King of Your Heart

Readings Include Deuteronomy 5:21-24, 20:1-20, 21:18–20, 22:1–7,  23:9-25, 24:5–14
 
Deuteronomy 20:16-18 In those towns that the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing. 17 You must completely destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the Lord your God has commanded you. 18 This will prevent the people of the land from teaching you to imitate their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the Lord your God.
 
ONE of the worshipful songs celebrating Jesus is “King of My Heart.” Some of the words are:
 
“Let the King of my heart be the mountain where I run, the fountain I drink from . Oh, He is my song. Let the King of my heart be the shadow where I hide, the ransom for my life. ‘Cause you are good. And let the King of my heart be the wind inside my sails, the anchor in the waves. Be the fire inside my veins, the echo of my days.” (Bethel Music 2015)
 
What do you think? Do the song’s words line up with this Scripture? How can we worship God as King of our hearts, call him “good”, “anchor”, “fountain” or “shadow” to protect us when he commands, “Do not leave alive anything that breathes in Canaan?”
   Each Christian must have an answer to this very difficult command. Such words or actions in the Bible are often among unbelievers’ weapons to bring charges against God and your faith. “How can you believe in such a hateful God?”, they wonder. Yes, how can the God who commands complete death to certain nations be the “King of My Heart”?
   The LORD God can be your heart’s king when you know this: God’s command here demonstrates the depth of his love to deliver you from the Evil One.
   As God began to instruct Moses, he told Moses he would wipe them out (Exodus 23:23) to protect Israel from the nations’ ongoing detestable idolatry in Canaan. The Father could not allow his children to live in their new home corrupted with such evil. The LORD commanded his people to sweep clean all influences of temptation that could destroy their relationship with God. Even more, he knew if some in Israel worshiped the pagan gods, they would one day sacrifice their own children to such evil. I AM, indeed, is a good King; he is your Shadow to protect you from  sin’s terminal infection.
   What happened? Did Israel obey God’s very hard, yet life-saving command? You’ll learn the answer as you read Judges and the history of the kings.
   If you are doubting God’s goodness, consider how he put your detestable sins upon his sinless Son on the cursed cross. The Son lay down his life, and then he took it up again, so the Spirit could make you worthy to live in God’s holy house.
          Know sin’s depth. Know salvation’s height. Only when we truly understand God’s love will we fully know, “He’s the King of My Heart. He is good; he will never let us down.”