Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
2     O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
    to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
    O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
    that you may be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
    and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
    more than watchmen for the morning,
    more than watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
    For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
    and with him is plentiful redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel
    from all his iniquities.
 
Meditation
The fact of forgiveness is free for everyone who has faith in Christ’s finished work. God promises believers “are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” (Romans 3:24-25). Grace invites you to freshly receive forgiveness.
 
Today’s Psalm was sung by pilgrims on a journey toward Jerusalem to prepare their hearts for sacrifice, worship, ceremony, and festival. The fact of forgiveness is foundational for pilgrims to rightly worship the Lord.
 
Out of the depths of sin (1) the pilgrim’s heart is shaped by God’s delight to forgive. With the Lord there is forgiveness of sin (3-4)! Therefore, hope is in Him (7). With the Lord there is plentiful redemption, more than enough to go around (7-8), because His steadfast love abounds (7).
 
Pilgrims wait for the Lord, hoping in Him and in His word (5-7). Pilgrims wait as watchmen wait for the morning.
 
The dawn of God’s grace hits the horizon when the light of the world, Jesus Christ, became flesh. Our confession had a solid foundation through the work of Christ, knowing that in Him there is no condemnation (Romans 8:1). God is faithful and just to forgive our sins (1 John 1:9), lifting us out of the depths to stand on the solid ground of His grace.
 
Richly Dwelling
-Which emphasis on forgiveness from the Psalm stands out to you the most? Why?
 
-Why is the fact of forgiveness foundational to worship? Do you feel forgiven? Do you need to wait to embrace this fact from your heart?
 
-Take a moment to move from the depth of your sin to God’s delight to forgive. There is plenteous redemption in Him!
 
Key verses
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.

 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.
5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he[a] had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”
Lying Prophets9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me;
    all my bones shake;
I am like a drunken man,
    like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
    and because of his holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers;
    because of the curse the land mourns,
    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
Their course is evil,
    and their might is not right.
11 “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;
    even in my house I have found their evil,
declares the Lord.
12 Therefore their way shall be to them
    like slippery paths in the darkness,
    into which they shall be driven and fall,
for I will bring disaster upon them
    in the year of their punishment,
declares the Lord.
13 In the prophets of Samaria
    I saw an unsavory thing:
they prophesied by Baal
    and led my people Israel astray.
14 But in the prophets of Jerusalem
    I have seen a horrible thing:
they commit adultery and walk in lies;
    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
    so that no one turns from his evil;
all of them have become like Sodom to me,
    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:
“Behold, I will feed them with bitter food
    and give them poisoned water to drink,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”
16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”
18 For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord
    to see and to hear his word,
    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?
19 Behold, the storm of the Lord!
    Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
20 The anger of the Lord will not turn back
    until he has executed and accomplished
    the intents of his heart.
In the latter days you will understand it clearly.
21 “I did not send the prophets,
    yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
    yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council,
    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,
and they would have turned them from their evil way,
    and from the evil of their deeds.
23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away?24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. 25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the Lord.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.
33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden, and I will cast you off, declares the Lord.’ 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’36 But ‘the burden of the Lord’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the Lord,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’”
Meditation
Believers must celebrate the security we have in God’s sovereign salvation plan. God’s sovereign grace works all things according to His will and His redemptive purposes! And the beauty of God’s tapestry revealing His redemptive plan is displayed as several threads of hope come together in Jeremiah’s prophecy.
 
Sandwiched between Jeremiah’s condemnation of unjust political leaders (chapter 22) and failing religious leaders who listen to false prophets (23:9-40), God offers a clear picture of hope. God will raise up a righteous king who will save His people and secure them within His just rule and reign (5-6). This king will be the Lord Himself, our righteousness!
 
God uses language from the garden and the Abrahamic covenant to clarify hope after rescue from exile, saying they will “be fruitful and multiply” (3). The end of exile is really a new beginning, a fresh start within God’s covenant faithfulness!
 
The true King will be a descendant of David who displays God’s ideal of a just and righteous king. The righteous branch from the stump of David (Isaiah 11:1) is both our salvation and our righteousness.
 
In Jesus alone we find the beauty of creation (John 1:1-14), the blessing of the Abrahamic covenant (Galatians 3:10-14), the fullness of the Davidic covenant (Romans 1:3-4), the hope of the prophets (Romans 15:21), and righteousness for all who put their faith in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus secures believers in God’s steadfast love and must be celebrated as the summit of God’s sovereign plan of salvation.
 
Richly Dwelling
-Do you see the glory of the threads of God’s covenants coming together in Christ?
 
-How does this offer security in God’s steadfast love, demonstrating He is working all of history for His purposes?
 
-Where can you celebrate Christ as God’s sovereign plan of salvation? Take a moment to praise and thank Jesus for His rule, reign, and covenant faithfulness.
 
Key verses
5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. 2 But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God: 3 “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and returned and did not go against Jeroboam.
5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defense in Judah. 6 He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7 Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, 8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that are in Judah and in Benjamin. 11 He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. 12 And he put shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.
Priests and Levites Come to Jerusalem13 And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived. 14 For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the Lord, 15 and he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made. 16 And those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers. 17 They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.
Rehoboam's Family18 Rehoboam took as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse,19 and she bore him sons, Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. 20 After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters). 22 And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. 23 And he dealt wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities, and he gave them abundant provisions and procured wives for them.

​Meditation
God does not bless us for being obedient but when we obey God, we experience the fruitfulness and fullness of life in Him. This truth is the teaching of wisdom: “Blessed is the man…  whose delight is in the law of the Lord… in all that he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:1-3) This reality is revealed all through Scripture: “And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them (Daniel and his friends), he found them ten times better… (Daniel 1:20). Obedience to God is access to God’s best for our lives, ten times better than the best offered by the world.
 
Rehoboam experienced blessing flowing from obedience. Listening to God’s word and joining with people seeking the Lord, Rehoboam experienced peace in the midst of a divided family (1-4), strength in security (5-12), satisfaction in seeking the Lord (13-17), and prolific family (18-23).
 
When we follow wisdom, we will reap wisdom’s rewards. Jesus teaches that when we abandon the folly of the world to follow His teaching, we will receive 100 times the reward (Mark 10:29-30).
 
Parents do not give wise direction to their children in order for them to earn favor or blessing, but in order to lead them in better, more beneficial ways of living. So too God gives His Word in order to shape His children for fruitful living in His design for His glory.  For this reason Paul says, “For I delight in the law of God!...” (Romans 7:22).
 
Richly Dwelling
-How does the author’s focus on the life and leadership of Rehoboam highlight the blessings we experience when we obey God’s design and direction?
 
-Obedience does NOT obligate God to bless us. In fact, often it leads to persecution, which God uses for His purposes in and through us. Where have you seen this in your life? 
 
-The obedient record of Christ is given to all who believe (When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. 2 But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God: 3 “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and returned and did not go against Jeroboam.
5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defense in Judah. 6 He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7 Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, 8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that are in Judah and in Benjamin. 11 He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. 12 And he put shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.
Priests and Levites Come to Jerusalem13 And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived. 14 For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the Lord, 15 and he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made. 16 And those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers. 17 They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.
Rehoboam's Family18 Rehoboam took as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse,19 and she bore him sons, Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. 20 After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters). 22 And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. 23 And he dealt wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities, and he gave them abundant provisions and procured wives for them.

Meditation
God does not bless us for being obedient but when we obey God, we experience the fruitfulness and fullness of life in Him. This truth is the teaching of wisdom: “Blessed is the man…  whose delight is in the law of the Lord… in all that he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:1-3) This reality is revealed all through Scripture: “And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them (Daniel and his friends), he found them ten times better… (Daniel 1:20). Obedience to God is access to God’s best for our lives, ten times better than the best offered by the world.
 
Rehoboam experienced blessing flowing from obedience. Listening to God’s word and joining with people seeking the Lord, Rehoboam experienced peace in the midst of a divided family (1-4), strength in security (5-12), satisfaction in seeking the Lord (13-17), and prolific family (18-23).
 
When we follow wisdom, we will reap wisdom’s rewards. Jesus teaches that when we abandon the folly of the world to follow His teaching, we will receive 100 times the reward (Mark 10:29-30).
 
Parents do not give wise direction to their children in order for them to earn favor or blessing, but in order to lead them in better, more beneficial ways of living. So too God gives His Word in order to shape His children for fruitful living in His design for His glory.  For this reason Paul says, “For I delight in the law of God!...” (Romans 7:22).
 
Richly Dwelling
-How does the author’s focus on the life and leadership of Rehoboam highlight the blessings we experience when we obey God’s design and direction?
 
-Obedience does NOT obligate God to bless us. In fact, often it leads to persecution, which God uses for His purposes in and through us. Where have you seen this in your life? 
 
-The obedient record of Christ is given to all who believe (2 Corinthians 5:21). We experience God’s blessings through the grace of Christ! Where do you need to respond to God’s grace with obedience in your life? Do you trust God’s design to be ten times better?
 
Key verses
16 And those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers.

“Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth”--
    let Israel now say--
2 “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth,
    yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back;
    they made long their furrows.”
4 The Lord is righteous;
    he has cut the cords of the wicked.
5 May all who hate Zion
    be put to shame and turned backward!
6 Let them be like the grass on the housetops,
    which withers before it grows up,
7 with which the reaper does not fill his hand
    nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
8 nor do those who pass by say,
    “The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
    We bless you in the name of the Lord!”
 
Meditation
God grows disciples through struggles. Grace awakens the believer to see treasure in our troubles. Paul writes in Romans 5:2-4 “… we rejoice in our sufferings knowing our suffering produces perseverance and perseverance produces character; and character produces hope…” Perseverance, then, is produced through the believer’s sufferings.
 
The first section of this Psalm of Ascent focuses on faith that perseveres through pain. “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth,” the Psalm echoes, “yet they have not prevailed against me” (1-2). Christians may be knocked down, but in Christ we are never knocked out.
 
The pain and strain of suffering are real, intending to break us (3). But God will cut off life support from the enemy to deliver those who trust in Him (4). Eugene Peterson describes persevering faith from this psalm as “The person of faith outlasting all the oppressors.”
 
God is faithful to deliver and His enemies will be put to shame (5-7). Saints being sanctified from our struggles, developing the power to persevere, must focus faith on Jesus who persevered for us (Hebrews 12:2). We persevere with saints of old, “pressing on toward the goal of the prize of the upward call in Christ” (Philippians 3:14).
 
Christian struggle is never the end of the story. Through Christ we are victorious when “we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed…” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). Let us push through affliction to learn perseverance.
 
Richly Dwelling
-Why is it difficult to persevere through pain and problems? Why is it important for the Psalmist to sing about the difficulty to learn perseverance?
 
-How does fixing our eyes on Jesus, celebrating His persevering power for us, strengthen us in our struggles and empower us to endure?
 
-Where do you need to persevere, straining through struggle and suffering to grow in sanctification and perseverance?
 
Key Verse
2 “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me.

Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, 2 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. 3 Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. 5 But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. 6 For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:
“‘You are like Gilead to me,
    like the summit of Lebanon,
yet surely I will make you a desert,
    an uninhabited city.
7 I will prepare destroyers against you,
    each with his weapons,
and they shall cut down your choicest cedars
    and cast them into the fire.
8 “‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, “Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?” 9 And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”
10 Weep not for him who is dead,
    nor grieve for him,
but weep bitterly for him who goes away,
    for he shall return no more
    to see his native land.
Message to the Sons of Josiah11 For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, 12 but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”
13 “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,
    and his upper rooms by injustice,
who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
    and does not give him his wages,
14 who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
    with spacious upper rooms,’
who cuts out windows for it,
    paneling it with cedar
    and painting it with vermilion.
15 Do you think you are a king
    because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
    and do justice and righteousness?
    Then it was well with him.
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
    then it was well.
Is not this to know me?
    declares the Lord.
17 But you have eyes and heart
    only for your dishonest gain,
for shedding innocent blood,
    and for practicing oppression and violence.”
18 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
“They shall not lament for him, saying,
    ‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’
They shall not lament for him, saying,
    ‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’
19 With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried,
    dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”
20 “Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
    and lift up your voice in Bashan;
cry out from Abarim,
    for all your lovers are destroyed.
21 I spoke to you in your prosperity,
    but you said, ‘I will not listen.’
This has been your way from your youth,
    that you have not obeyed my voice.
22 The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,
    and your lovers shall go into captivity;
then you will be ashamed and confounded
    because of all your evil.
23 O inhabitant of Lebanon,
    nested among the cedars,
how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,
    pain as of a woman in labor!”
24 “As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25 and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27 But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”
28 Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot,
    a vessel no one cares for?
Why are he and his children hurled and cast
    into a land that they do not know?
29 O land, land, land,
    hear the word of the Lord!
30 Thus says the Lord:
“Write this man down as childless,
    a man who shall not succeed in his days,
for none of his offspring shall succeed
    in sitting on the throne of David
    and ruling again in Judah.”
 
Meditation
God’s faithfulness is revealed in continuing to offer His ideal for life, continuing to cast vision when we miss the mark. Grace ultimately fulfills God’s ideal! God is faithful from beginning to end.
 
God loves justice and righteousness and His desire is for His steadfast love to cover the earth (Jeremiah 9:23-24). God’s ideal rulers are called to embody God’s character and covenant love in their life and leadership (3). Jeremiah’s message to king Zedekiah makes it clear that God’s ideal has not been met (1-10). Not only Zedekiah, though. Jeremiah goes on to indict other kings who missed God’s ideal, “forsaking the covenant of the Lord to worship other gods and serve them” (9). The catalogue of unfaithful kings reveals “wind shepherding Jerusalem’s shepherds” (22). The kings of Judah fell short of God’s standard and missed the mark of God’s ideal. We need a greater king!
 
Jesus is king of Kings, fulfilling God’s ideal to its fullest. Jesus is the “radiance of the glory of God, the exact image of His nature” (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus lived a totally righteous life, demonstrating justice in His life and satisfying justice through His death, to offer God’s steadfast love to all who believe. Jesus is the greater King we need!
 
Today’s reading leaves us longing for someone to meet God’s standard as both ruler and representative. As the story continues, we know Jesus is that provision from God. God is faithful. God has been faithful. God will continue to be faithful!
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you in this chapter about Judah’s rulers missing the mark of God’s ideal?
 
-How does God’s response reveal a deeper need to have a representative king, one who is faithful and can credit His faithfulness to us?
 
-How does God’s faithfulness in Christ, the giving of His grace, empower your desire to live God’s ideal for God’s glory? Where do you need to respond to His grace by seeking to be more faithful to God?
 
Key Verse
3 Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. 

Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2 And as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt. 3 And they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and said to Rehoboam, 4 “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.”5 He said to them, “Come to me again in three days.” So the people went away.
6 Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men,[a]who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” 7 And they said to him, “If you will be good to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” 8 But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. 9 And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” 10 And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us’; thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father's thighs.11 And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.”13 And the king answered them harshly; and forsaking the counsel of the old men, 14 King Rehoboam spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” 15 So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the Lord might fulfill his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16 And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Each of you to your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So all Israel went to their tents. 17 But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah. 18 Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and the people of Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
 
Meditation
God invites us to walk in wisdom, knowing Christ personally as the treasury of wisdom (Colossians 2:3) and welcoming His rule for a fruitful life (Psalm 1:1-3). Rejecting God is to reject wisdom and walk the path of wickedness, anti-wisdom that is venom both personally and socially.
 
Rehoboam is portrayed as anti-wisdom, listening to poor council and walking in the way of foolishness. Following Solomon as king, Rehoboam immaturely rejected the wise council of seasoned elders, choosing instead to rule with harshness and arrogance. The people revolted against Rehoboam. God ruled over the rebellion (15) but the resulting ruin of anti-wisdom could not be avoided.
 
Rehoboam is a picture of how not to lead, rejecting wisdom to walk in recklessness. Anti-wisdom is walking in the council of the wicked (Psalm 1:4-5), rejecting the teaching of fathers (Proverbs 3:1-6), not showing honor to elders (Leviticus 19:32), snubbing the direction of the seasoned (Proverbs 16:31; 20:29), and revolting against rebuke (1 Timothy 5:1-2). Rehoboam’s anti-wisdom leads to division and devastation (16).
 
No matter where your path has taken you, God’s grace invites you to return to Christ and walk in wisdom, following Him in all your life and labor. Our Master’s merciful invitation includes “bearing fruit in every good work, growing in knowledge of God and being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might” (Colossians 1:10-11). Anti-wisdom is a path leading to ruin. Christ, the wisdom of God, desires to restore with His rule, offering a fruitful life to all who abide in His word.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you about the anti-wisdom Rehoboam embodies?
 
-Where do you see anti-wisdom in your life and in our world? What are the results?
 
-How can you respond to God’s grace by walking in God’s ways, welcoming His rule and reign in all your life and labor? Be specific.
 
Key Verse
8 But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him.