The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord, he turns it wherever he will. – Proverbs 21:1
When viewing satellite images, you can often see the course of a particular river… or where a river once was flowed but has since dried up. Diversion of water out of its natural channel happens as a result of powerful flooding, changes in water flow from upstream, earthquakes, or even through man-made intentional relocations of a waterway for commercial or other purposes. Frequently, during a large construction project, the water flow can even be temporarily diverted by using artificial rivers or small containment areas.
Today’s verse is a reminder and it is reassuring. The heart of the nation’s president is like a river. In God’s hands, the president’s heart can be molded, turned, and shaped. The hand of the Lord will turn the president just as He can turn the course of a babbling brook or even shut down a mighty river. God’s hands are on the controls and the hearts of every person are in His hands. He can change minds and redirect affairs according to His own will and plan.
Consider how God hardened the heart of Pharoah and softened the heart of King Cyrus. Neither of these men knew or even acknowledged God at first, but God’s hand was on their hearts. God worked through King Solomon to build His first temple, and again through King Darius and King Artaxerxes on rebuilding it from the ruins. The heart of the President of the United States, whoever holds the office, is in the hands of our Almighty God.
Trust in your Father and His plans for the nation and for the world. He is in charge and at work. Pray for God’s will to be accomplished in and through the president and public servants throughout this country.
Today’s Verse: Proverbs 21:1
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;
he turns it wherever he will.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Ezra 4:1-3, 7:11-16, 27-28
4 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.” 3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”
11 This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel: 12 “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace. And now 13 I make a decree that anyone of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. 14 For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand, 15 and also to carry the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, 16 with all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem.
27 Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, 28 and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the Lord my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
