high priest – Page 2 – Praying Pint

194. But no accounting shall be asked from them

2 Kings 22:3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying, “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money that has been brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people. And let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the Lord, repairing the house (that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house. But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.”

Luke 16:10-12    “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.  If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?

2 Corinthians 8:20-21     We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us,  for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man.

2 Timothy 2:2   and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

3 John 1:5     Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are,

No receipt is needed because they deal honestly. I wonder where that is at in the world today. Dealing honestly. We used all kinds of documents and contracts to hold people accountable and honest. We check every dot and line to make sure we are covered because we don’t trust and/or we have been cheated. Then during the project, something goes not according to plan and adjustments need to be made. It was an oversight and both you and the contractor know this should be covered under the original scope. However, because you were so meticulous in your contract it left no room for him to just do it. Trying to protect yourself from fraud and cheaters is just the way of life.

Do you ever wonder if we are cheaters and frauds with God’s grace, love, and mercy? Are we frauds and cheaters with His word? Think about it. God has given us great and precious promises in and through His word. He has given us His word and promises that through His word we will find wisdom, knowledge, and understanding about Him. He promises that we will grow in our understanding of salvation, knowledge of righteousness, and will be led into all wisdom by the Holy Spirit. The builders, masons, and carpenters did not have to give an account of what was given to them because they used it honestly. Can the same be said of us and the use of God’s word in our life? If we were asked to give an account on how we read it, use it, follow it, apply it, obey it, meditate on it, desire it, seek it, search it and want it, would we be found as frauds and cheaters of what was entrusted with us?

We do well to stay in His word and let it permeate our thoughts and actions with humble service to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

1. ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’

Exodus 22:28 “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.

Ecclesiastes 10:20     Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king, nor in your bedroom curse the rich, for a bird of the air will carry your voice, or some winged creature tell the matter.

Acts 23:5     And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

Romans 13:2-7     Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.  For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,  for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.  Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.  For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.  Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Titus 3:1-2     Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,  to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people

1 Peter 2:17     Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

It surely takes godly wisdom to apply these verses. How do you honor a leader you do not respect or trust? How do you not speak evil of one who is authorizing the murder of innocent men, women, and children? How do you not speak out against the Leader who is taking people into unrighteous paths for their life? How do you follow a leader who rejects Christ?

These are human questions but are not the right way to approach the situation of a bad leader. God wants and expects us to come to Him alone for the resolution of a bad ruler, authority, leader. We are to go to Him confessing the sin of what we see and ask His intervention. We are to seek Him for our refuge. We are to rely on Him alone. We are to find peace in the midst of trials and troubles in Him. We are to find strength in God to face the injustice. He is our refuge, hope, rock, fortress, and calm in the storm.

We are to pray for our leaders not complain about them. We are to seek God not speak evil. We are to be submissive and obedient. There are times when we don’t like or approve of our leadership. However we must respect and honor the position.

There may be time when you have to take a stand when asked/told to do something that is against what God teaches us. We accept the consequence gladly as serving God is our goal. We do not speak evil. We speak the truth.

Daniel 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

He lifted them up and carried them

Exodus 3:7Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey

1 Samuel 9:16  “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.”

Psalms 22:24  For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.

Psalms 34:4  I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

Isaiah 63:9  In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

Psalms 106:44  Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress, when he heard their cry.

Psalms 142:3 When my spirit faints within me, you know my way!

Hebrews 4:15  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Psalms 145:19  He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.

When we face trials we never know when they will end or how hard they will become, or when God will lead us out of this dreaded darkness. How many times do we wish the trial never happened to us? How many times do we question why me, why now? What did I do wrong?

Certainly there are some trials that are the consequence of our own doing. We know it or we come to that understanding after trying to blame everyone else. Other times it is because of things out of our control and when this happens so come the questions?

Is God there?

Does He hear me?

Will He do something?

When will He act on my behalf?

Does He care?

We must remember that we live in a sinful world and trouble happens. We live in a world where satan and demons are real and able to influence bad things from people. We live in a fallen world with sinful people who will sin and do us harm. Does this in anyway mean that God is not sovereign, powerful, loving, steadfast, merciful, full of grace, and all knowing? No it does not.

We are told this is not our home for God has made us a home in eternity. Things that happen here are temporary and happen for a reason that fits into God’s plans and purposes even if we don’t understanding and knowledge of the details. God loves us. He gave His Son as a ransom for us. He prepared us a place in eternity. He sent the Holy spirit to comfort us, lead us, teach us, and help grow our faith in God through these trials.

Does placing our troubles in God’s powerful and loving hands mean they are going away in what timing we think they should. No it does not. It does though transfer the full weight of the burden on Him and gives us hope for today and joy for tomorrow.

Everyone of us can attest to the troubles that have come our way. Some heavier that others. Some we can say we that we gave them into God’s hands during our darkest time and the burden was lifted but the trial was still present. There was a peace that came over us that allowed us to face the day and then next. We found strength and hope. We knew in our heart, mind and soul no matter what happens we are confident in God’s plan and purpose. We came out the other side of the trial with greater faith, being more humble, better able to empathize with others, willing to help others, and a greater reliance and comfort in God.