57.019 --> 00:16:59.139 Lord who has strengthened him. It's the Lord 00:16:59.139 --> 00:17:02.259 who had given them rest. And if Asa would have 00:17:02.259 --> 00:17:04.380 called out to the Lord against the other army, 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:07.339 guess what? God would have delivered them, I 00:17:07.339 --> 00:17:12.170 would imagine. But Asa didn't do that. We see 00:17:12.170 --> 00:17:16.269 Asa started out so good, but at some point in 00:17:16.269 --> 00:17:19.230 the story, something changed. I don't know what 00:17:19.230 --> 00:17:23.269 changed. He started off seeking the Lord, and 00:17:23.269 --> 00:17:26.230 then he began to trust in other people. He began 00:17:26.230 --> 00:17:29.029 to trust in another king to save him. He began 00:17:29.029 --> 00:17:31.990 to trust in the physicians to save him. But what 00:17:31.990 --> 00:17:35.369 he should have been doing was seeking the Lord 00:17:35.369 --> 00:17:40.289 in everything that he did. So what about you 00:17:40.289 --> 00:17:44.359 and I? Maybe we are not so unlike Asa today. 00:17:45.539 --> 00:17:48.019 Maybe there are some of us today who have experienced 00:17:48.019 --> 00:17:52.559 the power of God. Maybe we started doing well. 00:17:53.230 --> 00:17:56.309 Maybe we have sought God and we have trusted 00:17:56.309 --> 00:17:58.829 in God and we have seen God work and we have 00:17:58.829 --> 00:18:01.410 experienced God's peace and we've experienced 00:18:01.410 --> 00:18:04.369 God's deliverance, but maybe somewhere along 00:18:04.369 --> 00:18:07.230 the way for us today, we are at a point in our 00:18:07.230 --> 00:18:10.150 life as we sit on these pews that there's something 00:18:10.150 --> 00:18:13.230 in our life going on and we need to be reminded 00:18:13.230 --> 00:18:16.450 to seek God. You may have read the scripture, 00:18:16.670 --> 00:18:19.109 you may know you need to seek God, but maybe 00:18:19.109 --> 00:18:21.910 today you need to be reminded it's a constant 00:18:21.910 --> 00:18:25.990 struggle. Our life is full of struggle from the 00:18:25.990 --> 00:18:28.750 time we are born to the time that we die, and 00:18:28.750 --> 00:18:32.089 we need to be reminded constantly that there 00:18:32.089 --> 00:18:36.089 is no hope but God. There is no deliverer but 00:18:36.089 --> 00:18:39.450 God. And somewhere along the way, Asa forgot 00:18:39.450 --> 00:18:42.950 that. I'm not saying Asa was an evil, evil man. 00:18:43.150 --> 00:18:45.130 I'm just saying that there were times in his 00:18:45.130 --> 00:18:47.190 life that he should have been trusting in God, 00:18:47.269 --> 00:18:50.670 and he was trusting in man. And maybe that's 00:18:50.670 --> 00:18:54.019 the case for some of us today. Who would have 00:18:54.019 --> 00:18:56.500 thought that a story about a king with some nasty 00:18:56.500 --> 00:18:59.940 feet would have any bearing on us today? But 00:18:59.940 --> 00:19:03.940 yet even a story like this reminds us that we 00:19:03.940 --> 00:19:07.079 need to seek the Lord, that we don't fall into 00:19:07.079 --> 00:19:12.559 that same trap. What about you and I today? Is 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:15.319 there anything in your life today, and maybe 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:18.440 you know God and you know God's Word, but maybe 00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:21.400 you just haven't been seeking Him. Maybe today 00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:24.009 the Lord wants you to call on Him. Maybe today 00:19:24.009 --> 00:19:26.089 the Lord wants to give you some peace and to 00:19:26.089 --> 00:19:28.809 give you some deliverance. He just wants you 00:19:28.809 --> 00:19:31.569 to seek Him with all of your heart. He just wants 00:19:31.569 --> 00:19:33.990 you to come to Him and ask. He just wants you 00:19:33.990 --> 00:19:36.849 to come to Him and say, Look, Lord, my strength 00:19:36.849 --> 00:19:41.180 is weak. Lord, I cannot do it. But God, I see 00:19:41.180 --> 00:19:43.740 time and time again where you are with your people 00:19:43.740 --> 00:19:46.559 and you hear their cries and you hear their call. 00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:50.059 And God, I pray today that you would just listen 00:19:50.059 --> 00:19:52.359 to me, that you would come to me, that you would 00:19:52.359 --> 00:19:54.319 deliver me. And I promise you that if you would 00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:57.500 seek God today, he would hear your prayers and 00:19:57.500 --> 00:19:59.619 he would be with you. I can't promise you that 00:19:59.619 --> 00:20:01.960 he's going to make everything in your life better 00:20:01.960 --> 00:20:04.279 or that he'll make your situation go away. But 00:20:04.279 --> 00:20:06.019 I can promise you that he's going to be with 00:20:06.019 --> 00:20:07.980 you. I can promise you that he's going to give 00:20:07.980 --> 00:20:10.460 you peace beyond understanding. I can promise 00:20:10.460 --> 00:20:12.420 you that He's going to give you strength, and 00:20:12.420 --> 00:20:15.500 He may even very well deliver you from whatever 00:20:15.500 --> 00:20:19.640 it is, but you have to seek Him, and you have 00:20:19.640 --> 00:20:24.119 to call out to Him. Jesus says the same thing 00:20:24.119 --> 00:20:27.980 in the New Testament. Seek ye first the kingdom 00:20:27.980 --> 00:20:33.599 of God. What a powerful statement. This is exactly 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:36.119 what Asa was doing. This is what the people of 00:20:36.119 --> 00:20:38.680 God were doing in this story. But somewhere along 00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:42.420 the way, they lost their way. Somewhere along 00:20:42.420 --> 00:20:44.400 the way, they lost their way. And maybe that's 00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:48.019 the story for you and I today. Maybe for some 00:20:48.019 --> 00:20:51.019 of us today, somewhere along the way, we have 00:20:51.019 --> 00:20:54.880 lost our way. We have started living for ourselves. 00:20:56.059 --> 00:20:58.599 We have not been seeking the Lord's instructions 00:20:58.599 --> 00:21:03.200 and His guidance and His help. Maybe today you 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:06.579 need to seek first the kingdom of God. Did you 00:21:06.579 --> 00:21:08.859 say, God, I'm not going to live for myself and 00:21:08.859 --> 00:21:12.160 my own desires, but God, I want to live for your 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:16.460 kingdom. God, I'm broken. God, this sin has got 00:21:16.460 --> 00:21:18.920 the best of me. God, this situation I'm in has 00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:22.230 gotten the best of me. God, I am heartbroken. 00:21:22.309 --> 00:21:24.650 Whatever it is, whatever our circumstance it 00:21:24.650 --> 00:21:27.630 is, we need to go to God and say, God, I'm not 00:21:27.630 --> 00:21:29.750 in a good place. I'm not where I want to be. 00:21:29.849 --> 00:21:32.789 God, I need you. So God, today I come to you 00:21:32.789 --> 00:21:36.609 and I seek you. And God hears those prayers. 00:21:37.569 --> 00:21:40.410 And we need to be those today who seek God for 00:21:40.410 --> 00:21:43.509 the forgiveness of our sins. That we enter into 00:21:43.509 --> 00:21:45.670 the kingdom of God. That entrance only comes 00:21:45.670 --> 00:21:49.069 through Jesus Christ. Our healing only comes 00:21:49.069 --> 00:21:51.670 through Jesus Christ. Our healing of our sin, 00:21:51.730 --> 00:21:53.809 our healing of our sickness, whatever healing 00:21:53.809 --> 00:21:56.170 comes in our life, it only comes through Jesus 00:21:56.170 --> 00:21:59.130 Christ. Whatever deliverance we receive in our 00:21:59.130 --> 00:22:01.910 life, it only comes through the power of Jesus 00:22:01.910 --> 00:22:05.990 Christ. But we must be those who seek the Lord. 00:22:07.230 --> 00:22:11.730 So let us not fall into the trap of Asa. That 00:22:11.730 --> 00:22:14.269 after walking so good, we begin to trust in ourselves 00:22:14.269 --> 00:22:18.029 and trust in... other people for our deliverance. 00:22:18.690 --> 00:22:21.829 Let us be those today who trust in the Lord and 00:22:21.829 --> 00:22:24.990 the Lord alone. Let us seek him today with all 00:22:24.990 --> 00:22:28.569 of our heart. Let's pray. God, we come to you 00:22:28.569 --> 00:22:31.029 today. We thank you for this simple short story 00:22:31.029 --> 00:22:34.869 of Asa and what a beautiful reminder of your 00:22:34.869 --> 00:22:37.130 mercy and your grace and your deliverance, dear 00:22:37.130 --> 00:22:40.150 Lord. that if we would just cry out to you and 00:22:40.150 --> 00:22:42.170 call out to you and seek you, dear Lord, you 00:22:42.170 --> 00:22:44.930 are faithful to hear and to deliver us today, 00:22:45.049 --> 00:22:47.569 to give us the strength in our weakness, God. 00:22:48.970 --> 00:22:51.210 God, I pray that we would have the same response 00:22:51.210 --> 00:22:53.990 as Asa's people did, that we would rejoice at 00:22:53.990 --> 00:22:56.009 hearing your word. We would rejoice at seeing 00:22:56.009 --> 00:22:58.470 your power, both in this story and in so many 00:22:58.470 --> 00:23:00.930 others in Scripture, dear Lord, that we would 00:23:00.930 --> 00:23:03.150 be those who would seek you with all of our heart 00:23:03.150 --> 00:23:05.750 and all of our mind, that we would rejoice in 00:23:05.750 --> 00:23:09.359 you, dear Lord, today. And God, I pray that you 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:13.940 help us to be alert because we are humans and 00:23:13.940 --> 00:23:16.680 we get so caught up in the things of the world 00:23:16.680 --> 00:23:20.160 and doing things our way, dear Lord, that sometimes, 00:23:20.420 --> 00:23:22.660 even though if we know you, dear Lord, we just 00:23:22.660 --> 00:23:27.420 kind of forget to call out to you, God. So may 00:23:27.420 --> 00:23:30.200 this story be a reminder for us today, dear Lord. 00:23:30.839 --> 00:23:33.200 If there are any in this room that have not been 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:36.180 seeking you, that maybe today that they would 00:23:36.180 --> 00:23:39.140 seek you first. That you would remind us from 00:23:39.140 --> 00:23:41.859 this point forward, dear Lord, to always seek 00:23:41.859 --> 00:23:45.119 you first. God, I pray that if there are any 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:48.059 in this room that do not know Jesus Christ as 00:23:48.059 --> 00:23:51.099 their Lord and Savior this morning, that they 00:23:51.099 --> 00:23:53.940 would seek him today. God, maybe they've been 00:23:53.940 --> 00:23:55.980 seeking him and they don't even know it, dear 00:23:55.980 --> 00:23:58.839 Lord. Maybe they've been seeking peace and forgiveness 00:23:58.839 --> 00:24:01.500 and love and grace in their life and they just 00:24:01.500 --> 00:24:04.609 don't know where that comes from. But dear Lord, 00:24:04.710 --> 00:24:06.769 I pray today that they know that that will only 00:24:06.769 --> 00:24:10.509 be found in Jesus Christ. So I pray, God, that 00:24:10.509 --> 00:24:12.289 they would seek Him with all of their heart and 00:24:12.289 --> 00:24:13.970 all of their mind today, that they would repent 00:24:13.970 --> 00:24:17.130 of their sinfulness and put their faith and trust 00:24:17.130 --> 00:24:20.250 in Jesus. God, maybe there are some in here today, 00:24:20.329 --> 00:24:22.869 and they're yours, and they've trusted you in 00:24:22.869 --> 00:24:25.890 the past, and they know your goodness, and for 00:24:25.890 --> 00:24:28.410 whatever reason, dear Lord, they've just started 00:24:28.410 --> 00:24:31.089 trusting in their own abilities. They've started 00:24:31.089 --> 00:24:33.089 trusting in other people. They've started trusting 00:24:33.089 --> 00:24:35.230 in other things for their deliverance today. 00:24:35.329 --> 00:24:37.390 God, I pray that you would forgive us if we've 00:24:37.390 --> 00:24:40.549 done that. And I pray that today that we would 00:24:40.549 --> 00:24:43.710 once again seek you. God, you know these people. 00:24:43.769 --> 00:24:45.369 You know their hearts. You know their situations. 00:24:45.509 --> 00:24:47.750 God, you know everybody's, they're going through 00:24:47.750 --> 00:24:49.970 something, dear Lord. We just have a lot going 00:24:49.970 --> 00:24:54.269 on in our lives. So I pray, God, whatever folks 00:24:54.269 --> 00:24:56.569 have going on today, dear Lord, that in these 00:24:56.569 --> 00:24:59.220 moments that they would seek you. that they would 00:24:59.220 --> 00:25:02.460 give it to you, dear Lord. I pray that you would 00:25:02.460 --> 00:25:05.640 just give them some peace this morning. I pray 00:25:05.640 --> 00:25:07.400 that you'd give them some strength this morning. 00:25:07.420 --> 00:25:09.140 I pray that you'd give them some encouragement 00:25:09.140 --> 00:25:11.759 this morning, God, to know that whatever they 00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:13.759 are up against, they are not alone, that you 00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:17.640 are with them. If we would only cry out to you 00:25:17.640 --> 00:25:21.099 today, if we would only seek you today. So I 00:25:21.099 --> 00:25:23.920 pray that we would. And I ask these things in 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:25.599 Jesus' name. Amen.