Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, March 28th, 2024
Maundy Thursday
There are 3 days til Easter!
Attention!
StudyLight.org has pledged to help build churches in Uganda. Help us with that pledge and support pastors in the heart of Africa.
Click here to join the effort!

Daily Devotionals
Music For the Soul
Devotional: October 12th

Resource Toolbox

COSTLY AND FATAL HELP

He sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him; and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel. - 2 Chronicles 28:23

AHAZ came to the throne when a youth of twenty. From the beginning he reversed the policy of his father, and threw himself into the arms of the heathen party. In a comparatively short reign of sixteen years he stamped out the worship of God, and nearly ruined the kingdom. He did not plunge into idolatry for want of good advice. The greatest of the prophets stood beside him. Isaiah addressed to him remonstrances which might have made the most reckless pause, and promises which might have kindled hope and courage in the bosom of despair. Hosea in the northern kingdom, Micah in Judah, and other less brilliant names were amongst the stars which shone even in that dark night. But their light was all in vain. The foolish lad had got the bit between his teeth, and, like many another young man, thought to show his " breadth" and his "spirit" by neglecting his father’s counselors and abandoning his father’s faith. He was ready to worship anything that called itself a god, always excepting Jehovah. The more he multiplied his gods the more he multiplied his sorrows, and the more he multiplied his sorrows the more he multiplied his gods. From all sides the invaders came; from north, north-east, east, south-east, south, they swarmed in upon him. They tore away the fringes of his kingdom; and hostile armies flaunted their banners beneath the very wails of Jerusalem. And then, in his despair, like a scorpion in a circle of fire, he inflicted a deadly wound on himself by calling in the fatal help of Assyria. Nothing loth, that warlike power responded, scattered his less formidable foes, and then swallowed the prey which it had dragged from between the teeth of the Israelites and Syrians. The result of Ahaz’s frantic appeals to false gods and faithless men may still be read on the Cuneiform inscriptions, where amidst a long list of unknown tributary kings, stands, with a Philistine on one side of him and an Ammonite on the other, the shameful record, "Ahaz of Judah."

Is the breed extinct, think you? Is there anybody who, if he cannot get what he wants by fair ways, will try to get it by foul? Do none of you ever bow down to Satan for a slice of the kingdoms of this world? Ahaz has got plenty of brothers and sisters.

This story illustrates what, alas! is only too true. Look at the so-called cultured classes of Europe today; turning away, as so many of them are, from the Lord God of their fathers - what sort of things are they worshiping instead? Scraps from Buddhism, the Vedas, any sacred books but the Bible; quackeries and Charlatanism, and dreams, and fragmentary philosophies all pieced together, to try and make up a whole, instead of the old-fashioned whole that they have left behind them. " The garment is narrower than that a man can wrap himself in it." And a creed patched together so will never make a seamless whole which can be trusted not to rend. Ahaz had, as he thought, two strings to his bow. He had the gods of Damascus, and of other lands up there; he had the King of Assyria down here. They both of them exacted onerous terms before they would stir a foot to his aid. Do you buy this world’s help any cheaper? You get nothing for nothing in that market. It is a big price.

Subscribe …
Get the latest devotional delivered straight to your inbox every week by signing up for the "Music For the Soul" subscription list. Simply provide your email address below, click on "Subscribe!", and you'll receive a confirmation email from us. Follow the instructions in the email to confirm your subscription to this list.
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile