The King who Dug his own Grave

2 Chronicles 16:9 (AMP), Psalm 118:8, 9 (KJV), II Kings 1:3,4 (NASB), Is. 55:6 (KJV) The King Who Dug His Own Grave There's an old hymn that says, "Oh what peace we often forfeit Oh what needless pain we bear All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer." It's amazing how many people choose to involve God so little in their lives. When it comes to decisions about business, family, career and the weightier matters of life, they seek out qualified counsel, yet they never bend a knee before the King of the Universe who stands by longing to help them. He desires to be glorified through our lives yet many times we deprive Him of that right. It is more than just unfortunate when we fail to inquire of the Lord. When we rob our Creator, Sustainer and Provider of His rightful place in our lives, it is literally offensive to God. Second Chronicles 16:9 AMP says, "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are blameless toward Him…." This is a verse that is often quoted in many different situations, but it may surprise you to learn the context of that verse and the fascinating circumstances surrounding it. It is both an insight and an admonition for our own lives. Baasha, the King of Israel came up against Judah in war and tried to starve the people out by besieging them at Ramah. So Asa, the King of the besieged Judah, "… brought silver and gold out of the treasuries of the house of the Lord and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Syria…saying, 'Let there be a league between me and you…break your league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.'" (II Chr. 16:2,3). The Syrians, whose allegiance Asa had bought with gold from the Lord's house came down and rescued the southern kingdom from the hand of Baasha. It would seem like a happy ending, but the Lord was not pleased. God wanted to be Judah's defender and deliverer, but instead Asa had given that opportunity to the Syrians. In the same way Asa had taken the gold from the Lord's house and given it to another, he had also taken the glory from the Lord and given it to another. So God sent a prophet named Hanani to king Asa with this message, "...Because you relied on the king of Aram (Syria) and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram (Syria) has escaped from your hand. Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the Earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war." (II Chr. 16:7-9 NIV) Because of fear, Asa chose to call upon, and put his trust in, the king of Syria rather than on the Lord and God was offended. As a result of this, the Lord gave Asa over to the very thing he feared most, "…from now on you will be at war." By not including the Lord, Asa had actually brought upon himself the very thing he was trying to avoid. "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes." (Psalm 118:8, 9) How often has God stood by ready, willing and able to help us, but we never turned to Him or gave Him an opportunity to intervene and bring glory to Himself through our crisis. As a result we have often forfeited peace and struggled under the load of unnecessary burdens — all because we did not inquire of the Lord. What's worse, an opportunity to bring glory to God was lost.What is so amazing is that Asa makes the VERY SAME MISTAKE again only 3 verses later: "In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet — until his disease became very severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but relied on the physicians. And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign." (II Chr. 16:12, 13 AMP) Can you see the pattern? The author is trying to communicate a moral through this story that is of utmost importance. Asa called upon the help of foreign armies instead of the Lord and as a result he inherited perpetual war. He called on the aid of doctors, instead of the Lord, when he became sick and as a result he inherited death. God wanted to help Asa. God wanted to deliver him from his enemies. God wanted to heal him from his diseases. But for some strange reason, like so many of us, Asa ignored God in the issues that mattered most and as a result he sealed his own fate. The final verse of the chapter sums Asa's life up with an almost contemptuous caption: "And they buried him in his own tomb WHICH HE HAD HEWN OUT FOR HIMSELF…." In essence, Asa dug his own grave and put the final nail in his own coffin because he insisted on calling upon the arm of flesh rather than on the Lord. God was insulted by Asa's disregard and gave him over to that which he feared most. Jeremiah 17: 5 says, "Thus says the LORD, 'Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the LORD.'" We find a similar story in II Kings 1 where king Ahaziah fell through a lattice in his upper chamber and was injured. He sent messengers to the Philistine city of Ekron to ask their god, Baal-zebub, whether or not he would recover. "But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, "Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?' "Now therefore thus says the LORD, 'You shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you shall surely die.'" (II Kings 1:3, 4 NASB) Ahaziah's failure to inquire of the Lord was a serious offense to God that cost him dearly. I wonder how many Christians are suffering today because they didn't trust in and seek the Lord in the midst of their trial. Faith often seems like the more difficult option. It is so much easier to trust a lawyer, a doctor, a colleague, a counselor or even our own selves. But after trusting in all of these other things, so many people find themselves given over to the very thing that they fear and in that moment they cry, "Why God!?" Don't wait until your wheels have fallen off before you cry out to the Lord. Seek the Lord while He may be found and call on Him when He is near (Is. 55:6). View your difficulty as merely an opportunity for the Lord to receive Glory.  - by Daniel Kolenda