February 25 – “Omnivision” Too

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.” – 2 Chronicles 16:9 (ESV)

The language used in our verse to describe how the LORD keeps watch over all the earth. It helps us to understand two of God attributes. One, he knows everything about all the earth and His creation on the earth – Omniscience. Also, He is present everywhere on the earth and in our lives. There is nowhere He is not – Omnipresence. The Hebrew for “run to and fro” means to rove about or roam. God does not have to move from one place to another to know what we, His creation is doing. But the language here is for our benefit to help us understand the way we might speak of God keeping His eye on us. He does and that’s our promise. Those He finds blameless toward Him receive strong support. In context, God had not found Judah’s King Asa of Judah blameless. Asa used temple treasures to coax Ben-Hadad the king of Aram-Damascus to attack Israel who was warring against Judah. Instead of trusting God he put his trust in a foreign power. The consequence for Judah and Asa was ongoing wars. If we trust God and His promises He gives us strength to do so.. 

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June 6 – Watched over and Supported

“For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.”  -  2 Chronicles 16:9 (NASB)

Do we ever think that God is looking out for someone else and has left us to fend for our own? It is not unusual for us to have that emotion smother all others in our lives.  King David in Psalm 13:1 asked “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” The sense of God’s care and presence can be fleeting. But the truth and promise of his care and watchful presence is given to us in today’s verse.  God, who is not bound by space or time, has His eye on us and every other person who has by faith believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  Our verse describes God’s eyes as moving to and fro, back and forth covering every person on earth. God is looking for those who He can support strongly.  Those who have given their heart and soul to Him in faith and who love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind.  Even when we feel forgotten, we are not forgotten.  Trust in God’s mercy and steadfast love as he has dealt bountifully with us.  

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May 31 - Strong Support

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.”  2 Chronicles 16:9 (ESV)

We have a wonderful promise to consider today – that God seeks to give strength and support to those who follow and obey Him.  He looks for those whose heart is rightly devoted to Him.  The promise in this verse comes in the middle of a message delivered by Hanani the prophet to Asa King of Judah.  It was a reminder to the King that God knows just what he had done when he trusted another king and army to help Judah fight a war.  Because of Asa's lack of trust in God, he was going to be embroiled in constant war with the enemies of Judah. We can trust that God will provide strong support if we remain steadfast in our faith and obedience to Him.  In the  case of Hanani, the king threw him in prison for delivering the truthful message God wanted Asa to hear.   This is our promise for times when keeping our heart blameless toward God might cost us something severe – but we know that God will give us strong support.   

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June 20 – Strongly Support

“For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” 2 Chronicles 16:9a  (NASB)

The promise we look at today comes to us from the story about the prophet Hanani who was sent by God to warn King Asa of Judah regarding consequences of the King's disobedience. The prophet declares an important truth about God. We are reminded what our great God in heaven is looking for from His creatures on earth.  He wants people to be fully committed to Him and His truth.  Now, it is true that God knows everything and that He knows every one of His creatures. He knows all and He knows what we are doing each day.  But even more important is that He knows our hearts.  If our hearts are fully committed to Him, He responds to our faith by strengthening and supporting us.  How wonderful it is to know that when our faith is tested God knows and he gives us the strength we need – that is our promise today. 

July 17 – Individually Attentive

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. ” 2 Chronicles 16:9a (NIV)

This promise in today's verse came from God through His prophet Hanani during the time King Asa ruled in Judah. Asa had been disobedient and not trusted God for help against the enemy. God wanted Asa to know what He wants us to know and that God is individually attentive to His people. He pays special attention to each of us no matter where we are. We are never in a situation where God cannot see us and does not know of our needs. God is not just watching us out of curiosity. He is watching everything in order to know what we need. When we need strength, he strengthens us. He looks to strongly support us whose hearts belong to Him. Let's be certain that our hearts are completely His today because He knows and He want to strongly support us.

April 23 – His Delight, Our Support

“They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support.  He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” Psalm 18:18-19

This is King David expressing his praise to God after he had just come through a trying experience. How did David describe what God did for him when he needed help? He said that the Lord was his support. The word “support” really means the action of holding something up from underneath. When we think of God supporting us we realize that He is holding us up as if we are completely in His care. When we encounter trials our God does hold us up and our verse reminds us that He does it because He loves us and is pleased to have us as His own. When He helps us we can say with the psalmist “He rescued me because He delighted in me.”