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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Sunday, 12 October 2025:
Psalm 93:1 — The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
God’s sovereignty is not tentative, it is eternal, majestic, immovable. The psalmist begins by affirming that the Lord wears majesty like garments and girds Himself with strength, signaling a King who is both transcendent and powerful. Nothing in creation can overthrow or shift His rule. The world is established so firmly it “shall never be moved.” This offers immeasurable security for the believer, the one who God loves as Hs precious child: when circumstances threaten, storms rage, or kingdoms fall, God is unmoved.
“The Lord reigns.” God is all powerful, omnipresent, omniscient, unchanging, and perfect. He loves you perfectly and provides what is perfect. We can trust God completely even though we cannot possibly fully understand what He is doing, even when outcomes appear to be outside His will from our incredibly limited, clouded perspective. What you really believe about God, His Sovereignty, and His character, and His perfect love for you, will determine how you respond to any situation, whether you will trust and obey Him or sin instead.
Psalm 93:2 — Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting.
God’s throne is ancient and eternal; He is beyond time. This verse reinforces that His reign is not new or emergent but rooted in eternity. He precedes all things and will outlast all things. Our faith is anchored not in fleeting trends but in the unshakable Eternal One.
Psalm 93:3-4 — The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty!
The psalmist invokes imagery of floods, unpredictable, forceful, overwhelming, as a metaphor for chaos and tumult. Yet even as the waters roar, they do not dethrone the Lord. His reign is neither threatened nor surprised by the loudest noise of creation.
No force in nature surpasses Him. The voice of many waters is a vivid picture of raw power and tumult; yet the LORD is mightier. The psalmist situates God above storm, wave, flood, and every form of natural power. This sets the tone for worship not just in calm but amid tempest, trusting that the Lord is greater than every storm. The foundation of unshakable love, joy, and peace is trusting God through the storms of your life so you can rest through them with Him (see Matthew 8:23–27, Mark 4:35–41, and Luke 8:22–25)
“Observe that the Psalmist turns to the Lord when he sees the billows foam, and hears the breakers roar; he does not waste his breath by talking to the waves, or to violent men.” (Spurgeon)
Psalm 93:5 – Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore.
In a world of shifting morals and fickle promises, God’s decrees stand firm. His word is entirely dependable. Also, holiness adorns His house, not with sin, compromise, or idolatry, but with purity and reverence forever. The temple of God reflects the character of God; those who enter must bring holiness. As in Hebrews 12:28-29, our worship must be offered with reverence, for God is a consuming fire.
More often than not, we don’t really know what we ought to do in a particular situation, and our perceptions are easily clouded by bias and our responses by feelings and emotions, which is why God calls us to prayerfully abide in His word, responding obediently in faith over feelings. Abiding isn’t just searching the Scriptures whenever we have problem but, rather, continually meditating upon God’s word, walking in God’s word, and becoming transformed by God’s word so when the moment of decision and action arises, we instinctively know what Jesus would do, and we do it instinctively – the natural response, or fruit, of our continual relationship with Him, through the Spirit, in accordance with His word.
- Joshua 1:8-9 – “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
- Psalm 119:105 — Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
- John 8:31. 15:7 — So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples…. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
- John 14:21 — Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
2 Kings 13:1-2 — In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from them.
Jehoahaz’s reign is introduced with the familiar summary/judgment formula: chronology/parentage, length of reign, and moral assessment. History keeps repeating: the throne changes hands, but the heart often stays the same. The steady refrain, “he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD,” is not mere moralizing; it diagnoses a persistent spiritual disease: public life which chooses expediency over fidelity. This pattern teaches that longevity or outward stability (a long reign, a functioning court, a s family) is no substitute for wholehearted obedience. The steady sin of Jeroboam (golden calves and syncretism) created a structural idolatry that subsequent kings inherited; systems have memory and exert pressure — family patterns, religious shortcuts, and political expediency beget generational compromise. The prophets and God’s patient calling are the only corrective to institutional drift (see Judges’ cycles; compare 1 Samuel 8).
Because Jehoahaz would not depart from sin, Israel was oppressed under foreign powers. God’s deliverance is withheld when the people refuse to turn. Their own persistence in sin becomes their chains.
The Bible continually reminds us how destructive the sins of one person can be on following generations and also continually reminds us the parents bear a burden of responsibility to raise their children to be godly — “Jeroboam the son of Nebat.” (see Malachi 2:15)
2 Kings 13:3-7 — And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them continually into the hand of Hazael king of Syria and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael. Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the Lord, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them. (Therefore the Lord gave Israel a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians, and the people of Israel lived in their homes as formerly. Nevertheless, they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin, but walked in them; and the Asherah also remained in Samaria.) For there was not left to Jehoahaz an army of more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand footmen, for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.
The text balances judgment and mercy. Even amid Israel’s hardheartedness God’s faithfulness to the patriarchal covenant restrains final destruction; his loyalty to the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob preserves a remnant. Yet grace does not cancel consequence: Hazael’s aggression indicts Israel and functions as disciplinary judgment. The paradox, covenant mercy that coexists with corrective judgment, teaches that God’s long-suffering is purposeful, aimed at repentance. Israel receives temporary rescue and a prophetic promise of restoration, but without internal turning the cycle continues.
2 Kings 13:8-9 — Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? So Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria, and Joash his son reigned in his place.
These two verses are the brief, formal close to Jehoahaz’s reign. This closing verse, common in Kings, functions as a reminder that human reigns are brief and part of a larger covenant history; God’s providential plan continues despite individual failure. The referral to another record also challenges readers to remember that Scripture’s canonical history compresses many events into theological summary — God’s purposes persist across kings, wars, and short-lived reforms.
2 Kings 13:10-12 — In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. He also did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin, but he walked in them. Now the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, and the might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? So Joash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat on his throne. And Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
Even though Jehoash (also called Joash of Israel) reigned sixteen years and achieved military success, his reign was defined by spiritual failure. The inspired historian’s repeated phrase — “He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord… he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam” — underscores a sobering reality: outward strength and political victories cannot compensate for inward rebellion. Like his predecessors, Jehoash upheld the false worship established by Jeroboam I, the golden calves at Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:28–30). These counterfeit systems of worship were not merely religious errors; they were rival loyalties that corrupted the nation’s heart. Jehoash may have enjoyed temporary prosperity, but his kingdom remained spiritually bankrupt.
God’s evaluation of leaders never rests on military or economic success but on faithfulness to His covenant. In contrast to Joash of Judah, who, for a time, “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord” while Jehoiada the priest instructed him (2 Kings 12:2), Jehoash of Israel never submitted his heart to divine truth. The chronicler’s brief summary, “he did evil,” weighs more heavily than any record of might or conquest. Jesus asked, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36). The same is true of nations and kings: success apart from righteousness is loss.
When Scripture notes that Joash was buried “with the kings of Israel,” it signifies honor among men but not necessarily honor before God. His dynasty continued, Jeroboam II succeeded him, but the spiritual decay deepened. God’s patience with Israel’s northern kingdom was long, yet His justice would not sleep forever. The end of Jehoash’s reign reminds us that legacies built on disobedience eventually crumble. “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1).
2 Kings 13:14-19 — Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash king of Israel went down to him and wept before him, crying, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, “Draw the bow,” and he drew it. And Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. And he said, “Open the window eastward,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot,” and he shot. And he said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria! For you shall fight the Syrians in Aphek until you have made an end of them.” And he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground with them.” And he struck three times and stopped. Then the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times.”
Elisha, nearing the end of his life, remained the spiritual strength of Israel — “the chariots of Israel and its horsemen” — a phrase first spoken at Elijah’s departure (2 Kings 2:12). It symbolized the reality that God’s prophets, not armies, were Israel’s true defense. Joash’s tears acknowledged Elisha’s spiritual significance but did not necessarily reflect repentance or faith. Many honor God’s servants emotionally while failing to imitate their obedience. Joash respected the prophet but never embraced the prophet’s God with his whole heart (v. 11).
When Elisha placed his hands on the king’s hands and commanded him to shoot eastward, toward Syria, it was a prophetic act, a symbolic transference of divine empowerment. The arrow represented the “LORD’s arrow of victory,” showing that deliverance would come not through human might but through God’s sovereign power (Zechariah 4:6). Yet God’s promises are not passive gifts; they require responsive faith. After the arrow of victory was shot, Elisha commanded Joash to strike the ground with the remaining arrows. Joash obeyed, but only half-heartedly. He struck three times and stopped. His limited effort revealed his limited faith. He did not seize the full measure of what God had made available.
Elisha’s anger was not impatience but holy frustration at wasted potential. God had set before Joash an open door for complete victory, but the king’s tepid zeal closed it prematurely. His lack of perseverance and passion limited the blessings Israel would receive. This scene echoes many moments in Scripture when human passivity constrains divine possibility. In Numbers 13-14, Israel’s unbelief kept them from entering the Promised Land. In Matthew 13:58, Jesus “did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” Faith is not mere assent, it is active participation in God’s purposes, expressed in bold, persevering obedience.
The arrows represent opportunities, each one an act of faith. Joash’s hesitation mirrors the spiritual apathy that so often characterizes God’s people, willing to obey to a point, but not fully surrendered. Paul exhorted believers to “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). Partial obedience brings partial victory; half-hearted pursuit yields half-measures of grace experienced. God had ordained complete deliverance, but Joash’s faint-heartedness forfeited its fullness.
This episode is a timeless warning: God gives us promises and power, but the measure of our experience of them often corresponds to the measure of our faith and diligence. Elisha’s dying lesson to Joash, and to us, is to engage God’s call with whole-hearted devotion. Strike the ground until the victory is complete. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Do not stop at three. Keep striking. Keep trusting. Keep fighting the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12).
2 Kings 13:20-21 — So Elisha died and they buried him. And the raiding bands of Moab used to invade the land at the time of year. And as they were burying a man, behold, they saw a band of men; and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha. And when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.
The book’s final miracle, life restored when a dead man’s corpse touches Elisha’s bones, emphasizes that God’s power can act through the legacy of a faithful prophet even after his death. It points forward to the ultimate victory over death in Christ and invites trust in God’s continuing power beyond human life spans. The account also underscores that the fruit of faithful ministry endures: the prophet’s presence, teaching, and witness leave behind a tangible, continuing effect.
Additional observations and biblical parallels: the cycle in 2 Kings 13 repeats the pattern seen through Judges and the rest of the Deuteronomistic history — disobedience brings oppression, crying out brings deliverance, deliverance without repentance breeds relapse. God’s covenant love restrains ultimate destruction (see Genesis 12; Psalm 89), showing divine patience intended to lead to repentance (Romans 2:4). The Elisha-Jehoash scene illustrates the partnership in Scripture between divine power and human obedience: God supplies power and word; humans must respond decisively. This is consistent with Jesus’ vine-and-branch image (John 15): the branch cannot bear fruit apart from the vine, but the vine’s life flows only through a branch that abides and acts. Partial surrender produces partial fruit. Finally, the miracle associated with Elisha’s bones echoes New Testament resurrection hope (John 11; 1 Corinthians 15): God is the Lord of life even when death seems final.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 12 October 2025: Today, identify one area where you have obeyed only partially or have been “half-hearted” (a relationship you’ve not fully forgiven, a step of witness you’ve delayed, a generosity you’ve rationed). Take one visible, decisive step of wholehearted obedience right now—call the person, say the word of forgiveness, give sacrificially, speak truth in love, or begin the project God has asked you to start—and commit to seeing it through. Record the step and tell one accountable believer. Partial obedience yields partial blessing; dramatic fruit begins with decisive trust.
Prayer: “ Father, forgive my half-measures and my hesitations. Grant me courage for wholehearted obedience. Where I have drawn back, help me strike as you command; where I have delayed, set my feet in motion. Use my small, faithful acts for your glory, and let your life flow through me so others may see your power. Make me faithful to the end, not for my praise but for the advance of your kingdom. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 