DEVOTIONAL 44: UZZIAH, STRONG AND PROUD
I wish the times of walking closely in tandem with the Lord would carry over continuously year after year, day after day for me. I wish that once I learned a lesson through His Word and through the Holy Spirit teaching me that I would never have weak moments when I lapse into old impulses, old ways of thinking, or old fears. And though I know that salvation, my eternal spot in Heaven, and all good things are simply gifts from His hand, I still find myself acting as though I wish my good performance counted for something. When I say something thoughtless that is not glorifying to Him, I can still have that momentary thought, “Lord, you know I am not usually like this. I hope yesterday’s performance counts in my favor.” Yes, I know that this is not how Grace works, but years of performance-based living sometimes makes me forget for a moment that His blood washes away my current sin completely. For a millisecond, I forget that nothing I have done can add to or subtract from His Grace. But then I remember with gratitude that truly, His mercies are new every morning.
I have a great deal of empathy for Uzziah (783-742 BC) and his failures but consider these things you may not know about him. He was tutored by the prophet Zechariah and was faithful to God for over five decades. Consider how faithfully Uzziah followed hard after the Lord and lived to give God glory. Below is just a partial list from 2 Chronicles 26 of all Uzziah accomplished because he let the Lord use him:
· He was sixteen years old when he became King of Judah, with the support of “all the people.”
· His 52-year reign was one of the most prosperous since the time of Solomon.
· “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.”
· “He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God.”
· He commanded an army of 307,000, made war on the Philistines, restored cities to Judah, and built new cities.
· “The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. 9 Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and fortified them. 10 And he built towers in the wilderness and cut out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.”
Uzziah was God’s man. As a young man, he had humbly taken instruction from a man of God who truly understood God’s will and God’s way. He acknowledged God in all he did. He loved God’s house and he loved to worship Him. So what happened?
In 2 Chronicles 26:5 we read some ominous words:
He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.
Those words “as long as he sought the Lord” compose an important clause. Everything in Uzziah’s future hinges on those seven words.
Similarly, 2 Chronicles 26:5 hints at things to come:
And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.
Finally, verse 16 tells us why Uzziah’s life of victory through the Lord is about to take a hard left into misery and humiliation:
But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.
Did he derail when he was weak? No, it was “when he was strong!” Was he unfaithful to the Lord because he stopped going to God’s house and serving the Lord? No, his downfall came when he “entered the temple of the Lord.”
Uzziah’s story is one every mature Christian and servant of the Lord should revisit regularly. How easily we can feel we are “strong.” How easily we can be so familiar with church work and the Bible that we fail to consult the Lord in stillness and earnest prayer to seek His will. Any time our service becomes business as usual and we lose that feeling that we are hanging on God’s every word to tell us what to do next, we should take a step back. We should always feel that God is a step ahead of us and we are gripping the hem of His cloak saying, “Wait, God, wait. Tell me what you want. What is next? How do you see this? Should I go left or right? Swing or take the ball?”
Even if we have seen a situation a dozen times in our service to Him and feel our experience should teach us exactly what to do, we should enter each fresh act of service with supplication that we will not make a move without waiting for a nudge, a word, or direction from Him. There are no professional Christians. Each day, we start with those fresh mercies. And each day, God may be about to do something totally new, something you have never seen Him do in your life. You cannot rely on your experience which is yours and not His. He is all you can rely on. It is exciting, but it is like getting on a roller coaster each day for the ride of your life. Be submissive to all the bends, turns, and heart-in-your throat moments in the ride He has chosen for you.
Uzziah’s problem was not that he would not serve the Lord. His problem was that He wanted to serve the Lord his way. He only wanted to be obedient in his sacrifice in a way that spotlighted him at the center of the worship. “He grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.” He was struck immediately with leprosy and never recovered. Even God’s children with the greatest track records for service do not get the day off from obedience. No matter how well we know the Lord, we still have to consult with Him, because He deals so differently with each of His children and may take us in directions we would never have predicted.
We are now under the new Covenant where Grace and mercy abound, but the Lord still loves us enough to ask for our obedience—for our own good and for His ultimate glory. And there still may be temporary, earthly consequences to our disobedience, even though He does His best to protect us and guide us away from our rebellious choices.
If Uzziah had taken only a moment to consult the Lord and His Word, he would have remembered that God had been clear that only the priests and not the king should enter the temple to burn the incense. But Uzziah did not slow down to prayerfully consider what the Lord wanted. He rushed into an act of worship and service just assuming that he had a very good idea for what his sacrifice should look like. Have you ever done that- rushed into an act of service without covering it in prayer and waiting to consider what the Lord actually wanted from you? I certainly have.
Burning the incense was an act of worship but it was not an act of obedience. I Samuel 15:22 says:
And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”
Prayerfully consider this verse the next time you rush into an act of service or take off in a new direction. As much as you think your plan to serve Him is a great idea, make sure it is actually His idea and not your own. And if you need friends to come alongside you to seek His will, that is a strength and not a weakness.