Julie
All of these stories of the kings sounds oddly familiar. It's as if each one just repeats the sins of the one before. Most of them start off doing good in the eyes of the Lord and then a few years into their reign beginning sinning against God. They seem to be repeating the sins of their fathers. God does seem to give chance after chance, but they let the temptation lead them.
Praise God and receive his blessing.
Michelle
Yes, all these kings seem to be doing the same things over and over. They are not learning from the ones before and are creating their own downfall. The devotional attached to chapter 26 talks about the good and bad of pride. That the word has two connotations. In one context it's self-respect and dignity and motivates us to make good choices and appreciate our God-given talents and strengths. But this is not the one often discussed. It is the flip side of pride which offers a warning. The evil inclination of pride contains self-centeredness that can lead you downward. It tends to carve out a path of destruction, arrogance, conceit and egotism. This is what we keep seeing in these kings I think. The power corrupts them, as we see in some people even now. It goes on to say that the way we cultivate the right kind of pride is by balancing humility with a right relationship with God. When we understand that he is the one who gives us everything we have we learn to cultivate a healthy pride, not in ourselves, but in the Lord who has given us everything.
The psalm seems to be asking for God to bless us and that the people should sing praises to God for his blessings.
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