A friend sent me an encouraging note about the center of the Bible this week. Of course we know that the authors of the Old and New Testaments did not write chapters and verses, but it was interesting to discover that Psalm 118 has 594 chapters before it and 594 chapters after it. (I did not check the addition 
) Psalm 118 fits between the shortest chapter in the Bible (Ps 117) and the longest chapter in the Bible (Ps 119). In the New King James Version, Psalm 118:8 says: “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”
In II Kings 1 we find a king of Israel putting his confidence in someone worse than man. After sustaining an injury in a fall, King Ahaziah gave messengers this assignment: “Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury.” God gave his prophet, Elijah, an interesting question to send the king: “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?”
Some people never pray because they don’t believe there is a God. This was not Ahaziah’s problem. Other people fail to pray because they are living in opposition to God. “Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria… He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, because he walked in the way of his father and mother… He served and worshiped Baal and provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger, just as his father had done.” The reason Ahaziah inquired of another god was that he didn’t want to face the True and Living One.
Parents know there is usually something wrong if their child will not look them in the eye. Children with something to hide try to avoid being around their parents. I have the greatest joy going home to little John in the afternoons. He starts running and squealing with delight when he sees me. (Susan feels this way too… she has just learned to conceal it ) But I have already noticed something about this little boy who is not quite two years old. When he has done something he knows he shouldn’t have, he hangs his head and avoids my look. No one wants to get things right quicker than I do, but it takes a willing boy. Could God have forgiven a wayward king? Of course He could have! No one wanted things put right in Israel more than God, but there needed to be a willing king.
When I am walking with the Lord, I’ll want to ask Him first about everything. Why put my confidence in man if God is on my side? For those that trust Him, perhaps this is the most loved chapter in the Bible:
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23)