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THE KING’S BUSINESS
repentance (Ps. 119:67, 71; Luke 15:16- 18). This is God’s purpose in affliction (Job 33:16-30). Our afflictions are a love token from God (Heb. 12; 6 ) . Manasseh did precisely what God has told us all to do in affliction, he called upon the Lord in the day of his trouble (Ps. 50:15), and God did precisely what He has promised to do to those who do call upon him in the day of trouble—“deliver.” But k^pnas- seh did not merely pray, his prayer was accompanied by that which must always accompany the prayer of the sinner if he is to be heard, self humiliation—he “hum bled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.” (cf. Luke 18:10-14; James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:5, 6 ; 2 Chron. 32:26). The great need of today is that men not merely pray, but accompany their prayer with that humil iation of self which always accompanies' true repentance for sin. There seems to be very little of this element of self-humil iation in most of our prayer meetings, and indeed it is to be feared that there is very little of it even in secret prayer. The appall ingly afflicted nations in this awful war are beseeching the Lord much, but alas, we do not see any of them “humbling them selves greatly before the Lord God of their fathers.” And so we cannot expect Him to deliver. In response to Manasseh’s repentance and humbling of himself and earnest prayer to God, God answered his prayer and “heard his supplication” and “brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom.” God’s treatment of Manas seh is one of the most encouraging things in the Bible. Manasseh was surely one of the wickedest men that ever lived on this -earth and he sinned against light and he persisted in sinning against God’s warn ing, but when Manasseh repented, God par doned even him. History records no more monstrous and inexcusable sinner than Manasseh, and if God would forgive him when he repented, God will forgive any one who repents. David is another illus tration of this boundless grace of God (Ps. 32:3-5) and Saul of Tarsus is still another (1 Tim. 1:15). If any man is lost
it is simply because he will not come to Jesus Christ (John 5:40), not because he has gone so far in sin that God will not pardon. The result of Jehovah’s dealing with Manasseh was that “Manasseh knew that the LORD 1 He was God.” There is no greater nor better thing that any man can know than that. vs. 14-16. “Now after this he built a wall without (an outer wall to) the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and (: and he) compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, (:) and he put valiant (omit, val iant) captains of war (omit, of war) in all the fenced cities of Judah. And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. And he repaired ( built up) the altar of the LORD, and sacrificed ( offered ) thereon peace offerings and thank offerings (sacrifices of peace, offerings and of thanksgiving), and com manded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel (the God of Israel).’’ Manas seh proved that his repentance was gen uine by bringing forth “fruits meet for repentance” (cf. Matt. 3 : 8 ). The truly repentant sinner always does that. If we really repent we will do what we can to undo the evil that we have done. Manas seh “took away the strange gods” that he had made, “and the idol” that he had set up, “out of the house of Jehovah.” Fur ther than that “all the altars that he had built” in express disobedience to God’s commandment “in the mount of the house of Jehovah, and in Jerusalem,” he cast out of the city. But he did not stop at that, “he repaired the altar of the LORD.” He not only ceased to do evil, he began to do right. There is need today that in many professedly Christian homes the altar of the Lord be repaired. The family altar has fallen down or been thrown down in many of the supposedly Chritsian homes
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