“And he did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.”

‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭12‬:‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

It is stated so simply. If we don’t set our hearts to seek the Lord, the inevitability is doing evil. And we often don’t even know if we are seeking the Lord as we ought to, am I sincere, am I seeking Him rightly? But the word here is something I can do. I can set my heart to seek the Lord. It is, as if, the Lord sees my desire to seek and works out the circumstances and the inclinations to make the seeking happen. If Rehoboam had set his heart to seek the Lord, he might have asked of God for wisdom to rule. He might have ask for a prophet like Ahijah to seek for a Word from the Lord when the people came asking for some lightening of the heavy load Solomon placed on them. But the Lord already sees his heart and does not find any seeking for Himself.

“So the king (Rehoboam) did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the Lord might fulfill his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.” 2 Chronicles‬ ‭10‬:‭15‬ ‭ESV‬

It appears that the Lord allowed Rehoboam to take the foolish advice of his young companions over the more sage advice given by Solomon’s own advisors. (When the Lord takes His protective hand off of us when we forsake Him, does He leaves us to our own foolish devices, for a time). God spoke already that the kingdom was going to be torn from Solomon for turning the people’s heart towards idolatry. And the Word of the Lord stands. Would things have been different had Solomon repented? But he didn’t. And the Lord steers like water the hearts of the world’s kings like Shishak, to come against Judah with the Egyptian army to serve His own purposes.

So Lord God, Your Word stands.

And You have declared already over us righteousness, love, peace, and even glory. A royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of Your own possession, a Bride without spot or wrinkle. We ask humbly, fulfill Your own Word. Unto Your end, steer and captain our hearts away from foolishness and all things that do not fulfill Your good purposes and intentions over us. Fulfill Your own word that the good work You have begun in us, You will complete, and that in that day when we see You face to face, You will make us able to stand before You, our holy God and Maker.

We give You our hearts. We repent of seeking after the things of this world and after our own desires. We turn back to You. Thank You for even the inclining to seek You. We set our hearts to seek You. And when we go astray, thank You for steering our hearts back to You. When Your enemy set traps for us, deliver us from Your defeated foes. In Your time, You will display the fulfillment You own Word. We have the Spirit of the Son who always is pleasing to You! We submit to walking and talking and being by His Life within. Until You are fully satisfied and we are pleasing to You, we humbly set our hearts to seek You and trust the Indwelling Spirit to fulfill Your Word in us all.

In Jesus’ name.