I believe God’s merciful love is revealed in response to a cry from the hear, not just any cry, but a humble cry for deliverance. The Bible has much to say about this cry. “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God; he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears” (Psalm 18:6).
“Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity. Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry” (Psalm 106:43-44).
A cry to God will always be answered by a healing word from heaven! No one is too wicked or too hopeless if he reaches out to God in humility. The story of the wicked King Manasseh proves it! The Bible says he was one of the most wicked kings of Israel. “And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord… For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal…and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them…. And he made his son pass through the fire…and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards; he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 21:2-6).
“So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen.… And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people; but they would not hearken” (2 Chronicles 33:9-10).
Is there hope for a person who gets so far from God, so possessed by evil and darkness? Yes, if he will humble himself, and confess and believe Christ’s victory at the cross. Manasseh ended up a prisoner in a foreign nation, bound with chains. What a vivid picture of the wages of sin. But in his affliction, he cried out and God heard him, forgave him, and restored him.
“And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him; and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God” (2 Chronicles 33:12-13).
“And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city” (v. 15).
The word of hope, forgiveness, mercy, love and restoration is for you! Heed his Word, repent, and then be made whole and walk with the Lord! There is no sin that can’t be forgiven—no one is too far down to be healed and restored.
What was true for one man, was also true for the nation
Look at what Josiah did to dethrone Baal in Judah.:
- He burned the articles made for Baal and Asherah (2 Kings 23:4).
- He removed the idolatrous priests who had been burning incense to Baal and to the sun and to the moon and to the stars (2 Kings 23:5).
- He burned the idol of Asherah which had been placed in the temple (2 Kings 23:6)
- He tore down the houses where the temple prostitutes had been located (2 Kings 23:7).
- He destroyed the pagan altars placed on the rooftops (2 Kings 23:12).
- He confronted high-ranking demonic spirits such as Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom (2 Kings 23:13).
- He wiped out idolatrous high places and executed the priests who would not repent (2 Kings 23:19-20).
- He punished any one who had consulted with mediums or spiritists (2 Kings 23:24).
Bibloscope 