As the heavens for height
and the earth for depth,
so the heart of kings is unsearchable.

Proverbs 25:3

Solomon uses the first seven verses in Proverbs to give us a glimpse into best practices when hanging out with a king. I would imagine Solomon, as the son of a king and now a king himself, has seen it all; the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to interactions with a king. In our key verse Solomon gives a very personal assessment of kings’ hearts; I imagine, of his heart. 

I am no expert being born and bred in the good ‘old USA, but I do think being a king or queen is really hard. The Bible and millennia of history records very few persons of royalty really getting it right and doing it well. Just the job itself is daunting and then you add in the expectations of every single person in a nation and then toss in all the ones who want you to fail and then top it off with your own family members who want your job…Yikes! It’s the most envious position in the world, even in our modern culture, and yet it is also the loneliest. 

Is it any wonder that a royal person’s heart is complicated and filled with complexities few of us will ever experience or understand? Is there anything we can take from this verse as a 21^st Century Christian? You can guess the answer…YES!

Jeremiah a prophet from the Old Testament lived during the time of Judah’s (Southern Kingdom) exile to Babylon. He remained in Jerusalem with those who weren’t carried off. Jeremiah was not a popular prophet at all because he spoke God’s words of judgement and the Hebrews need to repent; which they did not want to do. During Jeremiah’s tenure he wrote an astounding letter to the exiles (those who were carried off to Babylon) that was filled with encouragement that this exile was not permanent and that God would restore them to Jerusalem. In this letter, God through Jeremiah, also commanded His people that while they were in this strange and godless culture they should live life to its fullest!

A very strange command to give people who have been taken captive and were oppressed. And in the midst of this letter is a command that the exiles pray for the leaders of the very pagan Babylon, specifically, for the various cities in which they were placed. And the reason they should pray in this manner was because as the city prospered, the exiles situation would improve. 

Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf;
for in its welfare you will have welfare.

Jeremiah 29:7

We don’t have kings in our country. We do have a president, senators, congressional leaders. We have governors, mayors and a city council. Do we pray for them? Do we pray that the God who does know their hearts, will turn their hearts toward righteousness? (Read Day 21)

Let’s start doing that today!