The King Rules the Courtroom
The King Rules the Courtroom
Friday
"But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal, saying, 'This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.' But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, 'If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.' And he drove them from the tribunal. And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this."
— Acts 18:12-17 (ESV)
"The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will."
— Proverbs 21:1 (ESV)
"Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, 'Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.' He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD holds them in derision."
— Psalm 2:1-4 (ESV)
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"
— Romans 8:31 (ESV)
— Acts 18:12-17 (ESV)
"The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will."
— Proverbs 21:1 (ESV)
"Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, 'Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.' He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD holds them in derision."
— Psalm 2:1-4 (ESV)
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"
— Romans 8:31 (ESV)
Reflect:
God kept His promise of protection through a bored Roman official who could not have cared less about Jesus. The Lord does not require the cooperation of the powerful; He simply governs them. Whatever headline unsettles you this week, the One who sits in the heavens is not nervous.
God kept His promise of protection through a bored Roman official who could not have cared less about Jesus. The Lord does not require the cooperation of the powerful; He simply governs them. Whatever headline unsettles you this week, the One who sits in the heavens is not nervous.
Respond:
Name one situation where the outcome feels entirely in someone else's hands. Pray Proverbs 21:1 over it by name.
Name one situation where the outcome feels entirely in someone else's hands. Pray Proverbs 21:1 over it by name.
Pray:
Sovereign Lord, You turn the hearts of kings and quiet the plots of nations. I lay down my anxiety about what I cannot control and rest in the One who controls it all. Amen.
Sovereign Lord, You turn the hearts of kings and quiet the plots of nations. I lay down my anxiety about what I cannot control and rest in the One who controls it all. Amen.
Posted in I Have Many in This City - Acts 18:1-17
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