GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
2 CHRONICLES 6:26-31
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26 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and praise your Name and turn from their sin because you have humbled them, 27 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land that you have given your people for an inheritance.
God promised to “shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce” if the people fell away or worshiped other gods (Deuteronomy 11:13-17). In such a case, the duty of the elders of the people, the priests or the teaching Levites or the King himself, to declare to the people that the drought was no mere natural phenomenon. God was withholding his blessing of rain on account of the people’s sin. When the people turned to God and away from their sin, praying for forgiveness and for the Lord to restore his blessing, Solomon prays that the Lord would do as he had promised, and forgive.
But then he also asks the Lord to teach the people the right way to live. The way to do that is through the word of God. This teaching can involve both law and gospel, as well as many examples of right and wrong living. Solomon himself was a genius at the literary art of the proverb. Consider this warning: “Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death” (Proverbs 11:4). In eight Hebrew words, he contrasts heaven and hell and the uselessness of worldly wealth when it comes to life in the resurrection. The doctrine of sin is not even mentioned directly, but the proverb would be meaningless without a correct understanding of sin and grace, repentance and forgiveness, heaven and hell, and both the resurrection and the last judgment. This kind of teaching is priceless and makes the student wise in every important way.
28 “When there is famine or plague in the land, or blight or mildew, or locusts or grasshoppers, or when there are enemies in the land that besiege their gates, whatever disaster or disease may come, 29 hear the prayers and pleas for mercy made by any of your people Israel– each one aware of his afflictions and sorrow. When he spreads out his hands toward this house– 30 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive, and deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart. For you alone know the hearts of men. 31 Then they will fear you and walk in your ways all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers.
This petition says much the same thing as the previous one, except that there, the Lord struck the people with a lack of a good thing (rain), but here he struck them with an abundance of bad things. Perhaps Solomon chooses to enumerate seven such bad things (famine, plague, blight, mildew, locusts, grasshoppers, or human enemies) in order to show that this is a divine intervention; the trouble is permitted by the Lord for the holy purpose of turning us back to him in repentance and in faith. Some of the bad things were clean (even though unpleasant) and some of them were unclean. A plague would often produce sores or wounds that would make a man unclean, or even bring death. Mildew was especially a problem, since it destroys fabric and also walls made of almost any material available to them (Leviticus 13:47-59). God permitted these things to cause the people to examine their lives, their sinfulness, and their status before God.
We should look carefully at this sentence: “You alone know the hearts of men.” It repeats the same truth from 1 Kings 8:39, and these agree with several other passages, which we will look at briefly:
Matthew 9:4, “Jesus knew their thoughts, and he said, ‘Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?’” And again: “Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, ‘Why are you thinking these things?’” (Mark 2:8). And also: “Jesus knew their thoughts and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?” (Luke 5:22). These are all from the same account in the first three Gospels. This was in response to the Lord forgiving the sins of a paralyzed man and the doubts of the people around him.
Matthew 9:21-22, “She said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.’ But Jesus turned and saw her, and said, ‘Take heart, daughter. Your faith has made you well.’” The woman with the twelve-year flow of blood hoped and trusted that she could be healed by Jesus. She did not know how, but she had faith, and he knew her faith without her saying a word out loud.
Luke 16:15, “God knows your hearts.” Jesus said this when the Pharisees ridiculed him about saying you cannot serve both God and money. He knows unbelief as well as faith.
1 Corinthians 2:11, “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except God’s Spirit.” Paul is showing that we cannot know God’s thoughts, and also that no created being (“who among men”) can read the thoughts of any man. Charlatans and tricksters and side-show mentalists can get an idea of a person from their demeanor and with a lot of practice, but they cannot really read anyone’s thoughts.
Psalm 94:11, “The LORD knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile.” Even though man cannot read a man’s thoughts, the Lord knows our thoughts– every thought of every person and at all times. We cannot hide our inner doubts and sins from God, just as Jesus showed in the Gospel passages above.
Proverbs 24:12, “If you say, ‘No, we did not know about this,’ does he who weighs the heart not perceive it? Does he who watches over your soul not know it, and will he not repay man according to what he has done?” God knows whether one man alone has faith or unbelief, or whether a whole crowd of people share in their sinfulness. At the same time, it follows without saying that he is aware of every believing heart in a congregation, and blesses them all.
Other examples include: Jeremiah 11:20, “The LORD tests the heart and mind.” The prophet says this several times (17:10; 20:12). And there is Ezekiel 11:5, “I know what is going through your mind.” Also, in the Apocrypha, someone wrote: “God searches out the abyss, and the hearts of men… For the Most High knows all that may be known” (Sirach 42:18), but this last passage is not in Scripture and must not be used to prove a doctrine. Yet it is useful for illustrating a point.
After these (and I’m sure there are more) we come to Solomon’s words, that God alone knows the hearts of men. This means that we can add the angels and demons and the Devil himself to our list of those who cannot know the thoughts of man.
This has two or three important applications for us: First, do not assume you know what another person is thinking unless they share their thoughts completely with you. It is belittling and heartbreaking to be told, “Oh, I know what you’re thinking,” when that person has no idea at all of a secret pain or a noble desire that must be hidden for the time being.
Second, understand the implication of God knowing all your thoughts, all the time. We talk about sins of thought, word, and deed, but I wonder whether we truly try to reign in our thoughts so that they, even they, conform to his holy will. Pray that the Holy Spirit would guide you in this.
Finally, it is a good thing to pray out loud. Verbal prayer, even when we are alone, helps us to form our thoughts more coherently as we pray. However, if you have a secret temptation with which you struggle, you don’t need to say that part out loud. The Devil doesn’t need to be told everything that’s going on in your life, and he doesn’t need more ammunition. Don’t think he doesn’t sometimes listen in on prayers. However, it is also true that he hates and fears the name of Jesus Christ, and therefore it might be difficult or even impossible for him to remain after we have used the name of our Lord Jesus as we pray.
Whatever troubles or temptations may come, pray for the help of our Lord Jesus. He promises to listen, he promises to hear, and he promises to answer us. He will not leave you or forsake you. He loves you.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – 2 Chronicles 6:26-31 Only God knows our thoughts