Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: 2 Kings 7 and Psalm 124

King Joram of Israel and his officer had far too small an assessment of the LORD’s power to provide. At the end of chapter 6, rather than turning to God to plead for mercy, the king blamed the LORD for the siege of Samaria and its ensuing famine. He tried to have Elisha put to death as God’s representative. But the LORD protected Elisha and sent a message to the king that within the next 24 hours He would deliver the city so completely that food would be freely available for purchase again. The officer scoffed at this promise, “That couldn’t happen even if the Lord opened the windows of heaven!” he said. (v.2)

Both the king and his officer saw the troops besieging the city and knew that no supplies could possibly be brought into the city by any human means. But they also could not conceive of any way God could get around this. What a profound lack of faith! They honestly did not believe that God could make a way if there was no normal human way to get it done.

Despite their doubts, God moved miraculously to terrify the attacking army to the extent that they fled in panic and left all their possessions and supplies behind. They were defeated by nothing more than their own fear! Yet, even when news of the abandoned camp reached the king, he still did not believe that it could have happened and suspected some kind of trickery.

Psalm 124 excellently portrays the sort of deliverance Israel received that day. “¹ If the Lord had not been on our side – let Israel say – if the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us, they would have swallowed us alive … Praise be to the Lord who has not let us be torn by their teeth. We have escaped like a bird from the fowler’s snare … Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.(v.1-3, 6-7a, 8)

Do we as disciples of Jesus share the king’s unbelief, or do we trust the LORD to provide for our every need? Do we only expect supply by “normal” means, or are we willing to trust that God can make a way that is humanly impossible? Today’s reading is an invitation to trust the Lord completely and to leave the means of supply to Him.

Lord, I do believe! Help my unbelief. Amen.