2 Kings 23:21-27: a reflection

21The king commanded all the people, saying, “Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant.” 22Surely there was not kept such a Passover from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; 23but in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem. 24Moreover, Josiah removed those who had familiar spirits, the wizards, and the teraphim, and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the LORD’s house. 25There was no king like him before him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; and there was none like him who arose after him. 26Notwithstanding, the LORD didn’t turn from the fierceness of his great wrath, with which his anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocation with which Manasseh had provoked him. 27The LORD said, “I will also remove Judah out of my sight, as I have removed Israel; and I will cast off this city which I have chosen, even Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, ‘My name shall be there.’”

Of King Josiah, Scripture gives a summary that few others receive: there was no king before him who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses, and none like him arose after him. Josiah kept the greatest Passover in generations, tore down the idols, and led his people back to God, and the note that marks him is that he did it wholeheartedly, with all his heart, soul, and might, holding nothing back.

Notice what set Josiah apart. Not that he was sinless, but that his turning to God was complete, undivided, wholehearted. Many kings did some right things, made partial reforms, kept a bit of the old idolatry alongside their worship. Josiah gave himself to God entirely, with all he was. That wholeness is what made him, in Scripture's estimate, without equal among the kings.

That is a searching standard for our own devotion. God is not looking for a partial, hedged, half-hearted turning, a bit of religion kept alongside our other loyalties. He is looking for the whole heart, soul, and might, the kind of devotion Josiah gave. Where is your own return to God partial, holding something back? The call is to turn to him as Josiah did, with everything. And there is a sober note in the passage too: even Josiah's great reform did not undo all the consequences of generations of sin; devotion does not always cancel every result of the past. But it is still the one thing God asks: turn to him with all your heart.

Lord, Josiah turned to you with all his heart, soul, and might, holding nothing back, and there was none like him. Search my own devotion for where it is partial and hedged, keeping something back alongside my worship of you. Give me a wholehearted return to you, with everything I am, like Josiah's. I want to turn to you with all my heart.