King Azariah, also known as King Uzziah (II Kings 15:7, 15:32, 34; II Chronicles 26:1), started his reign well. When he became king as a young man of 16, he “did what was right in the sight of the Lord” (II Kings 15:3). “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” (II Chronicles 26:5).

Alas, his sense of devotion did not continue to the end of his 52-year reign. II Chronicles tells us that “When he had become strong he grew proud, to his destruction” (26:16). In II Kings it simply says that he failed to remove the hilltop shrines to various local gods outside of most villages: “the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places” (II Kings 15:4). II Chronicles points to something more specific: it describes Uzziah’s sin as choosing to offer incense himself, instead of recognizing that this office was restricted to the priests who were descendants of Aaron (II Chronicles 26:16-20).

Not every such disobedience is met with a specific punishment, but this one was. God struck him with leprosy, which continued to the day of his death (II Kings 15:5).

Many of us start well, sincerely dedicating ourselves to following God’s will; then after a while we decide that we want to do things our own way. Often the drift is gradual, and we don’t recognize that we have changed our attitude by small degrees so that we are now the ones in charge, instead of our Lord. Then, when God allows unhappy consequences to come to us, we feel offended.

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There is a way you want to do things, O Lord: but in our pride we want to do things our way, expecting you’ll be happy to go along with us on that. That doesn’t work too well, as we have learned. Change our hearts, we pray, and teach us to do what you say just because you are the one who says it.