DAILY TEXT, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. Jehoshaphat sought Jehovah with all his heart (2 Chron. 22:9).

Let us examine the Scriptures every day 2026

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Jehoshaphat sought the Lord with all his heart (2 Chron. 22:9).

The kings of Israel whom Jehovah considered faithful loved him with all their heart. Speaking of Josiah, the Bible says: “Before him there was no king like him, who returned to Jehovah with all his heart” (2 Kings 23:25). On the other hand, there was Solomon, who toward the end of his reign did what was wrong and “did not serve Jehovah his God with a full heart” (1 Kings 11:4). And of Abiyam, another unfaithful king, the Bible says exactly the same thing: “He did not serve Jehovah his God with a full heart” (1 Kings 15:3). The Bible often uses the word heart to describe everything a person is on the inside, including his desires, thoughts, inclinations, attitudes, abilities, motives, and goals. So, what does it mean to serve Jehovah with a full heart? It means to worship him out of pure love and devotion throughout one’s life, not simply out of obligation or because it seems like the right thing to do. w24.07 21 pars. 4, 5

How can we love Jehovah with our whole heart? (Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 5:29, 30)

How can we be like faithful kings and love Jehovah wholeheartedly? We must avoid anything that could divide our heart and weaken our love for Jehovah, such as harmful entertainment, a materialistic attitude, and bad associations. If we see that something like this is beginning to happen to us, we should make changes immediately. (Read Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 5:29, 30.)

Why should we be careful with harmful things?

Let us not allow our hearts to become divided. If we are not careful, we could deceive ourselves into thinking that as long as we are involved in many spiritual activities, nothing external can harm our relationship with Jehovah. To understand this better, imagine that you were outside on a very cold and windy day. When you got home, you would probably turn on the heat. But you certainly wouldn’t leave the door open! If you did, the house would immediately fill with cold air. This teaches us that to stay close to Jehovah, it is not enough to simply participate in spiritual activities. We need to “shut the door” on all harmful things so that the “air” of this world does not cool our relationship with Jehovah and divide our hearts. (Eph. 2:2)

How did Kings David and Hezekiah react when they were corrected?

As we saw earlier, King David committed a very serious sin. But when Nathan went to talk to him about what he had done, David was humble and repented (2 Sam. 12:13). The words he wrote in Psalm 51 show that he was truly repentant. He did not pretend to be repentant to please Nathan or to avoid punishment (Ps. 51:3, 4, 17, heading).

King Hezekiah also sinned against Jehovah. The Bible says that “his heart became arrogant, provoking God to be angry with him and with Judah and Jerusalem” (2 Chron. 32:25). Why did he become proud? Perhaps because Jehovah had made him rich, because he had helped him defeat the Assyrians, or because he had healed him of a deadly disease. Maybe it was that pride that motivated him to boast to the Babylonians about his riches. As a result, the prophet Isaiah had to correct him (2 Kings 20:12-18). Like David, Hezekiah humbled himself and repented (2 Chron. 32:26). And Jehovah, taking stock of his life, considered him a faithful king. The Bible says: “He did what was good in Jehovah’s eyes” (2 Kings 18:3).

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