27 Because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy garments and weep before me, I also have heard [thee], saith Jehovah.
And Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of Jehovah came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
But he gives more grace. Wherefore he says, God sets himself against [the] proud, but gives grace to [the] lowly. Subject yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse [your] hands, sinners, and purify [your] hearts, ye double-minded. Be wretched, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and [your] joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves before [the] Lord, and he shall exalt you.
And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
and Jehovah said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof.
And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four columns, he cut it with the scribe's knife, and cast it into the fire that was in the pan until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was in the pan. And they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, [neither] the king nor any of his servants that heard all these words.
Even all these things hath my hand made, and all these things have been, saith Jehovah. But to this man will I look: to the afflicted and contrite in spirit, and who trembleth at my word.
And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, and whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy [place], and with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of Jehovah, thus shall ye say to him: Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel touching the words which thou hast heard: Because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before Jehovah, when thou heardest what I spoke against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and didst rend thy garments and weep before me, I also have heard [thee], saith Jehovah.
Jehovah is nigh to those that are of a broken heart, and saveth them that are of a contrite spirit.
And it came to pass when the king heard the words of the law, that he rent his garments.
And his prayer, and [how God] was intreated of him, and all his sin and his unfaithfulness, and the places in which he built high places, and set up Asherahs and graven images, before he was humbled, behold, they are written among the words of Hozai.
Has not the same Hezekiah removed his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem saying, Ye shall worship before *one* altar, and burn incense upon it? Do ye not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the countries? Were the gods of the nations of the countries in any wise able to deliver their country out of my hand?
And when Jehovah saw that they humbled themselves, the word of Jehovah came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves: I will not destroy them, but I will grant them a little deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 34
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 34 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 34
Before we see Judah and Jerusalem ruined we shall yet see some glorious years, while good Josiah sits at the helm. By his pious endeavours for reformation God tried them yet once more; if they had known in this their day, the day of their visitation, the things that belonged to their peace and improved them, their ruin might have been prevented. But after this reign they were hidden from their eyes, and the next reigns brought an utter desolation upon them. In this chapter we have,
2Ch 34:1-7
Concerning Josiah we are here told,
2Ch 34:8-13
Here,
2Ch 34:14-28
This whole paragraph we had, just as it is here related, 2 Ki. 22:8-20, and have nothing to add here to what was there observed. But,
2Ch 34:29-33
We have here an account of the further advances which Josiah made towards the reformation of his kingdom upon the hearing of the law read and the receipt of the message God sent him by the prophetess. Happy the people that had such a king; for here we find that,