The kings versus the King

I have been reading through first and second Kings lately, and I have to admit, it has been a little depressing.  King after king shows up to the throne, either by deceitful means, or as a legitimate heir and does not provide the happily ever after endings we all know and love from the stories of our childhood.  And, at times, we get to see the kings on a split screen, so to speak, because while one is ruling in Judah, there is a whole other one ruling in Israel.  And, guess what?  Usually both screens are filled with nothing but disappointment.

Sometimes someone will show up who isn’t totally evil like his dad before him, but even this guy doesn’t take a stand to tear down the idol centers of worship and get his part of the country back on track to follow and worship the Lord.  Granted, there are a few that get an honorable mention in the Scriptures for following the Lord, but they are very few and very far between.

When there are trends like this in the Scriptures, they really stand out when you are reading your way through the Bible, instead of just skipping around to different passages.  It’s like you are forced to spend time listening to how badly these people messed up, and how many people they hurt or killed in the process.  I guess it would be like watching Court TV all day.  I’m a pretty upbeat person most of the time, so these stories of all of this evil can really bring me down.

I’ve been asking the Lord why, exactly, I have to read so much about these horrible things these people did.  If He gives it this much space in His Scriptures, we had better pay attention, right?  Well, He gave me the tiniest bit of insight about it tonight when I was thinking about how I missed reading this morning, and how I found the part of the Scriptures I was in a little too intense with evil people.

Want to hear it?  Okay, here it goes.  These kings are all human, right?  And the nations had put their hopes in the kings, right?  Well, as we know, humans are not perfect, and when you put all your hopes on people, they will eventually let you down.  These books in the Bible prove it.

Who is the King that we can count on, every time, all the time, forever and ever?  Who is the King that has our best interests at His heart of hearts, and not his own best interest?  Who is the only King who is perfect, all-knowing, and always with you?  Who is the King who gave His life so you could live with Him for eternity?  There is only One.  And He loves you more than you will ever know.  Now that’s a King!