Pray the word with David Platt is a resource from radical.net.

Jeremiah chapter 41 verse 2

Ishmael, the son of Nethanya and the ten men with him rose up and struck down

Gettoliah the son of Aikam son of Chafan with the sword and killed him

whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor in the land.

This is a very sad picture in Jeremiah 41.

So, Gatelliah had been appointed governor

over the land that had been destroyed by the Babylonians and Ishmael was jealous of the power that

Gatelliah had. Ishmael was a man with royal blood and probably was thinking, why was I not the one appointed to rule

over the people?

Now keep in mind ruling over the people, there in Jerusalem and this was a place marked by

disaster and poverty and yet Ishmael was so greedy for power, even in the midst of disaster and poverty that he murders

Gatelliah. And in this story I just see a humbling picture of the scrambling for power in the sinfulness of man.

We are always looking for our own interests.

How do we gain an edge over someone else?

I think about my own life.

I am constantly thinking about myself.

How's this going to affect me? How are others

going to perceive me in this? I did, I break continually that God would just get my eyes, help me to fix my eyes on him and on others and less and

less on myself.

And yet this is the picture we see we see in so many ways obviously throughout

scripture and here's one other example in Jeremiah chapter 41. So we pray

...