Day 181: He Trusted, He Remained, He Kept

Welcome to Day 181 of the Bible 365 Podcast! I'm so excited you are joining me on this journey through the entire Bible this year. Reminder that each episode in 2026 will have a brand new devotional.

Today we'll be reading through 2 Kings 17, 18:1-12; Acts 20; Psalm 148; and Proverbs 18:6-7. Invite a family member or friend to join you as we grow in our knowledge of God through His Word.

I'm so glad that you are here!

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠randygoudeau.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support the Ministry

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome to day 181 of the Bible 365 Podcast. My name is Randy Goudow and today we're going to be reading through 2 Kings chapter 17 and 18 verses 1 through 12, Acts chapter 20, Psalm chapter 148, and Proverbs chapter 18 verses 6 and 7. The translation I'm using throughout this podcast is the Berean Standard Bible, also known as the BSB. Let's read. 2 Kings chapter 17. In the twelfth year of the reign of Ahaz over Judah, Hoshea, son of Elah, became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria nine years. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him. Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea had conspired to send envoys to King So of Egypt, and that he had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison. Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes. All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. They had worshipped other gods and walked in the customs of the nations that the Lord had driven out before the Israelites, as well as in the practices introduced by the kings of Israel. The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city, they built high places in all their cities. They set up for themselves sacred pillars and ashrapoles on every high hill and under every green tree. They burned incense on all the high places, like the nations that the Lord had driven out before them. They did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger. They served idols, although the Lord had told them, You shall not do this thing. Yet through all his prophets and seers, the Lord warned Israel and Judah, saying, Turn from your wicked ways and keep my commandments and statutes, according to the entire law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through my servants the prophets. But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the Lord their God. They rejected his statutes and the covenant he had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees he had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, going after the surrounding nations that the Lord had commanded them not to imitate. They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an ashropole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. So the Lord was very angry with Israel, and he removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained. And even Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced. So the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel. He afflicted them and delivered them into the hands of plunderers, until he had banished them from his presence. When the Lord had torn Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam, son of Nebat, king. And Jeroboam led Israel away from following the Lord and caused them to commit a great sin. The Israelites persisted in all the sins that Jeroboam had committed and did not turn away from them. Finally, the Lord removed Israel from his presence, as he had declared through all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their homeland into Assyria, where they are to this day. Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kutha, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns. Now when the settlers first lived there, they did not worship the Lord, so he sent lions among them, which killed some of them. So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, The peoples that you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the God of the land. Because of this, he has sent lions among them, which are indeed killing them off. So the king of Assyria commanded, Send back one of the priest you carried off from Samaria, and have him go back to live there and teach the requirements of the God of the land. Thus one of the priest they had carried away came and lived in Bethel, and he began to teach them how they should worship the Lord. Nevertheless, the people of each nation continued to make their own gods in the cities where they had settled, and they set them up in the shrines that the people of Samaria had made on the high places. The men of Babylon made Sukkoth Benoth, the men of Kuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sephravites burned their children in the fire to Adremelech and Animalek, the gods of Sepharvaim. So the new residents worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed for themselves priests of all sorts to serve in the shrines of the high places. They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods according to the customs of the nations from which they had been carried away. To this day they are still practicing their former customs. None of them worship the Lord or observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. For the Lord had made a covenant with the Israelites and commanded them, do not worship other gods or bow down to them. Do not serve them or sacrifice to them. Instead, worship the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm. You are to bow down to him and offer sacrifices to him, and you must always be careful to observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. Do not forget the commandment I have made with you. Do not worship other gods, but worship the Lord your God, and he will deliver you from the hands of all your enemies. But they would not listen, and they persisted in their former customs. So these nations worship the Lord, but also served their idols, and to this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did. 2 Kings 18, verses 1 through 12. In the third year of the reign of Hosheah, son of Elah over Israel, Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, became king of Judah. He was twenty five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty nine years. His mother's name was Abai, the daughter of Zechariah. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the ashrapoles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nahushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it. Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. No king of Judah was like him, either before him or after him. He remained faithful to the Lord and did not turn from following him. He kept the commandments that the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with Hezekiah, and he prospered wherever he went. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to serve him. He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from watchtower to fortified city. In the fourth year of Hezekiah's reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hosheah, son of Elah over Israel, Shalmanesar, king of Assyria, marched against Samaria and besieged it, and at the end of three years the Assyrians captured it. So Samaria was captured in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hosheah, king of Israel. The king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes. This happened because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord their God, but violated his covenant, all that Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded, and would neither listen nor obey. Acts chapter 20. When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said goodbye to them and left for Macedonia. After traveling through that area and speaking many words of encouragement, he arrived in Greece, where he stayed three months. And when the Jews formed a plot against him as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia. Paul was accompanied by Sopater, son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derby, Timothy, Antichicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. These men went on ahead and waited for us in Troas. And after the feast of unleavened bread, we sailed from Philippi, and five days later we rejoined them in Troas, where we stayed seven days. On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Since Paul was ready to leave the next day, he talked to them and kept on speaking until midnight. Now there were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered, and a certain young man named Eutychus, seated in the window, was seeking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell from the third story and was picked up dead. But Paul went down, threw himself on the young man, and embraced him. Do not be alarmed, he said, he is still alive. Then Paul went back upstairs, broke bread and ate. And after speaking until daybreak, he departed. And the people were greatly relieved to take the boy home alive. We went on ahead to the ship and sailed to Assos, where we were to take Paul aboard. He had arranged this because he was going there on foot, and when he met us at Asos, we took him aboard and went on to Middalene. Sailing on from there, we arrived the next day opposite Chios. The day after that we arrived at Samos, and on the following day we came to Miletus. Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, because he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost. From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. When they came to him, he said, You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I arrived in the province of Asia. I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, especially in the trials that came upon me through the plots of the Jews. I did not shrink back from declaring anything that was helpful to you, as I taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews and Greeks alike about repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in town after town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions await me. But I consider my life of no value to me. If only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus, the ministry of testifying to the good news of God's grace. Now I know that none of you among whom I have preached the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men, for I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the Church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number, men will rise up and distort the truth to draw away disciples after them. Therefore be alert, and remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. And now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified. I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have ministered to my own needs and those of my companions. In everything, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself, it is more blessed to give than to receive. When Paul had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. They all wept openly as they embraced Paul and kissed him. They were especially grieved by his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship. Psalm chapter 148. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the highest places, praise him all his angels, praise him all his heavenly host, praise him, O sun and moon, praise him all you shining stars, praise him, O highest heavens, and ye waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he gave the command and they were created. He established them forever and ever, he issued a decree that will never pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth, all great sea creatures and ocean depths, lightning and hell, snow and clouds, powerful wind fulfilling his word, mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, crawling creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth, young men and maidens, old and young together. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted. His splendor is above the earth and the heavens. He has raised up a horn for his people, the praise of all his saints, of Israel, a people near to him. Hallelujah. Proverbs 18, verses 6 and 7. A fool's lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating. A fool's mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul. Today's devotional is coming from Second Kings chapter 18. I'm going to read verse 7, and then we're going to back up a little bit. It says this And the Lord was with Hezekiah, and he prospered wherever he went. I don't know about you, but I would love that to be said about me one day. And the Lord was with Randy, and he prospered wherever he went. We want that sometimes. We want the blessing of God, we want the favor of God, but we sometimes don't want to read what comes before it. Verses five and six say this Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. No king of Judah was like him, either before him or after him. He remained faithful to the Lord and did not turn from following him. He kept the commandments that the Lord had given Moses. And then it says, And the Lord was with Hezekiah, and he prospered wherever he went. I want you to see a few things here. The first, we have to trust in the Lord. And sometimes when you are in the waiting, it can be difficult to just trust. And when you're trusting in the Lord, you're not just trusting in the arm of your own flesh, and your own ability and your own intellect. Hezekiah trusted in the Lord. Then it says this He remained faithful to the Lord and did not turn from following Him. So when you are in the waiting and you are trusting, and you know the answer isn't coming when you feel like it should, will you remain faithful and not turn from following Him? And then lastly, He kept the commandments that the Lord had given Moses. I've observed this in my Christian lifetime is that there are a lot of people that open up the Bible and they are digging deep to find all the promises of blessing that belong to them because they are in Christ Jesus, but they gloss over the very clear scriptures that teach us the way that we should live, how we should walk. The Bible says that He kept the commandments that the Lord had given Moses. He didn't just memorize them, he lived them, he walked in them, he kept them. And so today, I'm just saying this I want the Lord to be with me, and I want to prosper wherever I go. So therefore, I'm going to trust in the Lord, the God of Israel. I am going to remain faithful to him by his grace and not turn from following him. And I am going to keep his commandments. Let's pray. Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus, and right now I lift up all of our listeners, and I pray that you would help us to continue to trust in you. I pray that you would help us to remain faithful to you and to not turn from following you, and help us to keep your commandments, to love you with all our heart, so mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Draw us close by the presence of your Holy Spirit and reveal your Son to us. We ask all these things in the precious name of Jesus. Amen. Well, I sure hope you enjoyed today's devotional. If you're getting something out of the Bible 365 podcast, consider sharing it with your family and with your friends. Please continue to pray for me. I am praying for you. Have a great day, and I'll see you tomorrow with day 1820.