April 27, 2026 - 2 Chronicles 12-14

“When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.  In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. . . . [The Lord said to Rehoboam], ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’  Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, ‘The LORD is righteous.’  When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah: ‘They have humbled themselves.  I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance.’ . . . So King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned” (12:1-13).  In so many ways, Rehoboam was a failed king and his princes along with him.  Still, when he humbled himself before the Lord, God was gracious and forgiving.  Yet another story and reminder of how gracious and forgiving is our God, the One who passed before Moses and declared, “ The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:6-7).

Thy ceaseless, unexhausted love,

unmerited and free,

delights our evil to remove,

and help our misery.

Thou waitest to be gracious still;

thou dost with sinners bear,

that, saved, we may thy goodness feel,

and all thy grace declare.   --Charles Wesley (1788)