DAD'S RAMBLINGS – A TENDER HEART
" 'But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, in this manner you shall speak to him, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Concerning the words which you have heard – because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,' says the LORD."'" (II Chronicles 34:26-27)
The record says that Josiah became king of Judah when he was 8 years of age, and "while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David" (vs. 3). From his childhood, Josiah had a tender heart toward the LORD. When he was 30 years old, in the 12th year of his reign, "he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images. They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence" (vs. 3-4). He cleansed Judah and Jerusalem (vs. 5b).
As he purged the land, he also purged the temple and gave orders to repair the house of the LORD (vs. 8). As the workmen were repairing the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given by Moses (vs. 14). These scrolls were taken to King Josiah, and when he heard the words of the Law, he humbled himself, tore his clothes and wept in contrition.
Some people harden their hearts when they hear what God has to say – like the Pharaoh of Egypt. Scripture says that Zedekiah, king of Judah, "stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD God of Israel" (II Chronicles 36:13). Stephen, the Christian martyr, called the Jewish leaders "stiff-necked" in their hearts (Acts 7:51), because they resisted the work of the Holy Spirit. That is the picture of a hard heart – stiff and unyielding to God, resisting His work. A tender heart humbles itself under God's word, and tears are evidences of a soft heart.
I remember well my children. I could tell whether they accepted correction by their body language. If they stiffened up, I knew that they did not receive my word. When I hugged them, it was like hugging a tree.
When I hear God speak, if I resist His Word, I stiffen up in rebellion and my heart becomes hard. I can make all kinds of excuses, but the fact is that I have not humbled myself in humility under God's Word, and I know that He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (I Peter 5:5b).
Oh, for a soft and tender heart that humbles myself with tears under God's Word. I truly want a tender heart.
Love, Dad
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