2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.
This is a well-known verse. It comes from a passage in which the king of Judah sent money to the king of Aram, bribing him to work together against Israel. God then sent a seer (a prophet) to the king and said:
“Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. 8 Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand.” (verse 7-8)
King Asa of Judah relied on an earthly king, and not on the King of Kings. That is why God said through the seer that God is looking to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him only.
When we face problems in life, we can get the tendency to rely on earthly kings and rulers, before turning to the Lord. It should be the other way. We should rely on the Lord first, and then turn to earthly kings and rulers, like Joseph did, and like Nehemiah did.
Asa was not happy with the rebuke of the prophet. The king became angry with the seer because of God’s words and had him thrown in prison! Let’s not make the same mistake today. Let’s embrace godly counsel and turn to the Lord in times of trouble, and to no one else. Then the Lord will strengthen us.