In 1 Kings 14:21-16:7, we see a significant contrast between the effects of righteousness and unrighteousness. Essentially, David is God’s Old Testament standard for righteousness in a king, and the kings of Judah are typically measured according to the standards that David set (cf., 1 Kings 15:3-5 and 15:11). For example, we read that “Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done” (verse 11). This statement does not mean that Asa was perfect; it only means that “Asa’s heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life” (verse 14) – like David’s was. He lived in a way that glorified and pleased God. Judah had eight different kings about whom God proclaimed them “righteous” (cf., Asa - 1 Kings 15:11; Jehoshaphat -1 Kings 22:43; Joash – 2 Kings 12:2; Amaziah - 2 Kings 14:3; Azariah (also known as Uzziah) - 2 Kings 15:3; Jotham - 2 Kings 15:34; Hezekiah - 2 Kings 18:3; and Josiah - 2 Kings 22:2). The other kings of Judah and all of Israel’s kings were wicked - each trying to outdo the other in evil. In our section for today, we are introduced to the reigns in Judah of Rehoboam – who led “Judah to do evil in the eyes of the LORD” (cf., 1 Kings 14:22); Abijah – “who committed all the sins his father had done before him” (cf., 1 Kings 15:3); and Asa – “who built up Geba and Mizpah” (verse 22). We also see in Israel the kingdoms of Jeroboam – “who did more evil than all who lived before him” (cf., 1 Kings 14:9); Nadab – “who walked in his father’s sins which he caused Israel to commit” (verse 26); and Baasha – “who killed Nadab and also provoked the LORD to anger” (cf., 15:28 and 16:7).
Once again, in Proverbs 15:21-30, we read some practical and powerful wisdom for our daily lives. “Understanding” enables us to “keep a straight course” (verse 21), and it ‘keeps us from going down to the grave” (verse 24). God “detests the thoughts of the wicked and pride in people, so He Himself sees to it that the “house of the proud man is torn down, but He keeps the widow’s boundaries intact” (verse 25). “The heart of the righteous weighs answers” (verse 28), and God “hears their prayers” (verse 29). In this passage, we see that God calls us to be faithful in our daily Christian walk - to chart and maintain a straight course - and by so doing, He promises to hear our prayers. God established that “good news gives health to the bones” (verse 30).
In Acts 16:16-40, we see how Paul and Silas were unjustly mistreated for their faith in Christ, but we also see how God used these events to bring the jailer and his family to the Lord. This is often the way people are evangelized – Christians experience trouble, ill-treatment, and sometimes even persecution, but through all this distress, others come to know our Lord. Today’s passage in Acts challenges us to recognize that we, as Christians, should respond to trouble differently than the way the world responds to it. When we find ourselves in various, unwelcome circumstances that confront us in our daily lives, we should remember “Paul and Silas – about midnight – praying and singing hymns to God in a Roman prison” (verse 25). The text says, “the other prisoners were listening to them” (verse 25). They were not just singing to the air. Significantly, God heard their prayers and their songs, and so did the prisoners. The jailer was about to kill himself, but none of the prisoners escaped (verse 28). The jailer and his household all became believers that night (verse 33). We see that, “when it was daylight, Paul and Silas - both Roman citizens - were released and escorted from the prison by the magistrates, who were alarmed (verses 35-39). Here, we see that, insofar as possible, we should rise prayerfully to the example of Paul and Silas for the sake of our Lord and for the gospel. Such conduct can influence a lost and dying world and bring its people to eternal life in Christ and help us to fulfill the Great Commission.
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