How do you go crazy? There are more than a few ways, but one is to lose a wise friend who keeps your mind focused on what matters. King Uzzaih in the book of Chronicles (his story is surprisingly short in the book of 2 Kings) has this stunningly great start to being king. Building projects, battles won, all the things a king loves. In in all he has a friend who keeps him from going crazy (you go crazy when you no longer fear the LORD). It says in 2 Chronicles 26. 5 He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. Being instructed means that Zechariah taught Uzziah how to be a discerning king, he didn't just have knowledge, he knew how to use the knowledge he had, he knew how to fear the LORD and so how to live a life of wisdom (i.e. how to live in God's good but fallen world).
Somewhere along the line, however, Zechariah disappears. When he disappears, Uzziah heads down the path of crazy. He tries to step in and take over the work of the priests. It's a power move to grab on to all the branches of influence in Judah. The ESV Study Bible helps us see the whole picture, " 2 Chron. 26:16–20 Unfaithful translates Hebrew ma‘al . It carries the sense of affronting God's holiness (as in a violated oath) failing to accord him his due in worship. Uzziah impugned God's holiness by trespassing on the temple, which was for the priests and Levites only, and by seeking to offer incense, a duty reserved for the priests alone."
So Uzziah goes crazy when he loses his friend/mentor. It makes you wonder what crazy you can get in to when you lose a friend who keeps you in the fear of the LORD.
That's just a bit of the thought that's flowing around in my mind as I get ready for this week's message in our series at EverGreen called "Crash". You can read Uzziah's story here and also the New Testament passage that I think helps us to keep from this kind of crash.
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