the book bigger than my situation

Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

2 Kings 22:10

This was no ordinary book. This was the Book of the Law kept in the temple, and Judah had effectively buried it by generational idolatry. It took a new, young, good-hearted king to even have the Law found again. Josiah had sent a crew to begin repairs on the temple and its treasuries. And after generations of neglect, the greatest treasure was brought back to the king... the Pentateuch. The holy scriptures would grab the attention of the king and spark renewal during Josiah’s reign.

Josiah listened carefully to the reading of the entire Pentateuch. Imagine that... Shaphan started in Genesis and finished with Deuteronomy. And the result of this marathon book reading was that Josiah immediately realized that God’s people had missed the blessings of the covenant by their willful disobedience. He tore his royal clothes and wept in repentance, realizing that the curses of the Law were already upon a sinful and neglectful nation. God’s truth can show us our sin and can lead us to a proper reaction of repentance.

Personally, I see this as a reminder to anchor in the Bible for perspective, instruction, rebuke, and renewal. I have fought complacency on this a lot during the mixed set of disruptions that have made up the last 10 months. It began with a pandemic, was muddled by social unrest that was repugnant and disturbing to witness, and now churns in the drama of political instability. All of this daily turns my attention from careful, thoughtful, attentive reading of God’s Word and prayer. It should drive me to do this, but I confess, I have struggled with it distracting me from it. Like the example of Josiah, I need to hear out what God says, repent where I am complacent, and accept whatever God is doing right now in my world.