Daily Manna, Year Two · Day 183 · July 2
The Rest Of The Verse
“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.”
In the thirty-sixth year of his reign, Asa has silver and gold carried out of the treasures of the house of the LORD, packs it off to Damascus, and buys a foreign king out of somebody else's alliance. It works. Baasha stops building at Ramah and goes home.
Then Hanani the seer arrives with the sentence people cross-stitch. For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. He does not stop there, and neither should anyone quoting him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars. His evidence is Asa's own past, from earlier in the same reign and against a far bigger army: yet, because thou didst rely on the LORD, he delivered them into thine hand. Asa put him in a prison house.
We have read half of this verse for years, Lord, and taken comfort from it. Read us the other half. We have arranged the alliance, moved the money, and called the arrangement wisdom, and we have done it with a record behind us of you doing better. We are not asking to be told we did well.
The eyes are still running to and fro across the whole earth, tonight, looking. They are not looking for a record, or for a competent plan, or for the ones who have never had to buy their way out of anything. They are looking for a heart that is turned all the way toward him, and when they find it, the strength is shewn.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 183 is The Faithful God (Deuteronomy 7:9).