February 14, 2022

Passage Read: 1 Chronicles 27 - 2 Chronicles 1
Meditation Verses: 1 Chronicles 29:18-19

Thought

It's interesting that David would pray this, because back in Genesis, God said that every inclination of the thoughts of men were only evil all the time. David prays that God would keep this generous intent towards Him in their hearts forever. So how much will God do and how much will He leave it to us to decide? Is this a prayer that God will answer? Obviously, He didn't keep the hearts of the people delighting in Him forever. They did pretty well through the reign of Solomon, less well through the reigns of others, and sometimes they did really badly. So is such a prayer meaningful? There are many such prayers scattered throughout Scripture, but God's people inevitable drift from Him.

Application

Ultimately, there is no hope for anyone to love the Lord unless the Lord does a work in his heart. But does He violate the will of man to force him to believe or does He give grace to soften a heart that it might turn to Him and believe? Jesus said that no one comes to the Father except the Father draw him, but He doesn't say that the Father forces him to come, only that He draws the unbeliever. Surely it is good to ask God to draw those I care about, those I'm trying to reach, but I also need to urge them not to miss the Lord's grace, because in the end, they must choose to believe in the Lord.