“But the high places were not removed; nevertheless, Asa’s heart was perfect with the Lord all his days.”

I Kings 15:14

It doesn’t mean sinless perfection; but it does mean singular sincerity of desire.

“The perfect heart.”

If today’s Manna were the only one we had about Asa, we’d assume he always followed the Lord with all his heart; however, even a casual reading of II Chron. 16:1-12 will reveal such was not the case, even as indicated by the words “But the high places were not removed” in our Manna.

A “perfect heart” in the sense of one totally sold out to God would have removed the idolatrous high places reserved for sacrifice to the pagan god, Molech. Likewise, a wholly-consecrated heart wouldn’t have “sought the Lord” for 35 years (II Chron. 14:1-15:19) and then turned to the king of Syria and his physicians in his hour of need (16:1-12).

Like Noah, “a just man and perfect in his generation and one who walked with God” (Gen. 6:9)—but later got drunk, exposed himself and cursed his own grandson (Gen. 9:20-27)—Asa was just like us. Or, like Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived (other than Jesus)—yet, ended up being quite immoral and idolatrous at the end of his life (I Kings 11:4)—so do we wobble in our walk of faith from time-to-time.

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth. . .when the morning stars sang together. . .and I numbered the clouds in wisdom?”

Job 38:4a, 7a, 37a

No wonder “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Job 28:28; Ps. 111:10; Prov. 1:7; 9:10; 15:33).

Reverent awe.

That’s the meaning of the Hebrew word “yir‘ah” used in the above-cited passages. And such awe arises from the depths of one’s soul, not his head. In this day-and-age of scientific reasoning, proud logic, carnal imaginations and speculations, etc., we’d do well to once again hear God’s words to Job that day in our Manna.

There’s no doubt Job was a “perfect (Heb. ‘tam’—‘morally pious, gentle, undefiled, clean, whole, etc.’) and upright (Heb. ‘yashar’—‘just, equitable, straight, prosperous, highly esteemed, etc.’) man who feared God and eschewed (Heb. ‘cuwr’—‘to turn away, decline, depart from, leave alone, cast aside, etc.’) evil” (Job 1:1). Yet, God allowed the devil to attack him by taking away his livestock and children (1:6-19) and afflict him with “boils from the sole of his foot unto the crown of his head” (2:7).

“When I consider Your heavens, the works of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him? And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels and have crowned him with glory and honor. . .O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your Name in all the earth.”

Psalm 8:3-5, 9

Quiet reflection on this will calm the mind and fill the heart with joyful praise.

The ancient Hebrews had an advantage over us when it came to worship. Why or how is that? Simply because they knew nothing of satellites, the Hubble telescope, space exploration, etc.; they simply knew God was/is great and worthy of our worship.

Think of it:

Although they already called the star groups by modern-day names (Job 9:9; 38:31-32), they knew nothing about various planets, galaxies, universes, star clusters, black holes, etc.; they simply knew those were “the work of God’s fingers, placed there by His Grand Design” (Ps. 8:3).

Likewise, they didn’t know our Creator placed the sun the perfect distance of 93,000,000 miles from the earth. . .or hung the moon in space to reflect the sun’s glory and influence earth’s tidal actions. . .or tilted our globe at just the right angle on its axis and rotated it at just the right speed to sustain life and maintain gravity.

“. . .stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.”

Job 37:14b

Doing this will cause us to catch our breath and bow our head/knees.

Of all the Morning Manna none is more pointed in its call for us to “be still and know that He is God” (Ps. 46:10). Set in the context of Job’s suffering, his friends’ accusations and Elihu’s indictment upon them all, this Manna puts it all in perspective—and is definitely one we need in this day-and-age of loss of reverence for Almighty God.

Job’s story is Everyman’s story. Who of us cannot identify with his suffering and his agonizing grappling over why this is happening to him? Likewise, his anguish is further increased by the accusations of his “friends,” who basically said “If you’d not sinned, this wouldn’t have happened to you.”

Sound familiar?

Regardless, all of them were guilty and needed to hear what Elihu had to say (32:1-37:24). Job’s problem was his self-righteous justification of himself and multitude of words (32:1-2; 34:37b), while his friends’ problem lay in their ill-placed, unfounded charges and condemning attitude toward him (32:3).

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give Grace and Glory. No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.”

Psalm 84:11

If we need it, He’ll give it—when it’s time.

The problem with “name it, claim it” belief is that it reduces faith to some formula whereby the adherent basically backs God into a corner (or so it seems to an outside observer). Assuredly, in the spiritual realm we are to live by faith and “see that which is not and call it so” (Heb. 11:1). However, our great God is both creative and unpredictable and we must give Him room to work whenever, wherever and however He sees fit; therefore, we should rest in the assurances set forth in today’s Manna, knowing our Lord will never leave us in a lurch.

It’s good to know “the Lord God is a sun and shield.” That means there’ll never be a time when darkness (literal or figurative) will cause us to wring our hands and cry, “Oh me, oh my, what am I going to do.” Likewise, He is our Shield and “Refuge, a very present Help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1). So, again, we will not fear the “fiery darts of wicked men” or the hellish howlings of devilish demons—not when the Lord Himself has promised to give us “Grace and Glory” in every situation.