“So it was,
when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his
body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning.” (v.27)
In our
reading today, God sends Elijah (once again) with a word of judgment against
Ahab and his family for the murder of his neighbor Naboth (vv.21-22). Then, when it seemed the king was beyond any positive reaction
toward God, Ahab humbled himself and adopted the traditional signs of
repentance (v.27).
There
must have been some genuineness of heart on Ahab's part, because God relented
somewhat when He saw the king's humility saying, “Do you see how Ahab has humbled
himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring
the evil in his days, but I will bring the evil upon his house in his
son’s days” (v.29).
Just as the
Lord responded to the humility of the most wicked, rotten king in Israel’s
history, His grace will be there for you - if you humble yourself and repent.
The Truth
“Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” (James 4:10)
